Concord Women Fall 89-69 at Bluefield State - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

Concord Women Fall 89-69 at Bluefield State

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BLUEFIELD -

The Concord University women's basketball team cut a 26-point deficit to just eight points before ultimately falling at Bluefield State, 89-69, Saturday afternoon in a West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest.

The loss drops Concord's record to 3-9 overall and 2-4 in the WVIAC. The victory improves Bluefield State's record to 6-3 overall and 4-2 in league play.

Junior guard Amanda Smith scored 16 points on 6-for-14 shooting from the field and a 4-for-6 effort from the foul line. Andrea Bertrand fought through foul trouble to finish with 13 points, four rebounds and two steals.

The backcourt duo of sophomore guard Stephanie Wagner (eight points) and senior guard Katy Somerville (nine points) combined to score 17 points with Wagner passing out eight assists and grabbing four rebounds. Somerville also tallied five assists.

Sophomore forward Jacqueline Kestner registered game-bests of eight rebounds and four steals in addition to scoring six points.

As a team, Concord committed just 10 turnovers while forcing Bluefield State into 18 giveaways. The Mountain Lions shot just 24.1 percent (7-for-29) from the field in the first half, but shot 42.5 percent (17-for-40) in the second half for a game total of 34.8 percent (24-for-69). Bluefield State shot 46 percent (29-for-63) on the day.

Concord trailed by six points at 13-7 after  the opening six minutes of play before Bluefield State took off on a 26-18 run to extend its lead to 39-25 with 4:41 remaining in the first half. The Lady Blues closed the period out on a 12-4 spurt to take a seemingly commanding 51-29 lead into the break.

Smith was Concord's top offensive threat in the first 20 minutes of play, scoring 10 points. Bertrand tallied seven points in the opening half, but picked up three fouls in the half. The guard duo of Somerville and Wagner accounted for seven assists with four and three, respectively.

The Mountain Lions stormed out of the break and quickly cut the 22-point lead down to just eight points at 60-52 thanks to a 23-9 run through the opening 7:46 of the second period. The comeback was sparked by a frantic defensive effort that forced four turnovers and an offensive effort that saw Concord shoot 10-for-13 (76.9 percent) from the field to begin the final half.

Concord proceeded to trade baskets with the Lady Blues and kept the game close through much of the second half, finding itself down just 69-58 with 8:58 remaining in regulation. However, Concord was unable to dig into Bluefield State's lead any further as BSC managed to pull away for the 89-69 win after outscoring CU 20-11 for the remainder of the game.

Bluefield State was led by Charity Harris, who scored a season-high 25 points.

Concord will stay on the road to play at Ohio Valley 5:30 p.m. Monday night in Vienna, W. Va.