ATHENS, W. Va. – The Frostburg State Women's Basketball team suffered a road loss to Concord on Wednesday evening, losing by a final score of 77-57.
FSU got the game going with an early layup from freshman Emilee Weakley, who would go on to score the Bobcats' first seven points of the game. Frostburg's defense was stout in the opening period, holding CU to just one field goal across the game's first eight minutes. After junior Rhiana Hall scored a jumper after a Mountain Lion turnover, she pushed the lead to 11-6 on another bucket, followed by a free throw from senior Maggie Sharp and a lay-in by senior Arianna Briggs-Hall that grew the advantage to eight. With time winding down, Concord grabbed a miss off a three-pointer and drew a foul almost as time expired, as Abbie Smith knocked down both free throws to go into the second with FSU ahead 14-8.
CU scored the first three points of the next frame before Weakley, returning to the court after picking up two early fouls, responded with a layup. The standout forward continued to drive the offense, putting in a jumper before knocking down a triple to grow the Frostburg lead to 21-14. Concord found their range as well, with back-to-back threes suddenly making it a one-point contest with 4:36 on the clock. Senior Ciara Thomas split a pair from the line, followed by another Weakley score, then each team traded blows up to 26-25 with a minute and a half remaining. Alexis Phillips provided a spark for the Mountain Lions late on, hitting a three and a score in the lane, though she was matched by Weakley hitting from mid-range and converting a trip to the charity stripe as the teams headed to halftime with CU holding a narrow 31-30 lead.
Weakley had an astonishing 20 points at the half, with no other player reaching double figures in the game. The Bobcats shot just 1-8 from behind the arc, while Concord was 3-10 and made 8-of-12 free throws.
The second half opened with yet another trey by Phillips, though the Bobcats answered with Thomas' two free throws and layup either side of Hall draining one from downtown to regain a 37-34 lead. Once again, the teams were evenly matched over the next few minutes, with the Mountain Lions seemingly always finding a score on offense to hit back at FSU taking the lead. Junior MacKenzie Freeze nailed a triple, to which Maggie Guynn responded with one of her own, then Weakley got in on the action with a lay-in to bring the game to 44-43 Frostburg. The next three minutes went much the way of Concord, as the Bobcats failed to score from the field, while the hosts hit three straight baskets to go ahead 49-44. Briggs-Hall tried to get some momentum back with a score, but CU hit right back with a pair of free throws and another three to close the third on an 11-2 run, leading 54-46.
Hall and graduate Shelby Funchess both scored inside the first minute of the final period, but Concord hit their stride on both sides of the floor, scoring 13 points unanswered and racing to a 70-50 lead in the next six minutes. A three from Hall stopped the bleeding, but the lead was too much to overcome with time winding down, as Weakley's back-to-back buckets in the last two minutes were canceled out by Ashton Funderburg's five straight to end the game at 77-57 Mountain Lions.
CU shot 57% from the field in the second half, including a 54% clip from behind the arc, while outrebounding FSU 45-32 in the course of the game.
Weakley led all scorers with 27 points, where she was joined in double figures by Hall's 12, with the latter also providing two assists, a steal, and a block. Briggs-Hall had a game-high nine rebounds, followed closely by Weakley's eight.
With the loss, Frostburg falls to 5-16 on the year, while Concord improves to 8-12. The Bobcats return home on Saturday, February 4 to face No. 5 Glenville State at 2 p.m. Information and updates will be posted to frostburgsports.com.
