FAIRMONT, W. Va. – The Concord University women's basketball season got off to a rough start Friday afternoon as the Mountain Lions lost their first game of the year, 72-44, against Indiana (Pa.) at the WVIAC-PSAC Challenge in Fairmont, W. Va.
Concord was led in the defeat by junior forward Andrea Bertrand, who scored a team-high nine points on 4-of-9 shooting while also matching a career-high with five steals. Sophomore guard Stephanie Wagner chipped in eight points and passed out a game-best four assists in 30 minutes of action.
Junior center Sammi Webster came off the bench to record game-highs of seven rebounds and one block in addition to scoring six points. The seven rebounds were a career-best for Webster. Sophomore guard/forward Jacqueline Kestner and sophomore forward Rachel Artrip added five points each to the CU cause with Artrip also tallying two steals.
As a team, Indiana (Pa.) held advantages over Concord in field goal percentage (49.1 – 32.7), three-point shooting percentage (40.0 – 25.5) and rebounds (46-30). Both teams forced the opposition to commit 15 turnovers.
An 18-4 IUP (1-0) run through the opening 10 minutes of the first half proved to be too big of a deficit for Concord (0-1) to overcome. The Crimson Hawks grew their lead to as many as 20 points (31-11) before taking a 33-16 advantage over the Mountain Lions into halftime. IUP outscored Concord 39-28 in the second half en route to the 72-44 victory.
Leslie Stapleton hit three three-pointers and scored a game-high 15 points for Indiana.
Concord will look to end its opening weekend with a victory when it plays Clarion 1:00 p.m. Saturday on day two of the WVIAC-PSAC Challenge.
