Concord Women Suffer 79-67 Setback at Wheeling Jesuit - Beckley, Bluefield & Lewisburg News, Weather, Sports

The Concord University women's basketball lost at Wheeling Jesuit, 79-67, Thursday night in West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference competition.

The loss drops the Mountain Lions' record to 5-14 overall and 4-9 in the WVIAC. The Cardinals record was boosted to 6-13 overall and 3-12 in league play with the win.

Junior guard Amanda Smith dominated on the floor going 9-for-15 from the field and 4-for-5 from the line for 22 points. Smith also recorded five rebounds, three steals, which tied her career-high, and one assist. Smith has scored over 20 points four times this season.

Freshman guard Leslie Mack came off the bench to score 11 points to go with three rebounds and one assist. Sophomore forward Rachel Artrip was Concord's third player in double-digits, finishing with 10 points in addition to her six rebounds.

Sophomore guard Stephanie Wagner's six assists were a game-high. Wagner also produced five rebounds and three steals. Sophomore forward Jacqueline Kestner and senior guard Tanisha Williams each recorded eight points with Kestner also grabbing a team-high eight rebounds. Junior center Sammi Webster rounded out CU's contributors with a game-best two blocks.

As a team, Concord won the rebounding battle vs. Wheeling Jesuit, 38-25, but the Cardinals out-shot CU 48.3 percent (28-for-58) to 37.1 percent (23-for-62). WJU also scored 26 points off of 17 Concord turnovers compared to the Mountain Lions'15 points from 16 Wheeling Jesuit miscues.

Concord was in control of the contest for opening 11 minutes of the first half, leading by as many as nine points, 19-10, midway through the period. The strong start was credited to a balanced attack that featured five different players scoring including Smith's nine points. However, a 28-13 run by Wheeling Jesuit over the final portion of the first half gave the Cardinals a 38-32 halftime-lead.

The Mountain Lions went 13-for-27 from the field shooting 48.1 percent and went 5-for-6 (83.3 percent) at the foul line in the opening 20 minutes.

Wheeling Jesuit's lead grew to 10 points, 44-34, to start the second half before a 17-9 Mountain Lion run trimmed WJU's lead to just two points, 53-51, with 10 minutes to play. The comeback bid was sparked by seven points from Mack.

The two-point margin would be as close as Concord would come to completing its comeback as Wheeling Jesuit was able to regain control of the game thanks in part to nine points from Jamie Sobczak down the stretch to preserve the 12-point victory, 69-57.

Sobczak and Breanna Butler each scored 19 points to lead Wheeling Jesuit.

Concord returns to the Carter Center for back-to-back games, February 4-5, against West Virginia Wesleyan and Alderson-Broaddus. Both games are slated for a 5:30 p.m. start time.