University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Women's Basketball Announces 2016-17 Schedule
09.07.2016 | Women's Basketball
ASHEVILLE, N.C.- Thirteen home games and a tournament at Fordham University highlight the 2016-17 UNC Asheville women's basketball schedule, announced today by fifth-year head coach Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick.
"This season's schedule will be rigorous due to the level of competition we are going to see and also the challenge of playing more games on the road. Opening the season at Virginia Tech from the ACC will set a tone for the kind of rigor that we will face. We have several Southern Conference schools on the slate that are always great tests preparing us for Big South competition. Our non-conference travel will be highlighted by a trip to New York City in which we will participate in Fordham's holiday tournament giving our students the opportunity to see one of the most visited cities in the world,” said head coach Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick.
The non-conference schedule includes a fellow 2015-16 NCAA qualifier in the University of Buffalo, whom the Bulldogs will have the opportunity to face in a holiday tournament at Fordham.
The Big South Conference also announced the release of the 2016-17 composite women's basketball schedule earlier this morning. The 90-game schedule gives each team including the defending Big South Conference Champions UNC Asheville, 18 games playing all ten members of the League twice beginning on January 3.
“The Big South is a battle each year and something we look forward to. We have each team home and away once again this year which produces a true conference champion leading into the conference tournament at Liberty University. As a team we talk about opportunities more than challenges. We are going to embrace every opponent knowing that it's an opportunity to showcase what we are made of and certainly to get better. This is a fun group to coach and I am excited to get started," Kirkpatrick said.
Asheville opens the year on the road at Virginia Tech on Friday, November 11 at 3:00 p.m. before traveling to UNC Greensboro on November 14 at 6:00 p.m.
The Bulldogs' home opener inside Kimmel Arena will be a mountain rivalry matchup against Western Carolina University on November 18 at 7:00 p.m. followed by two additional home games against Tennessee Tech on Friday, November 25 and Warren Wilson on November 29.
Following their early home stint the Bulldogs will return to the road where they face local Southern Conference rival, Furman University at their place after defeating the Paladins 84-71 in Kimmel Arena in 2015 to tie the best start in program history (9-1).
Asheville will add some non-traditional play at Fordham University's Holiday tournament in New York City on December 29-30. The Bulldogs will open tournament play against Harvard on December 29 at 2:30 p.m. (EST), before playing the winner of the University of Buffalo and Fordham on Friday the 30th.
The Bulldogs will open conference play at home inside Kimmel Arena against the Camels of Campbell University before going on the road to Farmville, VA to face the Longwood University Lancers on January 7 and Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C. on Tuesday the 10th at 7:00 p.m.
Other Conference schedule highlights include Asheville's first shot at a Big South Championship rematch against the Liberty Flames inside Kimmel Arena on Saturday, January 21 at 2:00 p.m. before heading to Lynchburg for the second round in their next-to-last conference game on Monday, February 27 at 7:00 p.m.
For their final appearance in regular-season play, Asheville will host Gardner-Webb University for the second round in the Battle of the Bulldogs on Saturday, March 4 at 2:00 p.m..
The 2016-17 Big South Conference Championship will be hosted by Liberty University in the Commonwealth of Virginia for the first time since 2002. The four-day event will take place on March 9-12 with the two first round games broadcast on the Big South Network, followed by the quarterfinals (March 10), semifinals (March 11) and finals (March 12) on ESPN3.
