The post-Maya Moore era is officially underway as the 2011-12 UConn women’s basketball schedule was released today. Here’s the press release from UConn:
STORRS, Conn. – The University of Connecticut women’s basketball team has announced its 2011-12 schedule. The 30-game slate includes 16 games against teams that qualified for the 2011 NCAA Tournament and six opponents that finished the season rated in the top-11 of the RPI. In addition to the 30-game schedule, the Huskies will also play a pair of exhibition contests.
2011-12 women’s basketball season tickets are on sale now. For more information contact the UConn Ticket Office at 1-877-AT-UCONN or log onto UConnHuskies.com.
The Huskies will square-off against each of the three 2011 NCAA Tournament Final Four teams (Texas A&M, Notre Dame and Stanford).
UConn will once again have a persistent presence on national television as nine contests will be nationally televised. Seven games will be carried on the ESPN family of networks, one game will be on CBS and one will be televised by CBS Sports Network.
Connecticut’s first exhibition showdown will be against Assumption on Thursday, November 3. The Greyhounds finished the 2010-11 season with a 22-8 overall record and advanced to the Regional Semifinal of the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Championship.
The Huskies will round out the exhibition portion of the schedule with a game against Pace on Wednesday, November 9. Pace rounded out 2010-11 with a 24-9 record and advanced to the Regional Semifinal of the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Championship.
UConn will open the 2011-12 season on Sunday, November 13 against Holy Cross. The Crusaders were 10-20 last season and dropped a 117-37 decision to the Huskies in the 2010-11 season opener. Connecticut is 19-2 all-time against Holy Cross, including 13-0 at home. UConn has not lost to HC since the 1986-87 season.
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Connecticut will then welcome Pacific to the Nutmeg State on Tuesday, November 15. The Tigers finished 9-22 last season and were the final victory of Connecticut’s record-breaking 90-game winning streak as the Huskies downed Pacific by an 85-42 margin on December 28, 2010. That game marked the only other contest between the two squads.
The team that snapped the streak, Stanford, is next on the docket for UConn as the Huskies will take on the Cardinal on Monday, November 21 on ESPNU. Connecticut dropped a 71-57 decision to Stanford on December 30, 2010 in Palo Alto. Prior to that loss, UConn had defeated Stanford three-straight times.
The Huskies will remain at home to play host to the 2011 World Vision Classic from Friday, November 25 – Sunday, November 27 at Gampel Pavilion. Connecticut will welcome Buffalo, Dayton and Fairleigh Dickinson to Storrs for the event and will play the second of the two games each day. UConn will play FDU on Friday at 7:30, Buffalo on Saturday at 7:30 and Dayton on Sunday at 4:30. FDU was 14-16 overall and 7-11 in the Northeast Conference last season while Buffalo was 16-15, 8-8 in the MAC. Dayton had a solid season in 2010-11, posting a 21-11 overall record, including a 9-5 mark in the Atlantic 10 and advanced to the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Next up for the Huskies is a home game against Towson on Wednesday, November 30. Towson sported a 9-21 record last year and posted a 3-15 mark in the CAA. The Huskies eighth-straight home game will come on Tuesday, December 6 against defending national champion Texas A&M in the Jimmy V Classic, which will be hosted by UConn and televised by ESPN2. The game will mark the first matchup between the Huskies and Aggies. A&M finished the season with a 33-5 overall record, tied for second in the BIG 12 with a 13-3 mark and finished No. 6 in the RPI.
Connecticut will then hit the road for the first time to face a tough test at Baylor on Sunday, December 18 in Waco, Texas. The Baylor game will be televised on ESPN. Baylor won the Big 12 with a 15-1 record and advanced to the regional final of the NCAA Tournament on the strength of a 35-3 overall record. The Lady Bears lost to the Huskies by a 65-64 margin at the XL Center on November 16 of last season in a game that pitted the nation’s two top-ranked teams and saw the Huskies improve to 2-0 all-time against Baylor.
From Waco, UConn will travel to Charleston, S.C. to take on the College of Charleston on Wednesday, December 21. C of C was 9-19 overall last season and registered a 7-13 mark in the Southern Conference.
Following the Christmas break, the Huskies will return home to take on Fairfield. That contest is scheduled for Thursday, December 29 but may be moved to Wednesday, December 28 as that is the first week of the BIG EAST men’s basketball schedule and the league reserves the right to schedule the UConn men to play on December 29. Fairfield put together a 17-13 record last season and went 10-8 in the MAAC.
Connecticut will play its final non-conference home game on Monday, January 16 when the team squares-off against North Carolina on ESPN2. The Tar Heels finished 26-8 in 2010-11 and were 8-6 in the ACC. The Heels are one of six non-conference opponents that advanced to the 2011 NCAA Regional semifinal. UConn is 6-5 all-time against UNC and has won four-straight meetings.
The Huskies will take on another ACC opponent when the team travels to Durham, N.C. for a showdown with Duke on Monday, January 30 on ESPN2. The Blue Devils were the RPI’s second-ranked team last year following a 29-3 overall record. Duke posted a 12-2 ACC record, tied Miami for the regular-season championship and won the conference tournament. Duke’s season ended with a 75-40 defeat to UConn in the Philadelphia Regional Final on March 29, 2011. The Huskies are 7-3 all-time against Duke and have won four-straight vs. the Blue Devils by an average of 32.5 points per game.
UConn’s final non-conference game will be a February 13 tilt at Oklahoma. The Sooners were 21-11 last season and finished in a tie for third with a 10-6 record in Big 12 action. A Sweet 16 team last season, OU is 0-9 all-time against the Huskies. The OU game will be televised on ESPN2.
The Huskies will play their first road game of the 2011-12 season on Friday, December 9 at Seton Hall. The contest will also be UConn’s BIG EAST Conference opener. In addition to the Pirates, Connecticut is scheduled to play Notre Dame, Villanova, DePaul, Syracuse, Louisville, Pittsburgh and Marquette on the road. The Huskies will square-off against West Virginia, Providence, Cincinnati, South Florida, Rutgers, Georgetown, St. John’s and Notre Dame at home.
Additional game times and CPTV local television information will be released at a later date. Schedule information is subject to change. Check UConnHuskies.com for the most up-to-date schedule information.
2011-12 Schedule Notes
- 16 of UConn’s 30 games will come against opponents that qualified for the 2011 NCAA Tournament
- Three opponents won or shared their league’s regular-season title –
- Four opponents finished ranked in the top-six of the RPI
- 10 opponents finished ranked in the top-23 of the RPI
- Three opponents advanced to the 2011 Final Four and Texas A&M won the National Championship
- Five opponents advanced to the 2011 Elite Eight
- 10 opponents advanced to the 2011 Sweet 16
- 12 true road games, 18 homes games
- UConn will play a home-and-home series with national runner-up Notre Dame
- Seven games on the ESPN family of networks, one game on CBS and one game on CBS Sports Network
2011-12 UConn Huskies Women’s Basketball Schedule
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