WISE - - UVA Wise scored a season-high 84 points behind 33 bench points en route to a 84-81 non-conference women's basketball victory over Concord at the Prior Center Monday. Junior Sable Burnside came off the bench to tie a career-high with 14 points while sophomore Allyson Fleenor recorded a new career-high with 11 points to help the Cavaliers win on a night when 57 fouls were whistled.
Concord trailed all evening but tied the game with 3:27 remaining when Maddie Ratcliffe sank a jumper. Moments later, UVA Wise fifth-year senior Caitlyn Ross scored two of her game-best 20 points with a bucket only to see Nakaila Gray score inside to again tie the game, this time at 72, with 2:59 to go.
The game would remain a one-possession affair down the stretch. Fleenor scored on an offensive rebound put back to give the Cavs a 74-72 advantage. Gray would then split a pair of foul shots to cut the lead to a point only to see Ross sink two foul shots to make it a 76-73 contest with 2:10 to play.
Concord would then make three consecutive shots from the charity stripe to tie the game before freshman Makenzie Bremer put the hosts back up a point by making 1-of-2 free throws with exactly 60 seconds left.
Gray would miss what would be a go-ahead 3-pointer for the Mountain Lions on the nest possession, Fleenor board the miss and after Ross made two foul shots the Cavs were on top 79-76 with 29 ticks to play.
Concord would get it back to a single point after Jaisah Smith made two free throws. Again, Ross would go to the line on the ensuing possession, this time making 1-of-2 free throws leaving it an 80-78 contest with 16 seconds remaining.
The Mountain Lions would have a chance to tie the game at the foul line but, Abbie Smith would only make one free throw putting the guests in a must-foul situation.
UVA Wise Head Coach Jamie Cluesman called timeout to advance the ball to the front court and got the ball in the hands of the team's best foul shooter Katlin Burger. Burger would make both free throws, on a night when the junior went a perfect 8-for-8 from the line to push the lead back to three at 82-79.
Concord's Skylar Davidson would take a layup to cut the deficit to 82-81 with two seconds left. Ross would then be fouled, making both free throws to make it 84-81. The Mountain Lions would be unable to get off a last second desperation 3-pointer, giving the Cavs a 9-8 advantage in the all-time series.
UVA Wise seemingly had put the game away in the third quarter when Ross made two foul shots to make it a 51-35 game with 5:48 to play in the period.
Concord responded with a 13-to-2 scoring run, cutting the lead to 53-48 with 2:45 left in the period.
The Cavs trailed only once in the game and never trailed again after Burger put the team on top 7-6 early in the first quarter. However, the game was tied five times on a night that featured a combined 73 free throws.
UVA Wise won the battle of the boards 43-to-35, marking the seventh consecutive game to start the season that the team has won the rebounding battle.
Burger finished with 10 points to join Ross (20), Burnside (14) and Fleenor (11) in double figure scoring in the win. Ines Latapia came off the bench to net nine points while grabbing eight rebounds behind a pair of 3-pointers.
The Cavs made 31-of-38 free throws in the win while the Mountain Lions went 24-for-35 at the line.
Concord received a team-high 16 points from Smith with Gray (14), Davidson (13) and Deja Atkinson (10) finishing in double-figure scoring in the loss.
UVA Wise assisted on 20-of-25 made field goals, Ross led all players with eight assists while Burnside tallied four and Jalie Ruehling added three in the win.
Next up, the Cavs return to league play Saturday against Newberry. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. from the Prior Center.
