Season Opener Set for Mountaineers
The Appalachian State women's basketball team will begin the 2026‑27 season on November 2, traveling to Ypsilanti, Michigan, to take on Eastern Michigan in the opening clash of the MAC‑SBC Challenge. The game marks the first of twelve scheduled meetings that pit MAC programs against Sun Belt counterparts in a cross‑conference showcase designed to test teams early in the year.
Head coach Alaura Sharp, now in her third season with the Mountaineers, will guide a squad that finished last year with a 6‑6 record in the challenge. Sharp’s tenure has been marked by steady improvement, and the team hopes to build on a 65‑45 victory over Western Michigan that opened the previous campaign.
The MAC‑SBC Challenge brings together twelve basketball‑playing members of the Mid‑American Conference and fourteen from the Sun Belt, creating a unique inter‑regional slate. Four Sun Belt teams will sit out the November segment, leaving the remaining programs to contest the early round of matchups before the second phase of pairings is announced in mid‑January.
Fans will be able to follow the action live on ESPN+, which will stream the game and subsequent contests throughout the season. The broadcast partnership underscores the growing visibility of women's college basketball and provides a platform for the Mountaineers to reach a national audience.
The second round of the 2026‑27 challenge is slated for February 6, with Sun Belt women’s teams and MAC men’s teams hosting the contests. Pairings will be determined by a combination of real‑time NET rankings, geographic considerations, and historical contest frequency, ensuring a balanced and competitive schedule.