2020–21 Appalachian State Mountaineers women's basketball team

The 2020–21 Appalachian State Mountaineers women's basketball team represented Appalachian State University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The basketball team, led by second-year head coach Dustin Kerns, played all home games at the Holmes Center along with the Appalachian State Mountaineers men's basketball team. They were members of the Sun Belt Conference.

2020–21 Appalachian State Mountaineers women's basketball
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Record	15–12 (10–8 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Angel Elderkin (7th season)
Assistant coaches	Sam Pierce Jr. Kate Dempsey Cristina Centeno
Home arena	Holmes Center

2020–21 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
Troy †	15	–	2		.882			22	–	6		.786
Georgia State	9	–	7		.563			13	–	11		.542
Appalachian State	10	–	8		.556			15	–	12		.556
South Alabama	9	–	9		.500			13	–	13		.500
Georgia Southern	5	–	9		.357			11	–	13		.458
Coastal Carolina	0	–	13		.000			3	–	15		.167
West
Louisiana	13	–	1		.929			16	–	7		.696
UT Arlington	11	–	4		.733			13	–	7		.650
Little Rock	9	–	7		.563			15	–	11		.577
Texas State	7	–	8		.467			11	–	11		.500
Arkansas State	4	–	10		.286			9	–	12		.429
Louisiana–Monroe	1	–	15		.063			2	–	20		.091
† 2021 Sun Belt tournament winner As of July 7, 2024 Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

The Mountaineers finished the 2019–20 season 11–19, 8–10 in Sun Belt play to finish eighth place in the conference. They made it to the 2019-20 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball tournament where they were defeated by Little Rock in the First Round. Shortly after their elimination, the remainder of the tournament as well as all postseason play was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Notes
Nicola Mathews	4	G	5'8"	Senior	Adelaide, Australia	Graduated
Armani Hampton	14	G/F	5'11"	Senior	Winston–Salem, North Carolina	Graduated
Ashley Polacek	23	G	5'5"	Redshirt Senior	Ottawa, Canada	Graduated
Bayley Plummer	42	C/F	6'4"	Senior	Thomasville, North Carolina	Graduated

Recruiting

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Dane Bertolina Guard	Charlotte, NC	Charlotte Catholic HS	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	N/A	Jan 25, 2019
	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Faith Alston Guard	Centerville, VA	Paul VI Catholic HS	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)	N/A	Aug 7, 2019
	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Appalachian State 2020-21 Basketball Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 10, 2020. "2020-21 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 10, 2020.

Roster

2020–21 Appalachian State Mountaineers women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown PF 1 Maya Calder 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Sr National Christian Landover, MD F 1 A'Lea Gilbert 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) RS Fr South Mecklenburg HS Charlotte, NC G 3 Tierra Wilson 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) RS Jr RJ Reynolds HS Winston–Salem, NC G 4 Dane Bertolina 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Fr Charlotte Catholic HS Charlotte, NC G 5 Pre Stanley 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Sr Rockledge HS Rockledge, FL G 10 Michaela Porter 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Sr Obama Academy Pittsburgh, PA G 11 Faith Alston 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Fr Paul VI Catholic HS Centerville, VA F 15 Emma Newton 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) RS So Asheville Christian Asheville, NC G 20 Brooke Bigott 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Jr Seven Lakes HS Katy, TX G 23 Zahra Daniel 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Sr Miami Central HS Miami, FL G 24 Janay Sanders 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) RS So Mallard Creek HS Charlotte, NC 30 Lainey Gosnell 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Sr Habersham Central HS Demorest, GA F 44 Haile McDonald 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Jr Millbrook HS Winchester, VA F 50 Jackie Christ 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) So Dominion HS Sterling, VA	Head coach Angel Elderkin (Southern Maine) Assistant coach(es) Sam Pierce Jr. (Slippery Rock) Kate Dempsey (Wofford) Cristina Centeno (Siena) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: 10 December 2020

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site city, state
Non-conference Regular Season
11/25/2020* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Charlotte	W 74–68	1–0	20 – Stanley	11 – Porter	7 – Stanley	Holmes Center  Boone, NC
11/29/2020* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		UNC Asheville	W 70–60	2–0	25 – Stanley	13 – Gosnell	2 – Porter	Holmes Center (25) Boone, NC
12/04/2020* 4:00 p.m., ACC Network		at Virginia Tech	L 59–84	2–1	17 – Stanley	9 – TEAM	7 – Alston	Cassell Coliseum (250) Blacksburg, VA
12/11/2020* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		Davidson	L 64–67	2–2	26 – Stanley	10 – Gosnell	3 – Bigott	Holmes Center (25) Boone, NC
12/20/2020* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at East Tennessee State	W 69–66	3–2	16 – Stanley	7 – Porter	3 – Stanley	J. Madison Brooks Gymnasium  Johnson City, TN
12/22/2020* 12:00 p.m., SECN+		at RV Georgia	L 44–107	3–3	12 – Gosnell	5 – Gosnell	2 – Sanders	Stegeman Coliseum (625) Athens, GA
Conference Regular Season
01/01/2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Troy	W 78–66	4–3 (1–0)	24 – Stanley	14 – Porter	7 – Stanley	Trojan Arena (752) Troy, AL
01/02/2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Troy	L 65–85	4–4 (1–1)	13 – Gosnell	7 – Porter	5 – Alston	Trojan Arena (773) Troy, AL
01/08/2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Georgia Southern	L 56–87	4–5 (1–2)	13 – Porter	7 – Porter	6 – Alston	Hanner Fieldhouse (231) Statesboro, GA
01/09/2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Georgia Southern	W 70–58	5–5 (2–2)	17 – Bigott	11 – Bigott	4 – Stanley	Hanner Fieldhouse (213) Statesboro, GA
01/15/2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		South Alabama	L 63–66	5–6 (2–3)	18 – Stanley	10 – Gosnell	3 – Stanley	Holmes Center (55) Boone, NC
01/16/2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		South Alabama	W 71–52	6–6 (3–3)	16 – Porter	9 – Porter	4 – Stanley	Holmes Center (50) Boone, NC
01/22/2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Georgia State	W 71–68	7–6 (4–3)	26 – Stanley	8 – Stanley	3 – Stanley	GSU Sports Arena (488) Atlanta, GA
01/23/2021 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Georgia State	W 66–56	8–6 (5–3)	29 – Stanley	13 – Porter	3 – Stanley	GSU Sports Arena (445) Atlanta, GA
01/29/2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		Troy	L 60–80	8–7 (5–4)	18 – Gosnell	7 – Porter	5 – Bigott	Holmes Center (50) Boone, NC
01/30/2021 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Troy	L 52–74	8–8 (5–5)	15 – Sanders	7 – Calder	2 – Alston	Holmes Center (50) Boone, NC
02/05/2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		Georgia State	L 62–72	8–9 (5–6)	21 – Gosnell	8 – Gosnell	3 – Alston	Holmes Center (55) Boone, NC
02/06/2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Georgia State	L 48–50	8–10 (5–7)	14 – Gosnell	10 – Gosnell	4 – Stanley	Holmes Center (55) Boone, NC
02/10/2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Coastal Carolina	W 72–58	9–10 (6–7)	23 – Bigott	9 – Porter	5 – Sanders	HTC Center (63) Conway, SC
02/13/2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Coastal Carolina	W 79–65	10–10 (7–7)	16 – Gosnell	8 – Stanley	4 – Stanley	Holmes Center (25) Boone, NC
02/19/2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at South Alabama	L 51–56	10–11 (7–8)	16 – Sanders	12 – Gosnell	4 – Alston	Mitchell Center (334) Mobile, AL
02/20/2021 3:00 p.m., ESPN+		at South Alabama	W 58–56	11–11 (8–8)	17 – Stanley	8 – Stanley	2 – Porter	Mitchell Center (343) Mobile, AL
02/26/2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		Georgia Southern	W 77–66	12–11 (9–8)	18 – Stanley	10 – Gosnell	6 – Stanley	Holmes Center (47) Boone, NC
02/27/2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Georgia Southern	W 81–78	13–11 (10–8)	23 – Gosnell	9 – Gosnell	4 – Stanley	Holmes Center (86) Boone, NC
Sun Belt Tournament
03/05/2021 12:00 pm, ESPN+	(E3)	vs. (W6) Louisiana–Monroe First Round	W 70–60	14–11	14 – Porter	9 – Gosnell	7 – Alston	Pensacola Bay Center  Pensacola, FL
03/06/2021 12:30 pm, ESPN+	(E3)	vs. (W2) UT Arlington Quarterfinals	W 54–46	15–11	24 – Stanley	9 – Bigott	2 – Stanley	Hartsell Arena (148) Pensacola, FL
03/07/2021 12:00 pm, ESPN+	(E3)	vs. (E1) Troy Semifinals	L 63–66	15–12	29 – Stanley	14 – Stanley	3 – Alston	Pensacola Bay Center  Pensacola, FL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

See also

• 2020–21 Appalachian State Mountaineers men's basketball team