App State women’s basketball announced Aug. 8 the 2023-24 schedule as they look towards a bounce-back season.
On Nov. 6 the Mountaineers kick off their season in an interstate battle as UNC Greensboro makes the trip up the mountain. Historically, the Black and Gold have dominated against the Spartans, winning 12 of the 14 meetings since 2009. However, UNC Greensboro comes off a winning season at 16-14.
App State follows up with a home game against the Ohio Bobcats in the SBC vs. MAC Challenge, a series where Sun Belt teams each face a Mid-American team. This matchup will be the first between the two programs and a matchup that favors the Mountaineers. The Bobcats are coming off a six win season that put them at the bottom of their conference standings.
The first away game will be a rematch of last year’s loss against Norfolk State. In a close game, the Mountaineers lost 70-75 in Boone. This year’s game comes just a week before a Thanksgiving road trip for the Black and Gold.
As a part of the Thanksgiving Basketball Clasico, App State will travel to San Juan, Puerto Rico, to play back-to-back games against Furman and Binghamton. The first of the two games will be played on Thanksgiving Day and the second played on Black Friday. Both opponents are coming off below-average seasons, but they won’t be easy games to win.
The Black and Gold then return to North Carolina to face a familiar opponent, the Davidson Wildcats. Last season, the two teams went toe-to-toe for four quarters, but in a close one the Mountaineers came out on top, 84-80. The previous matchup was hosted in Boone, so this season’s game will be played on Davidson’s home court.
To start December, App State hosts the College of Charleston for their first meeting in five years. The Mountaineers will look to rekindle the streak of dominance they held against the Cougars in the 2010s. This will be the last home game before a difficult three-game road trip.
Starting in Richmond, Virginia, the Mountaineers face the Richmond Spiders, a team that produced more than 20 wins last season. They then travel back to North Carolina to play the Gardner-Webb bulldogs in Boiling Springs. The Black and Gold hope to push the win streak to three games against the non-conference rival. Finally, two days later, App State makes the trip to Milwaukee to go head-to-head against the Marquette Golden Eagles, a 2022-23 NCAA tournament team.
Before conference games begin, the Mountaineers return home to compete against Mercer. In the two previous matchups, both teams have one win with the Bears getting the best of the Black and Gold in 2021.
Ending December and beginning the new year, App State looks to improve upon their 6-12 record against conference teams last year. Conference play starts with an away game against the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns.
The first six games of 2024 rotate between a two game homestand, two game road trip and another two games in Boone. The Mountaineers first host Texas State and South Alabama, then travel to play Georgia Southern and Georgia State and ending with two games at the Holmes Center versus Coastal Carolina and Georgia Southern.
App State’s next four games come on a two-week road trip where they play against Old Dominion, James Madison, Marshall and Coastal Carolina. In that span, they will travel over 1,500 miles and into three different states.
The Black and Gold come home just days after the long trip to face off against ULM, one of the worst teams in the Sun Belt last year, winning three conference games and only seven games in total.
App State takes a small break from the conference schedule to face a different Mid-American team in a continuation of the SBC vs. MAC Challenge. Currently, the opponent is undecided, but come January, the Mountaineers opponent will be announced.
Matching the four-game road trip just a few weeks prior, App State hosts four straight home games against Marshall, Georgia State, Old Dominion and James Madison. In the closing weeks of the season, a four-game homestand could be vital to the standings of the Sun Belt for the Mountaineers.
The final two games of the season are on the road against the Troy Trojans and the Arkansas State Red Wolves, two teams that finished above the Black and Gold in the conference standings a year ago.
Beginning March 5, the Mountaineers will enter the Sun Belt Tournament to fight for a spot in the NCAA tournament, which would be their first appearance since 1999.
