ATHENS, W.Va. -- The West Virginia Wesleyan (0-2) women's basketball team got off to a strong start and stayed within striking distance throughout the game before falling to Concord (2-1) by a final score of 74-61 at the Carter Center in Athens, W.Va. on Wednesday (Jan. 13). 

Leaders for WVWC
Courtney Wilfong scored a team-high 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting to go along with three assists. Abi Gabauer contributed 10 points off of the bench. Symphonie Bryant-Brown added points while Brittany Stawovy tallied eight points with six rebounds. 
 
Leaders for Concord
Riley Fitzwater collected a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds. Maggie Guynn scored 17 points and Keely Lundy added 13 in the scoring column with seven boards. 

Team Stats
Concord shot 42.4 percent (25-59) from the field and outrebounded the Bobcats 43-29. WVWC shot 7-of-21 from beyond the arc. 

Inside the First Half
Nearly four minutes into the opening frame, Stawovy connected on a triple for an early 9-4 Bobcat edge. Bryant-Brown drained a 3-pointer of her own at the 3:53 mark as Wesleyan took an 18-9 advantage. 

Great ball movement led to a trey from Summer Matlack and a 21-13 lead with 2:55 remaining in the first quarter. WVWC led 23-18 after one quarter. 

Concord's defense limited the Bobcats to five points in the second and Mountain Lions controlled the lead, 32-28 at halftime. 

Inside the Second Half
Wilfong scored 14 of her 19 points in the second half and that started on a layup with 7:32 left in the third quarter as the Bobcats trailed 38-33. The Mountain Lions built a 49-35 advantage on a Maddie Ratcliff layup. Stawovy drilled a trifecta from straight on to cut the deficit back down to single digits at 49-42 with only a minute to go in the third. 

Wilfong turned it up a notch in the fourth quarter with another layup to keep Wesleyan within striking distance behind 63-55 with 4:32 left. The Mountain Lions put the game out of reach from long range to seal their victory, 74-61. 

Up Next
WVWC women's basketball is scheduled to return home on Saturday (Jan. 16) to play host to nationally-ranked Glenville State at 2 p.m. inside the Rockefeller Center.