Women's Basketball Announces 2013-14 Schedule
9/3/2013 12:00:00β―AM | Women's Basketball
BUFFALO, NY – The Buffalo women's basketball team announced its 2013-14 schedule on Tuesday, with a schedule that features plenty of action for a young team that finished last season full of hunger and on a high note after reaching the Mid-American Conference tournament's quarterfinal round. First up will be a non-conference schedule featuring eight rematches from last season, and seven road games to prepare the team to reach new heights in year two of the Felisha Legette-Jack era.
After a pair of exhibition games at home, the regular season will begin on the road Friday, Nov. 8 with a game against SUNY rival Binghamton. Following that, the team will play a midweek game at Youngstown State, Wednesday the 13th at 7 pm. The home season will begin on Saturday Nov. 16, with a 1 pm game in Alumni Arena against the Cornell Big Red. The opening month will come to a close with back-to-back Wednesday games; the 20th at Duquesne and the 27th at home against Big 4 rival Canisius.
"We are excited to release our 2013-14 schedule and we are one step closer to the start of the season," said Legette-Jack. "We will face challenging opponents through out the season and we will beginning with two exciting exhibitions against Mansfield and Buffalo State."
The month of December will be a challenge to the Bulls, with four of the month's five games coming in hostile gyms. On the first of the month, the team will take on ACC foe Pittsburgh in a rematch of last season's shootout that saw the two teams combine for 168 points. St. Francis (PA) will be the lone home game for UB, with a Dec. 4 game at Alumni scheduled for 7 pm. Following that, UB will play at Siena (Dec. 7), and round out the Big 4 season with games at St. Bonaventure (Dec. 17) and Niagara (Dec. 21) within a five-day span.
In the first day of 2014, the non-conference season will come to a close when the Bulls will host Roberts Wesleyan for a 2 pm game. That weekend, the MAC season begins with a Jan. 4 game at Bowling Green, with the team heading back out again just a few days later to take on Western Michigan Jan. 7. The team will then openly welcome a three-game home stand, though it comes against some of the top teams in the conference. On Jan. 12, defending conference champion Central Michigan comes to town, followed by NIT participant Toledo on Wednesday the 15th at 7 pm. To round out the trio of games against the MAC West, Eastern Michigan will take on UB on Saturday, Jan 18 at 2 pm as part of a doubleheader with the men's basketball team.
To close out the opening round of MAC West opponents, the Bulls will face Northern Illinois (Jan. 23) and Ball State (Jan. 26) in a far west road trip. The MAC East season resumes in force on Jan. 30, with Miami (OH) coming to Alumni arena for a 7 pm game, looking for revenge after the Bulls upset the RedHawks in the MAC tournament. After that, it will then be the Bulls turn to seek revenge, traveling to Akron for a Feb. 2 game against a Zips squad that was able to hold off UB and eventually reach the MAC tournament final.
Following a home game against the Ohio Bobcats on Feb. 6, the Bulls will play its final crossover games with a road game at Central Michigan (Feb. 9) and a home game versus Northern Illinois on Feb. 15. This comes thanks to the new 18-game conference format, with UB playing its respective division rivals twice, playing every MAC West opponent once, and two selected West teams a second time. After facing the Huskies at home, it will be division rivals from then on out, starting at Kent State Feb. 22. The road season ends with a Thursday game at Ohio (2/27) and a Saturday game at Miami (3/1), and the home and regular season will end with games against rivals Akron (3/5) and Kent State (3/8).
"We will be challenged each day in an extremely competitive Mid-American Conference," said Legette-Jack. "This league has taken great steps towards national recognition and we honored to be members of it."
The Bulls return eight players from last season's squad, while adding six talented players to the mix for the 2013-14.
Legette-Jack sums up her anticipation for the upcoming season with one message, "I am asking one and all to join with us as we grow our team to new found heights!"
