Bluefield State holds off Concord, 80-74

Bluefield Daily Telegraph, W.Va.
·2 min read

Nov. 16—BLUEFIELD — The Concord University women's basketball team rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit, but came up short Tuesday night in a non-conference game at Ned Shott Gymnasium.

Katrina Davis scored 24 points and Bluefield State regained control in the end to remain unbeaten in an 80-74 victory over their Mercer County NCAA Division II rival.

Down 66-57 in the first 90 seconds of the fourth quarter, the Mountain Lions (1-2) began a 9-0 run as they held Bluefield State scoreless for the next five minutes to knot the game at 66-66 with 3:39 remaining in the game. The next five points belonged to the Big Blue, but a layup from junior guard Jaisah Smith and a transition bucket from junior guard Maddie Ratcliff got Concord back to within 71-70 with 1:48 remaining.

The teams traded buckets, and a three-point play from freshman forward Abbie Smith trimmed the Concord deficit to within 71-70 at the 1:11 mark. A free throw from Smith made the score 76-74 Bluefield State, but that was as close as the Mountain Lions would get.

The Big Blues scored on the next possession, and Concord was unable to answer.

Davis went 6-for-11 from 3-point range, grabbed seven rebounds and collected five steals for the Big Blue (3-0). Gabrielle Thomas scored 14 points with five rebounds, Essence Cowan chipped in 11 points and Aerihna Afoa scored 10 points while distributing four assists. Azariah Binford scored nine points and distributed seven assists, while hometown girl Dani Janutolo added nine points and pulled down seven rebounds.

Bluefield State ran out to a 23-16 lead after 10 minutes, and held a 35-26 lead before the Mountain Lions finished the first half on an 8-0 run to trim their halftime margin to 35-34.

Concord was unable to contain the Blue early in the third as Bluefield State opened up a 13-point lead, 49-36. Concord briefly cut the margin to five, 58-53, after a three-pointer from senior guard Jazz Blankenship before the final five points of the third went to the Big Blues.

Smith tallied her first career double-double in her third career game, scoring 25 points and rounding up 12 rebounds. Ratcliff dropped in 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting. Graduate forward Alexis Phillips only missed one shot (5-of-6) on her way to 12 points while adding eight rebounds. Graduate guard Maggie Guynn and Smith each had nine points.