ATHENS – The West Virginia Wesleyan Lady Bobcats were oh-so-close to returning to the win column today in a road outing with the Concord Mt. Lions in a Mountain East Conference contest.

Wesleyan held a 56-51 lead following a Tara Goldman lay-up with 4:15 remaining in the game, but Concord outscored Wesleyan in the final four minutes by a 10-2 margin for a 61-58 victory.

The loss was the fifth in a row for the Lady Bobcats as they continue to play without their top two leading scorers (Mari Stewart and Rachel Vandertoolen) due to injuries.

The setback left Wesleyan with a 6-13 record overall and a 6-10 record in the MEC.

Concord improved to 5-16 overall and 3-13 in the MEC.

Wesleyan had to dig themselves out of an early hole after falling behind by an 18-8 score at the end of the first quarter. The Lady Bobcats made just three field goals in the opening 10 minutes.

Down by seven with a minute to go in the second quarter, Lana Long (pictured) flipped in two free throws and Goldman made a jumper to cut the Concord lead down to three at the break, at 32-29.

Trailing by a 41-35 score at the 5:51 mark of the third quarter, Stacy Remer made consecutive baskets and Nicole Gilyard sank two free throws to even the score at 41-41 with 2:20 showing on the third-quarter clock.

The game remained tied heading into the final quarter, at 45-45.

Long gave Wesleyan a four-point lead with back-to-back lay-ups with two minutes gone in the fourth quarter.

Long pushed the Wesleyan lead to six with jumper at the 5:41 mark, at 54-48.

Concord scored on an old-fashioned three-pointer, but Goldman's lay-up made it 56-51 in favor Wesleyan.

Unfortunately for the Lady 'Cats, they only made one more field goal in the final four minutes.

Down 61-58 with 10 seconds remaining, the Lady 'Cats forced a Concord turnover.

Following a time-out, Kambrie Bosley couldn't get her three-pointer to fall with two seconds remaining.

Wesleyan had a better field goal percentage than Concord, 40.7 percent to 34.4 percent, but Concord made seven three-pointers to Wesleyan's two.

Long paced the offense with a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds.

Goldman added 12 points while Remer tacked on seven.

Wesleyan also outrebounded Concord by a 41-38 margin.

The Lady Bobcats will return to action this Thursday at home when they entertain the University of Charleston Golden Eagles.

The game will tip-off at 5:30 p.m.