ASU women clinch No. 1 seed
Of the 21 victories that Appalachian State’s women’s basketball team has racked up this season, perhaps none are more definitive than last night’s 57-56 victory over Chattanooga.
The Mountaineers clinched at least a share of the Southern Conference regular-season title – their first since 1996 – and locked up the No. 1 seed for the SoCon Tournament, which will begin March 3 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The milestone victory came on the road against a Chattanooga program that has dominated SoCon basketball for more than a decade. The Mocs, whose string of 11 straight Southern Conference regular-season titles has ended, hadn’t lost to an ASU team at home since 1998.
Kelsey Sharkey, a sophomore forward, put the Mountaineers ahead for good after securing an offensive rebound and scoring on a layup with 11 seconds left to propel the Mountaineers to their 11th straight victory, their longest winning streak since the 1993-94 season.
ASU (21-4 overall, 15-2 SoCon) has a 2½-game lead over second-place Samford with three regular-season games remaining. The Mountaineers, whose 15 SoCon victories are the most in program history, can secure the regular-season title outright with one more victory, or a loss by Samford.
The Mountaineers will close the regular-season with home games against Wofford, Georgia Southern and UNC Greensboro.