UNC Charlotte is hoping that yesterday’s win is an omen of things to come. The women’s DII college set a program first when it beat southern powerhouse Appalachian State (AHO) 25-15 in the teams’ Carolinas conference opener.

“You may find it absurd, but we have never beat AHO – not friendly or competitively,” said UNCC coach and alum Jessica James. “So you can imagine our amazement and excitement, as we just made history. That win set a true precedent for the rest of our season, and we will continue to work hard to bang out more wins.”

Appalachian State was at the forefront of collegiate news last spring. The team had won its DII national quarterfinal by 12 points and was on its way to the Final Four in Stanford. But a handful of inhibitors forced the team to forfeit its berth, and its quarterfinal opponent, Mary Washington, took AHO's place. Mary Washington ended up winning the national DII title.

UNCC runs young – only two players have three years of experience – and the alumni coaching staff is still struggling to cement certain fundamentals, i.e., sound tackling. Pair that shortcoming with a strong opponent, and the odds were favoring Appalachian State on Saturday.

“AHO won many of the rucks,” James said. “Their speed and strength is unquestionable. They are very well fit and super knowledgeable about the game. For a team that is juggling to find a consistent coach, they are very well guided and sure of themselves. I have always been in awe of their cohesiveness.”

But the Appalachian State defense had its holes, and outside center Sheaon Mayes was especially keen to exploit them. Mayes’ line-breaks produced a hat trick – two in the first half, one in the second. Scrumhalf Faith Sallee peeled off a ruck for the third first-half try, while prop Kathrin Griffin took a penalty play over the line in the second stanza.

AHO had its successes, too, but James was pleasantly surprised by the team defense and performance in the scrum, and those areas of dominance greatly influenced the result.

“We had not devoted much time in practice to our scrums, so we were quite nervous about them going into the game,” James said. “But with teamwork and drive, everything played out in our favor.

“Our defense was also pretty good,” James added. “We definitely need to improve on our tackles, but we were able hold up a try and strip the ball in their try zone. I will admit AHO had superb runs – they broke out of many of our tackles – but our fullback, Danielle Moore, caught around 90% of their breakaways. Without her, AHO probably would have scored on us multiple times.”

The UNCC vs. Appalachian State game was the only matrix match to occur in the Carolinas conference thus far. UNC Greensboro forfeited its game to South Carolina on Saturday, and the College of Charleston – typically a title contender – won a 29-12 friendly against UNC Wilmington. Now that UNCC knows it can beat the traditionally strongest team in the region, there's no reason to doubt that the Mean Green can win the conference this year.

"We are slowly but surely getting there, and I could not be more proud of our progress," James concluded.