In an 80-51 victory over Appalachian State at the Hope Coliseum for Education Day, West Virginia women's basketball started the season 5-0 under head coach Mark Kellogg, who also earned his 500th career win. The game was played in front of the third-largest home crowd in program history with 10,067 in attendance, and Kellogg acknowledged the great energy while still expressing disappointment that his team didn't play up to their high internal standard. Despite shooting a season-best 56% from the field, including 20-of-26 on two-point attempts, the Mountaineers struggled from the free-throw line, making only 19 of 33 attempts—a "problem" Kellogg vowed to address. West Virginia pulled away by dominating the middle two quarters, highlighted by a 27-point second quarter that included six points each from Sydney Shaw and Jordan Thomas.
Due to the absence of starting point guard Jordan Harrison (serving an NCAA-mandated suspension), Gia Cooke stepped into the full-time point guard role and led all scorers with 19 points, demonstrating increased offensive aggressiveness in the second half by focusing on shots inside the arc and capitalizing on 7-of-9 free throws. Kierra 'Meme' Wheeler added 15 points despite poor free-throw shooting, and Jordan Thomas scored 10. The Mountaineer defense was key to the win, forcing 27 turnovers (including five steals each from Shaw and Wheeler) compared to just 13 for ASU, which helped overcome Appalachian State winning the rebounding battle. Coach Kellogg admitted the team struggled to refocus following the acclaim from their previous upset win over Duke, noting he had to push them in practice to maintain a high standard, despite the praise they received for their "Greenbrier Five" effort. Appalachian State was led by Emma Smith's 17 points.