BOONE, N.C. – The App State women's basketball team will face off against Montreat College in the home opener as the first leg of a doubleheader on Wednesday at 5 p.m., streaming on ESPN+.
Tickets for Wednesday's double header can be found here. One ticket is good for both the women's basketball game at 5 p.m. and the men's basketball game at 7 p.m.
The Mountaineers (1-0) are coming off a 74-62 win over Eastern Michigan on Monday in the season opener as part of the MAC-SBC challenge, with Joi Williams leading the team in scoring with 14 points and dishing out six assists. Three other Mountaineers saw scoring in double figures, with Jadyn Atchison and Raven Preston both scoring 13 points, and Daisia Mitchell scoring 10 against the Eagles.
The Mountaineers held firm defensively in the opening contest, holding the Eagles to only 35% from the field and beyond the arc. To close the game, App State held EMU to 3-15 from the field, and forcing five turnovers in the last six minutes of the game.
2025-26 Season in Review
The Mountaineers are looking to build off an 11-19 (4-14 SBC) record from the 2025-26 season, in which they finished 14th in the conference. App State finished second in scoring defense by allowing just 61.5 points per game and second in 3-point percentage defense (28.1%), while ranking fourth in field goal percentage by shooting 42.4% from the field. The Mountaineers' highest-scoring game came against Bob Jones on Nov. 7, scoring 110 points in their second consecutive win of the season.
Returning Mountaineers
Highlighting the six returners for App State is senior Daisia Mitchell, who earned Preseason All-Sun Belt First Team honors on Oct. 19. Mitchell played in all 30 games for the Mountaineers last season, starting 29. She finished second on the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 10.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per contest. Also starting 29 of 30 games was Feryal Defne Atli, who returns to the Mountaineers after a successful sophomore season averaging six points and 3.6 rebounds a game. Jayden McBride remains in the High Country after seeing action in 23 games; despite suffering injuries, she ranked third on the team in scoring, averaging 8.9 points per game. Her best performance came against Southern Miss on Jan. 10, when she scored 26 points on 10-for-14 shooting from the field while connecting on 6 of 7 attempts from beyond the arc. Addie Biel played a pivotal role off the bench, seeing action in 28 games. One of her best games in conference play came against Georgia State on Feb. 14, when she scored 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting while pulling down 10 rebounds for her first collegiate double-double. Riley Stoker and Isa Roman also played key roles as freshmen, seeing action in 27 and 23 games, respectively. Stoker's best game came in a close loss against Coastal Carolina on Feb. 18, when she posted a near double-double with 11 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
Newcomers in the High Country
Seven newcomers join the Mountaineers for the 2026-27 season, led by Radford transfer and Preseason All-Sun Belt Second Team honoree Joi Williams, who scored over 1,000 points in her three years with the Highlanders. Torin Rogers joins the Mountaineers after spending time at Richmond and UNC Wilmington; while with the Spiders, she reached the NCAA Tournament after winning the A10 regular-season and tournament championships in 2023-24. The Mountaineers also added a Power 4 transfer in Raven Preston, who arrives from Wake Forest, where she helped lead the Demon Deacons to a 9-0 start, their best since the 2008-09 season, while averaging 8.2 points and 5.6 rebounds before her season was cut short by injury. App State also welcomes transfers Camiah Muldrow from Cloud County Community College and Jadyn Atchison from UT Arlington, where Atchison averaged 8.2 points and three rebounds a game while scoring in double digits 14 times last season. Two standout freshmen join the Mountaineers this season: Zoe Smith from Chapel Hill High School and Jaida McClure from Providence Day.
Series History vs. Montreat College
This is the first meeting between the Mountaineers and the Cavaliers.
Scouting the Cavaliers
Montreat enters Wednesday's matchup 2-2 on the season, taking wins over Carolina University and Voorhees, but falling to Midway and Brescia in their first two games of the season.
An NAIA university, Montreat will face off against three Division I opponents over the 2026-27 season, beginning with App State, but also facing off against UNC Greensboro and UNC Asheville.
Montreat finished 11-17 (8-12 AAC) over 2025-26, falling to Milligan University in the quarterfinal of the AAC Tournament.
On the Horizon
The Mountaineers will hit the road for the next four, first taking on in-state foe in Davidson on Nov. 11, before heading to West Virginia to take on their first Power 4 opponent of the season in Northwestern on Nov. 14 as part of the Greenbrier Tip-Off.
