Murray State University Athletics
Women’s Basketball Unveils 2011-12 Schedule
8/10/2011 10:28:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Murray State women's basketball team is set to face a top-5 team in pre-season polls, three top BCS conference teams, and four regional rivals as part of its 2011-12 season. The Racers will play two of their first three games in the CFSB Center and in their first month will face 2009 national runner-up and a top-5 pre-season pick Louisville.
“We are excited to announce a 2011-12 schedule that is extremely tough in order to help prepare us for OVC play,” said head coach Rob Cross. “Being able to continue with regional rivalries against Evansville, Saint Louis and Southern Illinois was a priority of ours. Continuing the series with each of those programs as well as starting a new home-and-home series with Alabama A&M and Ball State will allow our fans the opportunity to see quality opponents visit the CFSB Center in the years to come.”
MSU opens the season with a home game against region rival, Evansville, Nov. 11. The game is part of a home-and-home series this season between the teams, with the Racers traveling to Evansville, Ind. Dec. 10.
The Racers travel to Bloomington, Ind., for their first road game where they will face Big 10 power Indiana, Nov. 14. The game with the Hoosiers is part of a home-and-home series that will see Indiana visit the CFSB Center during the 2012-13 season.
“Working out a home and home series with Indiana is a great thing for our program,” Cross said. “This series will bring a Big Ten power to the CFSB Center in 2012-13 and give this year's team an opportunity to test themselves in an electric environment.”
The Racers host Mid Continent Nov. 17 before hitting the road for the rest of November. The first stop will be at Ball State (Nov. 19), followed by Alabama A&M (Nov. 22). MSU will then travel to its second regional rival for a Nov. 26 game against Saint Louis. This is also a home-and-home series for the season, with the Billikens coming to the CFSB Center Dec. 3.
The final road game of the month will be against Sports Illustrated pre-season No. 5 Louisville, who was ranked No. 19 in the final ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll for the 2010-11 campaign and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament. The Racers and the Cardinals will battle at the YUM! Center (Nov. 29).
“Competing with a top-5 team, and Big East opponent, like Louisville will enable our student-athletes to face the type of team they will see if we are fortunate enough to advance to the NCAA Tournament. Coach Walz is one of the best in the business and they return just about everyone from a NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen team.”
MSU will travel to University, Miss., just before Christmas for the Ole Miss Classic. The Racers will Face the host Rebels from the Southeastern Conference (Dec. 19) and then battle with Cleveland State (Dec. 20).
“Playing at the Ole Miss Classic addING an SEC opponent will give us another opportunity to match up against a power from one of the best conferences in the nation,” commented Cross. “Cleveland State returns just about everybody from a team that won 21 games last season and advanced to post season play.”
“The 2011-12 non-conference slate will prepare us for the rigors of OVC play as we will see a wide range of styles and compete against some of the best players and teams in the nation,” added Cross. “As long as we can build the confidence that we have faced everything possible before conference play and survived the non-conference schedule, we'll be prepared for the inevitable adversity that comes in league play.”
After a break for the holidays MSU will start the Ohio Valley Conference portion of their season, with a New Year's Eve game at Southeast Missouri (Dec. 31).
The first home game against a league opponent is scheduled for Jan. 9, when Eastern Kentucky comes to the CFSB Center.
This is also the first Monday night conference game for the Racers as part of the new OVC schedule released for the 2011-12 campaign. This year the women's teams will play Saturday and Monday, with the men's teams playing Thursday and Saturday. The schedule has also been changed so that the Racers will not play each team in the conference twice this season. OVC teams will have four teams that they play once, with MSU's teams being Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Morehead State and SIU Edwardsville.
In the middle of the conference season, the Racers will take a break from league action to play two final non-conference games. MSU hosts Longwood (Jan. 23) and travel to region rival Southern Illinois (Jan. 26).
The final home games of the 2011-12 campaign are set for Feb. 13 & 16 against Austin Peay and UT Martin. The Racers end the season on the road with games against Tennessee State (Feb. 23) and Tennessee Tech (Feb. 25).
This year the OVC Tournament will all be contested at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., from Feb. 29- March 3. The top two teams in the regular-season standings will earn byes into the semifinals and the third and fourth seeds earn a bye to the quarterfinals.
