Concord Falls to Fairmont State in MEC Quarterfinals

WHEELING, W.Va. – The Concord University women's basketball team was defeated in the Mountain East Conference Quarterfinals 58-56 Thursday night inside WesBanco Arena.

Fairmont State (21-8) made a go-ahead basket with 54 seconds remaining to go up 58-56. CU (18-11) went empty on the following possession, but got a defensive stop with four seconds remaining. After advancing the ball, a layup was off the mark for the Mountain Lions as time expired.

The Mountain Lions trailed by as much as 10 points, 42-32, in the third quarter before reeling off nine straight points to pull within one with just over a minute left in the third quarter. Fairmont State got the final bucket of the quarter as the game stayed possession-for-possession over the final 10 minutes with neither team leading by more than five.

Concord did erase a 50-45 deficit with 7:24 remaining as it took a 54-53 lead with 3:20 left after a bucket by sophomore guard Kenyah Stubbs.

After seven ties and seven lead changes in the first half, it was Fairmont State that went into the locker room with a 30-26 lead.

The Mountain Lions went up 10-8 at the 5:21 mark of the first quarter as junior Olivia Ziolkowski scored six of the first 10 points for CU. However, Fairmont State outscored Concord 11-5 over the final five minutes as FSU took a 19-15 edge after 10 minutes.

CU stayed within reach as a layup down the baseline by Stubbs tied the game at 21-21 with 7:12 remaining in the first half. But, the Mountain Lions only scored three points over the next 6:48 of the second period before senior guard Kennedy Scales gave CU a much-needed bucket, scoring the final points of the first half with 24 seconds left.

Concord was ranked eighth in the final Atlantic Regional Rankings that were released Wednesday with the top eight teams advancing to the NCAA Division II Tournament, so the Mountain Lions are squarely on the bubble.

Senior forward Abbie Smith went for 17 points and 12 rebounds. Ziolkowski added her own double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds to go with three blocks. Stubbs tossed in 14 points.