ATHENS, W.VA. – West Virginia State University Women's Basketball (3-1) suffered their first loss of the season Tuesday, falling 75-69 to Mountain East Conference foe Concord (4-1) at the Carter Center.
State nearly pulled off the comeback with a 29-point fourth quarter, and was led by a trio of double-digit scorers in juniors Destiny Fields (14) and Shelby Harmeyer (12), and senior Alana Kramer (12). Fields added six rebounds, while Harmeyer and Kramer each tallied three.
Freshman Emyah Fortenberry nabbed a team-high 10 boards, adding eight points.
After building a six-point lead on a Fields layup to open the contest, the Yellow Jackets suffered an 8-2 run from the Mountain Lions to tie the game 13-13 with just over thirty seconds left in the quarter.
Jumpers from Kramer and Kiya Thompson rounded out the frame and left State heading into the second quarter up 17-15.
Concord opened the second quarter with a 6-0 run on back-to-back jumpers and a layup and then continued to add some cushion, going up 25-18. Besides a Fields free throw at the 8:02 mark, the Yellow Jackets were left off the scoreboard for nearly two minutes until Kramer's point from the line.
A Charity Shears three trimmed the deficit to just three points at 25-22, but the Mountain Lions launched an offensive attack, registering eight unanswered points over two minutes and 14 seconds to build a 12-point lead at 35-23 with just over two minutes remaining in the half.
After back-to-back free throws from Payton Shears, Kramer lit up the board with back-to-back jumpers, cutting the Mountain Lion lead to 35-29 before Concord added some cushion with 33 seconds remaining to finish the half up 37-29.
Kramer tallied all of her 13 points in the first half, going 6-for-11 in shooting.
The scoring was quiet for both squads as the third quarter started, the lone points coming from a free throw each from Fields and C. Shears to narrow the gap to 37-31 until the 8:30 mark. It was at that point that Concord hit a quick jumper and a three to regain a double-digit lead at 42-31.
The Mountain Lions continued to control possession of the frame, running up an 8-2 sequence over the next 2:41 of play and going up by 15 points at 50-34. The Yellow Jackets trimmed the lead to 10 once again on a Fields jumper and trey from Thompson, but Concord drained back-to-back three pointers in between a set of free throws to finish off the quarter to build a 20-point advantage at 60-40.
State opened up the fourth quarter with an Alexis Hall layup that opened a 6-2 scoring run over the next minute of play after a free throw from Hall and three-pointer from Harmeyer. Harmeyer drained two more treys in a 10-0 scoring sequence for the Yellow Jackets, closing the gap to eight points at 64-56.
After Hall went back to the line to go a perfect 5-for-5 in the quarter and brought the score to 66-58, Concord fired back with five points to maintain a steady 13-point lead, the Yellow Jackets ignited, making 11 of the next 13 baskets, including another Harmeyer trey and a jump shot from Hall.
State simply just ran out of time, coming within four points at 73-69 with 10 seconds remaining in regulation, but couldn't pull off the comeback, falling 75-69.
Thompson finished with five points and Hall finished with nine.
UP NEXT
State remains on the road, heading to Elizabeth City, N.C., to face Elizabeth City State University on Monday, November 29. Tip is slated for 5:30 p.m.
