Concord Women Roll Past Wesleyan, 64-59 - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

The Concord University women's basketball team snapped its five-game losing streak with a 64-59 victory over West Virginia Wesleyan Saturday. Concord trailed by one point with 2:15 to play in regulation before outscoring its opponents 6-0 in the final two minutes to earn the win.

The triumph improves the Mountain Lions' record to 3-7 overall and 2-2 in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Bobcats drop to 2-5 overall and 1-3 in the WVIAC with the loss.

Concord was paced by three players in double figures. Junior guard Amanda Smith led the way with a game-high 15 points followed by senior guard Katy Somerville with 14 points and junior center Sammi Webster with 11 points. Somerville's total was a career-high.

Sophomore forward Jacqueline Kestner recorded 11 rebounds, five of which were offensive, with Webster not far behind with eight rebounds of her own. Sophomore guard Stephanie Wagner filled the box score with seven points, seven assists and five steals.

The 59 points allowed by CU was the second lowest total this season. Concord held West Virginia Wesleyan to a field goal percentage of 34.4, the lowest by a Mountain Lion opponent this year. Concord also forced the Bobcats into 20 turnovers; marking the third consecutive game the opposition has committed at least 20 giveaways.

For the game, Concord held advantages in field goal percentage (36.2 percent - 34.4 percent), assists (15-13), steals (12-10), points off of turnovers (18-14) and bench scoring (27-20).

Smith was nearly unstoppable early on as she began the game 6-for-6 from the field and 1-for-1 from the free throw line to lead Concord to a 21-13 lead through the first 10 minutes of play. Concord continued to be the aggressors, growing its lead to a first-half high 12 points at 34-21 with five minutes to play in the period. The Bobcats managed a 9-2 spurt of its own to close the half down just six points (36-30).

The Mountain Lions shot 44 percent (16-for-36) from the field and Smith finished the opening period with 13 points. Somerville added 10 points to combine with Smith for over half of CU's offensive production in the opening period. Wagner matched her season average with five assists in the first 20 minutes of play.

Wesleyan carried its momentum from final minutes of the first half over into the second half, with a period-opening 6-0 run to tie the game at 36-36 after just two minutes of play. The next 13 minutes saw Wesleyan and Concord trade the lead back-and-forth four times until the Mountain Lions were able to open up a five-point lead (57-52) with 5:39 to play in the game.

However, the Bobcats controlled the following three minutes and regained the lead, 59-58, off of a layup from Kacey Johnson with 2:15 left to play; the layup was the final points Wesleyan scored in the game. After nearly a minute of scoreless action, Webster scored in the paint to give Concord the 60-59 advantage. The Bobcats were then forced to foul Concord in hopes of CU missing, but Smith and Somerville both made two foul shots in the game's final moments to preserve the 64-59 victory.

The Bobcats were led in the defeat by Danesha Richardson, who registered a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Concord is off until it hosts Charleston January 3 at 5:30 p.m. in the Carter Center.