Women's Basketball | 1/4/2014 5:00:00 PM
Box Score WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Concord's Sissy Wagner hit a conventional 3-point play with just 12 seconds remaining Saturday afternoon as the Mountain Lions handed West Liberty a frustrating 79-78 loss in Mountain East Conference women's basketball action at the ASRC.
The Hilltoppers' Kiki Simpson had forged the game's final tie, 76-76, when she muscled inside for a layup with just 37 seconds remaining and Concord (4-4, 2-3) called timeout to set up the final possession.
Wagner stood at midcourt and dribbled the shot clock down into single digits before driving down the right side of the lane. The Mountain Lion guard drew contact from WLU's Liz Flowers while banking in a tough shot and cashed in the free throw to complete the 3-point play.
West Liberty (5-6, 2-3) missed a couple of hurried shots at the other end and Flowers' rebound hoop as time expired was too little, too late.
"We wanted to run Jenn (Mohney) off a double-screen at the end," head coach Lynn Ullom said. "It looked like it was there but we were just a little late making the pass and Concord was able to get there."
The Hilltoppers never trailed in the first half but couldn't put a decisive run together and led just 40-37 at the break.
The Mountain Lions scored seven of the first nine points in the second half to take their first lead of the day, 44-42, and the teams traded leads the rest of the way.
Mohney paced West Liberty with 18 points and 9 rebounds while Colleen McCormick came off the bench to add 14 points and 5 rebounds. Flowers finished with 12 points and 5 rebounds.
Wagner had 20 points and 5 assists while Andrea Bertrand chipped in with a game-high 21 points for a Concord team that had five double-figure scorers and shot 50 percent (28-of-56) from the floor.
"We're struggling with some basic tenets of our defense," Ullom said. "We're just not disciplined enough to maintain our fundamentals right now and it shows up in the box score. More importantly, it shows up on the scoreboard."
The Hilltoppers host UVA-Wise Monday at 5:30 p.m.
