ATHENS, W.Va. – West Virginia State's women's basketball team took to the hardwood on Wednesday Night with the ability to finish anywhere from second to seventh in the regular season standings with two games to play, and with Wednesday night's 72-63 win over Concord, they can do no worse than fourth. WVSU will get a first-round bye in next week's Mountain East Conference Tournament that will be held on Mar. 6-10 at the Wesbanco Arena in Wheeling, W.Va. 

WVSU advances to 18-9, 13-6 in the Mountain East. Concord falls to 15-12, 10-9 in the MEC with the loss.

ZZ Russell led all scorers with 18 points, and was 7-of-8 from the free throw line and tacked on four boards. Anysa Jordan scored 15 points to go with eight rebounds and a pair of steals. Hallie Bailey was WVSU's final double-digit scorer with 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.

WVSU jumped out to a 10-4 lead midway through the first quarter off a Bailey mid-range jumper. Concord followed that jumper with a 9-2 run to take their lone lead of the game, 13-12 with 3:27 to play. Just under a minute later, Emyah Fortenberry scored a layup to give the Yellow Jackets the lead for good. It was the start of a 12-0 run for State, capped by an Emily Anthony fast break layup with 43 seconds to play in the quarter. Concord hit a late layup to end the run. 

State went on another run over the first three minutes of the second quarter, this one 7-0 giving State the 31-17 lead and forcing an early Concord timeout. The two teams traded buckets for the rest of the quarter, but four-straight foul shots in the waning moments of the half by Concord allowed them to make up some ground, giving WVSU a 41-28 lead at the half.

Midway through the third quarter, Bailey scored her final points of the game on a fast break layup that gave WVSU their largest lead of the game, 53-30, with 5:28 to play in the third. Concord went on a 13-2 run over the next four minutes to cut that lead by more than half, 55-43 at the 1:11 mark. Jordan hit a trey late and Concord hit a free throw in the closing moments of the frame to extend State's halftime lead by a single point, 58-44.

WVSU's lead had been double digits for the majority of the game until Concord's Alexis Phillips drilled an and-one opportunity to cut the WVSU lead to nine points just over a minute into the final quarter. The Mountain Lions gots as close as four points, 65-61, with two minutes to play before they started fouling WVSU. Concord missed three straight treys while WVSU's Russell, Jordan, and Hannah Shriver all combined to hit seven foul shots in the interim. The Mountain Lions hit two free throws with 11 seconds to play to give the game its final score.

WVSU will play their regular season finale inside the Walker Convocation Center against the Charleston Golden Eagles. Earlier this season, the two teams tangoed into a double overtime classic that eventually saw WVSU fall just short, 104-101. With State and UC tied in the standings, the loser of the game will be the No. 4 seed in the tournament while the victor could climb as high as the No. 2 seed. Tip-off for the women's game is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.