BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University women's basketball begins a new season and a new era on Friday night, as head coach Darcie Vincent makes her Mountaineer debut against Marshall at 7 p.m. at the Holmes Center.

The Mountaineers (0-0) have not faced the Thundering Herd (0-0) in more than 10 years and will renew the former Southern Conference rivalry with the 39th meeting between the teams.

The game can be heard locally on 102.3 WECR-FM, while live video and stats are available on GoASU.com, as Ran Northam and Allie McCain have the call.

Today's Game
? Friday night's match-up is the season opener for both Appalachian and Marshall.
? Live video and stats for the game are available on GoASU.com.

About the Apps
? Appalachian features a very young team and new head coach in Darcie Vincent.
? The squad features five freshmen and four sophomores, including 2007-08 freshman all-SoCon honorees Frances Hernandez and Sam Ramirez.
? Preseason all-conference selection Brittany Mixon is the lone senior on the team and fellow post player Karina Mill represents the junior class for ASU.
? The Mountaineers hosted California (Pa.) in an exhibition on Nov. 2 in their only official preseason competition.
? The Apps shot 26-of-30 (86.7 percent) from the free throw line but just 14-of-50 (28 percent) from the floor in the 72-58 setback.
? The game showcased a lot of freshman talent as Catherine Williams started and nearly posted a double-double. Williams scored 11 points, pulled down nine rebounds and blocked four shots in just 23 minutes on the floor.
? Sad? Means also started for ASU and scored 10 points on 4-for-12 shooting to go along with six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Means accounted for 12 of the team's 41 turnovers in the game.
? Frances Hernandez led Appalachian with 14 points and was a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe.
? Three players combined for 58 points and 22 fouls for Coach Vincent's former squad.

About the Thundering Herd
? Marshall returns six players from last year's 17-16 team, which finished sixth place in Conference USA.
? The Herd took care of the Exodus All-Stars (78-41) and DT-3 (71-56) in preseason exhibitions.
? Tynikki Crook averaged 21 points and 12 rebounds in the two games with a .483 shooting percentage.
? After shooting a dismal 22 percent (4-of-18) from beyond the arc in the first game, MU reigned in its deep threats and sank 2-of-4 three-pointers in the second of two games.
? Senior Casey Baker is the leading returning scorer on the team after averaging 11.9 points and 4.7 boards in 2007-08.
? Crook and Baker started both exhibitions with Alyssa Hammond while Angelica Harris, Rashedah Henriques, Chantelle Handy and Alix Barnette each made one start in the preseason.
The Series
? ASU holds a 20-18 advantage in the all-times series, which has been dormant since 1996-97.
? The teams met at least twice annually from the 1982-83 season through 1996-97 and faced each other in the Southern Conference Championship seven times.
? The Thundering Herd ended ASU's season in 1996-97 with a 79-74 win in the semifinals in Greensboro, N.C.
? The Apps are 9-5 in Boone against Marshall.

Season Openers
? Appalachian fell in a tightly contested game at N.C. State in last year's opener, 82-69.
? ASU trailed by just three points at the half and four players reached double-figure points in the contest, including Brittany Mixon, who sank 5-of-10 shots and added seven rebounds on the night.
? ASU's last season-opening win came two seasons ago with a 64-44 triumph at home over UCF on Nov. 11, 2006.
? The Apps are 6-2 in home openers at the Holmes Center. Only three of those games doubled as season openers.
? In 38 seasons of play, ASU is 17-21 in season openers.

Preseason Speculation
? Senior Brittany Mixon was voted to represent Appalachian on the Southern Conference preseason team.
? Certainly influenced by the team's youth and coaching change, the SoCon's coaches voted the Mountaineers 10th out of 11 teams, ahead of Elon, who also welcomed a new coach in the offseason.
? The league's media voted the teams in the same order but with a little more breathing room between ASU and the Phoenix.
? Chattanooga was picked to defend its title and Davidson senior Mercedes Robinson was selected as the preseason Player of the Year.
? The complete polls and preseason team are listed on pg. 6.

Versus Conference USA
? Appalachian was 1-1 last season against C-USA with a win at UCF and home loss against East Carolina.
? SoCon teams posted a 2-2 record against Conference USA last season.
? The Apps have two C-USA teams on the nine-game non-conference slate, including Monday's game at ECU.
? Likewise, Appalachian is the only SoCon school on Marshall's schedule for this season.
? After Appalachian's games, the next meeting between the SoCon and C-USA is on November 25, when Furman plays at Rice.
Returning to Form
? The Mountaineers return more than 42 percent of scoring from last season (794 of 1,887 points) and 47 percent of rebounds.
? Sharp-shooters Sam Ramirez (41) and Frances Hernandez (35) combined for more than 70 percent of the team's three-point field goals last season.
? Brittney Spencer saw action in 29 games last season with six starts and returns to run the point for the Apps.
? The sophomore ranked second on the team last season in free throw percentage.
? Senior forward Brittany Mixon is the team's leading returnee in both points and rebounds from last season, and is joined in the front court by returnees Karina Mill and Taylor Lake.

Fresh Faces
? ASU graduated one of the program's most complete all-around players last season in Whitney Tossie, along with solid post contributor Courtney Cunningham.
? Five freshmen join the team in 2008-09 to help fill the void of four departed starters from a season ago.
? Sophomore transfer Chakeitha Weldon joined ASU this semester as well, but will sit out this season due to NCAA transfer regulations. To avoid confusion, Weldon is not listed on the roster this season.
? Assistant coach Lisa Gottuso joined the ASU coaching staff in April after spending two seasons at her alma mater, California (Pa.).

Holmes Court
? ASU is 43-54 in the Holmes Center since the building opened in the 2000-01 season.
? Last season, half of the team's eight wins came at home, including two against non-conference opponents N.C. Central and ETSU.
? In 2007-08 the Mountaineers welcomed 5,439 fans to the Holmes Center for an average of 418 per game.

Head Coach Darcie Vincent
? Fairmont, W. Va. native Darcie Vincent took the helm of the Mountaineers in April after eight seasons at NCAA Division II California (Pa.).
? Vincent took the Vulcans to six NCAA tournaments and claimed the 2004 NCAA Championship.
? Vincent's teams won 20 games each of the last seven seasons and fell just shy with a 19-10 record in 2000-01, in her first year.
? Prior to Cal, Vincent was the head coach at PSAC-rival Slippery Rock for four seasons.
? The Rock was a young team when the reigns were handed to Vincent in 1996, when the coach experienced her only sub-.500 season of her career.

Looking Back
? Several milestones were reached last season, both at the team and individual levels.
? Whitney Tossie ended her career as the career steals leader at ASU and fourth in SoCon history with 351.
? The guard also surpassed the 1,000-point plateau and finished sixth all-time with 1,302.
? Nine different players had 20 or more steals for the Mountaineers as the team set a program record with 376 for the season.

Looking Ahead
? Appalachian heads to the road for a pair of games next week: at East Carolina and Wake Forest.
? The Apps return home a week from Monday to host Alabama A&M at 7 p.m.