BOONE, N.C. – The App State women's basketball team opened the 2025-26 campaign on Monday with a 65-45 victory over Western Michigan in the first installment of this season's MAC-SBC Challenge.
"It was good to see a great crowd," said head coach
Alaura Sharp. "I think our team has a really high ceiling and you can tell by the joy that they play with. We have some grit to us.
Emma Smith dives on the floor, we're up 22 points and saves a ball out of bounds. I just think that stuff matters, because it's the way you do things all the time. It's kind of like your character. You want to be the same person all time no matter what's going on. We want the same character for our basketball team. Effort, we'll give you a chance every single night. Then you add execution, which we did a lot better in the second half."
App State is 2-0 all-time against the Broncos, having first met in the second half of the 2023-24 MAC-SBC Challenge. Monday's win improved the Mountaineers' record to 3-2 in MAC-SBC Challenge contests.
Three Mountaineers scored double-figures, led by sophomore
Jayden McBride and junior
Daisia Mitchell, who each netted 16 points. Senior
Emily Hege scored 11 points and combined with McBride for six of App State's nine 3-point buckets. Graduate student Zoë McCrary grabbed a team high seven rebounds, followed by Mitchell, senior
Emma Smith, and sophomore
Feryal Defne Atli, who each pulled down six. McCrary and Smith also dished out three assists apiece.
App State shot 42.9% from the arc, 41.8% from the field, and 83.3% from the charity stripe over the course of the game. In the first, third, and fourth quarters, the Mountaineers held the Broncos to 11 points.
McBride knocked down the Mountaineers' first trey of the season to knot the score early at 3-3. The Mountaineers and Broncos met again at 8-8 after a fastbreak layup from Smith and a trey from Hege. With a layup from Mitchell and a jumper from freshman
Addie Biel, App State took a 12-11 edge into the second quarter.
While the Mountaineers faced a scoring drought in the second quarter, the Broncos got hot, draining a pair of treys and a layup to take a 23-14 lead. McBride drained a 3-point bucket and Smith got around the defense for a layup to cut the deficit to four (23-19) at the close of the quarter.
Returning to the court after the break, App State scored 46 points of its 65 points in the second half, netting 23 points in both the third and fourth quarters.
Mitchell netted nine of her 16 points in the third quarter, knocking down a perfect 4-of-4 from the field. Over the course of 0:21, she made back-to-back layups in the paint and completed the three-point play to bring the Mountaineers within one of WMU's lead (25-24). With an assist from Hege, Atli made a layup in the paint to push the Mountaineers ahead, 26-25. The Mountaineers and Broncos swapped the lead thrice in the third quarter, before a trey from Hege and a layup from Mitchell cemented the Mountaineers' lead, 31-27. A Bronco layup cut the deficit to two (31-29), but the Black and Gold jumped ahead, 39-29, after Mitchell landed a jumper and McBride knocked down a pair of freebies as well as a 3-point bucket. The Mountaineers led by as much as 11 at the close of the quarter as McCrary and Smith made it to the hoop for layups. A late WMU trey narrowed the Mountaineers' lead to 42-34 at the close of the quarter.
The Mountaineers' momentum carried into the fourth quarter, as senior
Elena Pericic knocked down a 3-point bucket to extend App State's lead to 45-34. Over two minutes, App State went on an 8-0 run as Hege and Mitchell drained treys and McBride made a layup in the paint. Over the course of the quarter, McBride and Mitchell combined for 10 of the Black and Gold's 23 points. The Mountaineers jumped to a 22-point lead as Atli made a layup, Mitchell drained a jumper, Smith drained a 3-pointer, and McCrary knocked down a pair of free throws. After a Western Michigan foul, McBride was sent to the line, where she made a trio of free throws to secure the Mountaineers' victory.
Up Next
App State will host Bob Jones University at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Tickets are available at appstatesports.com/tickets and the game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
