BOONE, N.C. — The App State women's basketball team closed out the regular season Friday with a 74-65 home loss to Old Dominion on Senior Night. The Mountaineers will enter the 2026 Sun Belt Basketball Championship as the No. 13 seed and face No. 12 seed South Alabama on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. ET (ESPN+).
Prior to tipoff, the Mountaineers (11-18, 4-14 SBC) honored seniors
Jada Burton,
Emily Hege, Zoë McCrary,
Elena Pericic and
Emma Smith.
Pericic hit a clutch 3-pointer with three minutes remaining to bring App State within six, but the Monarchs held on at the free-throw line to secure the victory.
Smith led the way for App State, nearly recording a triple-double with 13 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Rebounding proved to be the difference-maker, as ODU (17-13, 9-9 SBC) held a 46-33 advantage on the glass.
Despite an early 6-0 run by the Mountaineers, ODU surged to a nine-point lead in the first period. Smith provided the spark to keep App State within striking distance, tallying six points and a steal to close the first quarter with the Mountaineers trailing 23-18.
In the second quarter, an early 3-pointer from Pericic and scores from Burton pulled the Mountaineers within 30-25. However, the Monarchs answered with a 12-3 run to close the half as App State missed 11 consecutive field goals. Smith finished the half with team-highs in points (seven), rebounds (four) and assists (four).
Trailing by 16 to start the third quarter, the Mountaineers opened with a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to single digits, highlighted by a three-point play from
Daisia Mitchell. App State forced five turnovers in the period to fuel its transition game. While the Mountaineers outscored ODU in the period, the Monarchs maintained a 59-46 lead heading into the fourth. Mitchell and Hege combined for 11 of the team's 18 points in the quarter, shooting 75 percent from the floor.
Mitchell opened the final quarter with a solo 5-0 run, followed by a Pericic fastbreak layup that cut the ODU lead to seven. The teams traded buckets down the stretch, with the margin hovering around 10 before the Monarchs answered Pericic's long-range jumper with timely free-throw shooting.
Up Next
The 13th-seeded Mountaineers travel to Pensacola, Florida, for the 2026 Sun Belt Basketball Championships. They will open the tournament against South Alabama (12-17, 5-13 SBC) on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. ET. App State won the lone regular season meeting, prevailing 60-57 in Boone on Jan. 29.
