ASU women earn post-season berth
by Steve Behr Sports Editor
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com
Appalachian State's women's basketball team also gets a chance to join March Madness when it accepted a bid to play in the Women's Basketball Invitational.
The Mountaineers (19-12), seeded No. 1 in the East bracket, will play at Charleston Southern Thursday night at 7. Should the Mountaineers win, they would play the winner of fourth-seeded Towsend and fifth-seeded Fairfield.
Appalachian State head coach Darcie Vincent said the Mountaineers could have hosted a game, but chose to open the tournament away from the Holmes Center for a simple reason.
"We play better on the road," Vincent said. "We talked it over with the team and agreed to go on the road and win the first one to get the nerves out."
Vincent has a point. Appalachian State was 8-6 overall at the Holmes Center, 6-4 in Southern Conference games. Away from home, the Mountaineers were 9-5 in other teams' gyms, 8-2 in opposing SoCon gyms and 2-1 at neutral sites.
Vincent brings a young team that starts two freshmen - forward Anna Freeman and center Ashlen Dewart. Sophomore T.C. Weldon has settled into the point guard position and junior Sam Ramirez has 30 starts at the shooting-guard spot.
Freshmen Courtney Freeman and Kelsey Sharkey, and sophomores Canesha Edwards and Catherine Williams have all been in the starting lineup at different times.
Vincent downplayed any added value of extra practice time, saying the game experience of playing in the post-season will pay dividends should the Mountaineers reach the NCAA Tournament in the future.
Appalachian State made the Southern Conference Tournament semifinals before losing 66-53 to Samford.
"It will prepare us for the post-season mentally," Vincent said. "Next year, we're shooting to go to the next level. This year, we were very close. We were close to going to the NCAAs and we were very close to getting into the WNIT. You play in these things so when you get to the NCAAs, you're not so overwhelmed. It's just a different stage."
Charleston Southern (17-13, 9-7 Big South) finished in a tie for third place in the Big South. The Buccaneers are 12-4 at home and 1-1 against SoCon foes. They beat UNC Greensboro 56-54, but lost to College of Charleston 64-59.
Notes: Appalachian State won the Southern Conference's Pack the House challenge when 1,576 attended the Mountaineers' 72-61 victory over Davidson on Jan. 11. The team was awarded $500 to give to its favorite charity.
"It was a tremendous honor," Vincent said. "I think for years they've struggled to put people in the seats and so many people worked hard to get people there."
Vincent said the donation would go to the March of Dimes. The university will host an event involving the March of Dimes on April 18, when the check will be presented.
• Michelle Taylor, a 5-foot-8 guard from Tampa, Fla., committed to play college basketball at Appalachian State.
sports@wataugademocrat.com
Appalachian State's women's basketball team also gets a chance to join March Madness when it accepted a bid to play in the Women's Basketball Invitational.
The Mountaineers (19-12), seeded No. 1 in the East bracket, will play at Charleston Southern Thursday night at 7. Should the Mountaineers win, they would play the winner of fourth-seeded Towsend and fifth-seeded Fairfield.
Appalachian State head coach Darcie Vincent said the Mountaineers could have hosted a game, but chose to open the tournament away from the Holmes Center for a simple reason.
"We play better on the road," Vincent said. "We talked it over with the team and agreed to go on the road and win the first one to get the nerves out."
Vincent has a point. Appalachian State was 8-6 overall at the Holmes Center, 6-4 in Southern Conference games. Away from home, the Mountaineers were 9-5 in other teams' gyms, 8-2 in opposing SoCon gyms and 2-1 at neutral sites.
Vincent brings a young team that starts two freshmen - forward Anna Freeman and center Ashlen Dewart. Sophomore T.C. Weldon has settled into the point guard position and junior Sam Ramirez has 30 starts at the shooting-guard spot.
Freshmen Courtney Freeman and Kelsey Sharkey, and sophomores Canesha Edwards and Catherine Williams have all been in the starting lineup at different times.
Vincent downplayed any added value of extra practice time, saying the game experience of playing in the post-season will pay dividends should the Mountaineers reach the NCAA Tournament in the future.
Appalachian State made the Southern Conference Tournament semifinals before losing 66-53 to Samford.
"It will prepare us for the post-season mentally," Vincent said. "Next year, we're shooting to go to the next level. This year, we were very close. We were close to going to the NCAAs and we were very close to getting into the WNIT. You play in these things so when you get to the NCAAs, you're not so overwhelmed. It's just a different stage."
Charleston Southern (17-13, 9-7 Big South) finished in a tie for third place in the Big South. The Buccaneers are 12-4 at home and 1-1 against SoCon foes. They beat UNC Greensboro 56-54, but lost to College of Charleston 64-59.
Notes: Appalachian State won the Southern Conference's Pack the House challenge when 1,576 attended the Mountaineers' 72-61 victory over Davidson on Jan. 11. The team was awarded $500 to give to its favorite charity.
"It was a tremendous honor," Vincent said. "I think for years they've struggled to put people in the seats and so many people worked hard to get people there."
Vincent said the donation would go to the March of Dimes. The university will host an event involving the March of Dimes on April 18, when the check will be presented.
• Michelle Taylor, a 5-foot-8 guard from Tampa, Fla., committed to play college basketball at Appalachian State.