The Appalachian State women's basketball program has had just one winning season since a surprise Southern Conference Tournament championship in 1999.
Last season was no different. The Mountaineers were 9-22.
"It was like, ‘When is the season going to be over with?'" guard Sam Ramirez said. "We were just trying to get through the season. We were hoping the season would hurry up and end so we could do what we have to do to get ready for next season."
What the Mountaineers did to get ready worked, in significantly quick fashion, and they will enter this weekend's Southern Conference Tournament with twice as many wins as last season. ASU is 18-11 overall and went 14-6 in the SoCon, good enough for a second-place tie.
In one sense, it isn't a complete surprise. Darcie Vincent, who took over last season, is a proven winner. She coached California (Pa.) to a Division II national title in 2004 and, in 14 seasons as a head coach is 291-134.
But the fact that the turnaround happened so quickly, and happened with a team of mostly freshmen and sophomores, is a bit of a stunner.
"I pinch myself a lot," Vincent said. "This program was on a completely different path. This is a 180-degree turn. These kids have really just bought into it. This season has been a lot more fun."
Ramirez, who was named to the coaches' All-Southern Conference team this week, said: "We have shocked a lot of people. To double our wins in just one season, and to do it with such a young team, is very gratifying.
"Coming into this season, personally, I didn't know we would be as good. I didn't expect this. But as the season kept going I just thought, ‘We have a lot of potential.' We all started seeing it."
Vincent said that a new staff of assistants has clicked, and the addition of new players has been a major factor.
Ramirez, one of the few holdovers from last season, has been a steadying force -- she ranks second in the SoCon in assists and averages 13.5 points. But freshmen Ashlen Dewart and Anna Freeman have given the Mountaineers something they didn't have.
"We needed a post game," Vincent said. "They completed the puzzle."
Dewart, a 6-3 forward, leads the team in scoring (14.7 ppg) and the SoCon in field-goal accuracy (53 percent). Freeman, a 6-0 forward from Thomasville and the team captain as a freshman, leads the league in blocked shots (2.9 a game) and is second in rebounding (8.3 a game).
"It's unbelievable how well the freshmen have played," Vincent said.
The Mountaineers don't have a senior who has played this season. Ramirez is the only junior.
That bodes well for the future, but the future might be now for a team that went 11-2 down the stretch and wound up with the most wins by an ASU team since 1995-96.
Chattanooga, which has won seven SoCon championships and has won or shared 11 regular-season titles since 1998-99, has shown some vulnerability this season -- losing four league games and escaping with a three-point home win against the Mountaineers three weeks ago.
"This year it's just a completely different feeling because you know you have a shot at winning the whole thing," Vincent said. "We're three games away from the NCAA Tournament and winning the conference tournament. We've competed all year against everybody, so we're walking into the tournament for the first time thinking it can be us winning it."
tbowman@wsjournal.com
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