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Women's Basketball Announces 2010-11 Schedule
Sept. 9, 2010
EASTON, Pa. - With new head coach Dianne Nolan at the helm and 12 student-athletes anxiously awaiting the start of practice, the Lafayette women's basketball team has announced its schedule for the upcoming 2010-11 season. The Leopards will challenge as many as six teams that advanced to the postseason in 2009-10, including a quartet of conference champions. "I am incredibly excited for this upcoming season," said Nolan. "Our non-conference schedule is very challenging, and it will definitely prepare us for Patriot League play." The season begins with the first of six non-conference home games, as Kirby Sports Center hosts a showdown between Lafayette and the visiting Bulldogs from Bryant University on Nov. 14. Another Northeast Conference opponent is up next in Long Island, which hosts the Leopards on Nov. 17. Lafayette will stay on the road after playing the Blackbirds, traveling to Lynchburg, Va. on Nov. 20 to meet the defending Big South Conference Tournament Champions, Liberty. The Flames posted a 27-6 record last season and nearly bested No. 4 seed Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament. The Leopards' return to College Hill will feature a pair of old friends for Coach Nolan. St. Francis (N.Y.), where Nolan began her collegiate coaching career from 1974-79, will be in town on Nov. 23. After Thanksgiving and a Nov. 26 trip to Monmouth, the next home contest on Nov. 28 will feature the Stags from Fairfield. Nolan is the all-time winningest coach at Fairfield, having racked up 456 victories in 28 seasons on the sidelines in the Nutmeg State. December kicks off with a tough test at St. Bonaventure on Dec. 1, which advanced to the second round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament last season. Home contests against Fairleigh Dickinson (Dec. 4) and La Salle (Dec. 11) and a pair of road trips to Manhattan (Dec. 9) and defending Ivy League champion Princeton (Dec. 13) will bring the Leopards' student-athletes to their break for final exams.
After Christmas, 2010 concludes in Philadelphia for the Hawk Classic at St. Joseph's University. Lafayette will challenge Quinnipiac on Dec. 28 before squaring off against either New Hampshire or the host Hawks. Should the Leopards meet St. Joseph's on Dec. 29, it will be their fourth and final non-conference game against a team that played postseason basketball in 2009-10. The Hawks were selected to play in the WNIT after finishing tied for the fourth in the Atlantic 10 last season. Lafayette will ring in the new calendar year with a pair of Ivy League teams, starting with Penn in Easton on Jan. 2 before visiting New York City to challenge Columbia on Jan. 5. The Quakers and Lions will be the Leopards' final tune-ups for the 14-game Patriot League slate, which begins on Jan. 8 at home against Holy Cross. Then, after contests at Colgate (Jan. 12) and Navy (Jan. 15), Bucknell makes the trip east on I-80 on Jan. 19 and historic rival and defending Patriot League Champion Lehigh hosts the Leopards on Jan. 22. Games 21 and 22 on the slate will be the first consecutive home contests for Lafayette, as Army and 2009-10 Patriot League regular season co-champion American visit College Hill on Jan. 26 and 29. The League schedule turns over at that point, with Holy Cross wrapping up the home-and-home series in Worcester on Feb. 5. Colgate (Feb. 9) and Navy (Feb. 12) will then make their return trips to Easton before the Leopards head to Lewisburg, Pa. to meet Bucknell on Feb. 16. Kirby Sports Center will be buzzing on Feb. 19 for Senior Night, as seniors Lauren Jackson, Elizabeth Virgin and LaKeisha Wright look to upend Lehigh in what may be the final home contest of their careers. The regular season concludes with road games at Army on Feb. 23 and American on Feb. 26. The Patriot League Tournament will be held from March 5-12 at campus sites, with the higher seed serving as host for each game. The Patriot League Tournament Champion earns the League's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament. Schedule Notes: The regular season will consist of 14 home games and 14 road or neutral site games...Including possible opponent New Hampshire, the Leopards' non-Patriot League slate is comprised of teams from six different conferences (America East, Atlantic 10, Big South, Ivy, Metro Atlantic Athletic and Northeast)...Lafayette will play nine repeat opponents from 2009-10 in its non-league schedule...The Leopards have never defeated five of the teams on their schedule (Columbia, Fairfield, Liberty, Quinnipiac, and St. Joseph's), though they have met those five teams a total of only 13 times...Should Lafayette and New Hampshire square off at the Hawk Classic, it will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs. |
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