ATHENS, W.Va. – The past calendar year for Concord University Athletics have been full of memorable accomplishments, unforgettable games and moments and record-setting players and coaches.
From December 22 through December 31, the CU Sports Information Department will countdown the top 10 moments of 2023 in Concord Athletics.
The Christmas Day portion of the countdown dives into a pair of nationally-ranked wins for the Concord men's and women's basketball teams.
In what's become somewhat of an annual meeting between Concord and IUP to start the season, the Mountain Lions knew they had an uphill climb against the fourth-ranked Crimson Hawks, a team that made the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 a season ago and finished with a record of 32-2.  CU was able to lock down Indiana (Pa.) to 57 points as the Mountain Lions shot 50 percent in the second half and grabbed a 61-57 victory on the Crimson Hawks' home court—a place IUP had only lost twice at since the start of the 2019-20 season.
Jordan Wooden poured in 18 points, including hitting four critical three-pointers.
Amare Smith added 16 points in the victory. The November 10 win over IUP was the first for Concord in seven all-time meetings.
Later in November—the 21
st to be exact—the Concord women's basketball team continued its trend of winning against West Virginia State. In March, the Mountain Lions picked off WVSU in the MEC Tournament in what was a quarterfinal round upset. Now with the Yellow Jackets ranked 13
th in Division II, CU went on the road in its first conference road contest and led nearly wire-to-wire in a 70-57 victory—the 11
th win for Concord over WVSU in the last 14 meetings.
Jaisah Smith paced the scoring effort with 20 points.
Abbie Smith added a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Alexis Phillips finished in double figures with 10 points, and
Skylar Davidson played a pivotal role with 10 rebounds and five assists.
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