WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Marissa Brown poured in 41 points and notched the first triple-double of her career Saturday afternoon but it wasn't enough to keep the West Liberty University women's basketball team from dropping a 94-84 decision to Concord at the ASRC.
    Coach Kyle Cooper's Lady Hilltoppers (9-7, 6-4) were fighting an uphill battle in the second half as the Mountain Lions (12-3, 8-2) answered every WLU rally to earn their seventh straight win.
    "Give Concord credit," Cooper said. "Coach (Osborne) really has them playing at a high level right now. It's hard to come back against a team as talented as that when they're playing as hard as they play."
    The teams swapped leads for much of the opening half until West Liberty went cold midway through the second quarter.
    After Brown finished off a fast break for a 31-29 lead with 5:33 on the clock, the Hilltoppers went more than 5 minutes before making another shot.
    Concord took full advantage, scoring 18 of the next 23 points to go up 47-36 before WLU's Morgan Brunner beat the buzzer with a 3-point bomb to make it 47-39 Mountain Lions at the half.
    With Brown scoring 27 of her 41 points after intermission, the Hilltoppers cut the deficit to two points on several occasions and trailed just 66-62 heading into the fourth quarter but couldn't come up with enough stops to get over the hump.
    "That thing at the end of the first half was just a case of giving a lot of good players too much space and giving them the opportunity to get comfortable and make plays on offense," Cooper said. "We made several runs at them in the second half but our surges weren't enough to dig ourselves out of the hole we put ourselves in."
    The pre-game spotlight shone on the battle in the paint between Brown, a returning All-America center, and Concord's 6-4 Riley Fitzwater, who came into the contest averaging a double-double while leading the nation in blocked shots and field goal percentage.
    Fitzwater put up solid numbers with 10 points, 17 rebounds and 5 blocks but the 6-3 Brown rose to the challenge with a career-high 11 blocks to go along with her 41 points and 11 rebounds.
    "I don't really get up for any one opponent more than another," Brown said. "I just try to go out and play hard every game. I don't play against too many people who are my height so I did have to make some adjustments. Coach (Cooper) told me to go left more often since I extend better with my left hand and it paid off."
    Brunner backed Brown with 17 points off the bench while sophomore point guard Audrey Tingle had a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists.
    Madison May went 17-of-21 from the foul line to account for the bulk of her team-high 29 points for Concord. Emily Boothe and Andreanna Pool rounded out the double-figure scorers for the visitors with 19 and 17 points, respectively.
    The Lady Hilltoppers hit the road on Wednesday for a 5:30 p.m. game at Urbana.