The West Virginia Wesleyan College and Concord University women's basketball programs got off to an exhilarating start to the new year with a heart-stopping, buzzer-beating ending that gave the Mountain Lions a 74-73 victory over the Mountain East Conference-leading Bobcats.
 
The Bobcats struggled from the tipoff, quickly going down by eight points after four minutes of play. The Mountain Lions stretched that lead to 26-15 with 6:45 remaining in the second quarter when the Bobcats began its comeback, dicing away points until, with 41 seconds left, the 'Cats gained its first lead. The half ended on a bit of an omen to the game-ender as Concord's Skylar Davidson hit a three-pointer with under 10 seconds left to take a 31-29 lead into the locker room.
 
In the second half, the Bobcats, again, took the first five minutes to get into a groove as Concord went up by nine points and maintained a 5-point lead by the end of the third quarter. Still, the Bobcats stuck around, tying the score at 60 on a Shelby Genes fastbreak layup with six minutes to play then falling behind by five before the Bobcats' season-leading scorer Emma Witt tied it at 68 on a short jumper at 1:40.
 
Thirty seconds later, Concord's Smith was fouled in the paint as she finished a layup and she put her team up by three after hitting the charity point.
 
Witt got the 'Cats within a point with two free throws after she was fouled with 24 seconds left, then Genes stole the ball on the ensuing Concord possession and dished it to Sydney Baird who was fouled. The league-leading free-throw shooter Baird hit both tries and the Bobcats went up by one.
 
After a Concord timeout, Smith received the ball deep and was fouled, putting her at the line where she missed one of two to tie the score at 72.
 
With six seconds remaining, Witt was intentionally fouled but she could only bury one of two free throws. This gave Concord the chance it needed and a quick inbound pass to an uncovered Smith gave her open access to the buzzer-beating goal.
 
For the Bobcats, Witt led the team with 23 points and four assists. Baird added 15 points and five rebounds. Genes had 12 points, three assists and four rebounds.
 
Concord's Smith had a double-double performance with a game-high 30 points and 11 boards. Imani Hickman added 11 points and seven rebounds.
 
The Bobcats host Glenville State University Saturday, Jan. 11 at 2 p.m. in the Rockefeller Center. Admission is free.