2011-12 NSU Women's Basketball Schedule
NORFOLK, Va. – Head Coach Debra Clark and the Norfolk State women's basketball team released the 2011-12 schedule today, with five home non-conference games as well as the usual eight MEAC contests highlighting this upcoming season's home slate.
NSU will host six games in November and December, including Savannah State and South Carolina State for a MEAC weekend series Dec. 3 and 5, as well as William & Mary and Radford. The Spartans will also welcome George Mason on Jan. 2 before getting into the heart of conference play against UMES and Howard at Joseph Echols Hall.
“We wanted to be at home as much as possible,” said Clark, “and with some of these being return games, it will put us at a very good comfort level, both playing at home and against familiar opponents, as we get going early on in our season.”
The Spartans will play an exhibition game at Elizabeth City State Nov. 7 before flying out to Houston to take on Texas Southern in the regular season opener Nov. 11. NSU's first home contest will occur Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. when Chowan comes to town. Following a Saturday-Monday series at Wofford and USC Upstate, the Spartans will come back to Echols for a post-Thanksgiving matchup against Virginia Union Nov. 26 at 4 p.m.
Two days later, William & Mary will make the short trek south for a 6 p.m. contest in Norfolk, followed by the Savannah State-South Carolina State homestand Dec. 3 and 5. All MEAC conference games at Echols Hall will start at 4 p.m. on Saturdays and 6 p.m. on Mondays.
More state of Virginia opponents follow as the Spartans play at Longwood Dec. 11, host Radford Dec. 16 at 6 p.m. and then head to Virginia Commonwealth Dec. 20. NSU will finish out the calendar year at the Hawk Holiday Classic Dec. 29-30 at Monmouth, facing the host Hawks and then either Villanova or St. Bonaventure the next day. The final non-conference game will take place Jan. 2 against George Mason at Echols Hall.
NSU hosted Wofford during the 2010-11 season and faced William & Mary and George Mason on the road. The Spartans haven't played Longwood and VCU since the 2006-07 season and Radford since 2004-05.
“We believe we can be competitive in our non-conference schedule, which will give us confidence and momentum heading into our conference schedule,” Clark stated. “We've got a great chance to compete with these other teams as we continue to break in a lot of young players.”
UMES and Howard get things rolling Jan. 7 and 9 as the full conference season gets underway, and after those two home games the Spartans will head to Baltimore to face Coppin State and Morgan State Jan. 14 and 16. After playing the Battle of the Bay at Hampton Jan. 21, the two Baltimore schools make the return trip to Norfolk Jan. 28 and 30.
The Spartans will face Delaware State and UMES on the road Feb. 4 and 6, followed by Saturday contests at home against Hampton and Delaware State Feb. 11 and 18, respectively. NSU will finish out the regular season at Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M Feb. 25 and 27 and then at North Carolina A&T March 1. The MEAC tournament will take place March 5-10 at the LJVM Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C., and the addition of Savannah State and North Carolina Central will mark a Monday start to the tournament this season.
“This year's conference schedule will be different than what we are used to playing, especially with the two new teams entering the league,” said Clark. “It is something we will have to get used to, but it's also a schedule we're really looking forward to this year.”
NSU finished 9-19 overall last season, 2-14 in the conference, and had the most overall wins since 2004-05. NSU will return 10 of last season's 12 letterwinners in addition to an incoming four-member recruiting class.
