UB Women's Basketball Releases 2011-12 Schedule
9/9/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
BUFFALO, NY – Seventh-year head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald has announced the 2011-12 women's basketball schedule including 14 non-conference games to kick off the year.
The Bulls begin the season with their first two games on the road, opening up at Big 4 rival Niagara on Nov. 11. UB will then head to Duquesne on Nov. 14 before opening the home portion of its schedule on Nov. 19 against Bucknell. The Bulls will then play their next four games away from Alumni Arena beginning a stretch that will see them play two Big East teams. UB heads to Syracuse on Nov. 22 and then continues on to Storrs, CT for the World Vision Classic Thanksgiving Weekend (Nov. 25-27). The Bulls will be challenged facing Dayton first and then perenial power Connecticut on Saturday night. UB wraps up the weekend against Fairleigh Dickinson. Buffalo will close out November at home in a rematch of its first round Women's Basketball Invitational game against Wright State on Nov. 30.
The Bulls will remain home as they open up December with a game against Canisius on Dec. 7. They will finish Big 4 competition on Dec. 10 at St. Bonaventure before breaking for finals. Following a 10-day break, the Bulls head to Washington, DC to face Howard on Dec. 20 and then return home to host Oakland on Dec. 22. UB will complete non-conference play on Dec. 29-30 as it heads to Ames, IA for the Cyclone Challenge. The Bulls will play NJIT on Dec. 29 and then either New Hampshire or Iowa State on Dec. 30.
"This year's non-confernece schedule poses one of the biggest challenges in the history of our program," said Hill-MacDonald. "With UConn topping the list of major teams that we will play, we enter this season ready to face our opponents with determination and pride. Among the other perennial powers that we will face are Dayton, Syracuse and Iowa State. I believe that the level of competition that we face will help prepare us to compete at a high level when the MAC portion of our schedule arrives in January."
UB will begin league play on the road at Ohio on Jan. 4 and will play each member of the MAC East twice, once at home and once on the road. The Bulls will also play each member of the MAC West once, hosting Central Michigan, Toledo and Eastern Michigan. UB will travel to the three furthest schools in the MAC with road contests against Western Michigan, Ball State and Northern Illinois.
The Bulls will close out their regular season schedule on the road travelling to Akron on Feb. 28. The 2012 Mid-American Conference Tournament will be the first with the new seeding format. Opening round games will be on Saturday,March 3 at campus sites with second round contests in Cleveland starting on March. 7. Both the men and the women will play two games each day at the Quicken Loans Arena leading up to the Finals on March 10.
