Marshall University Athletics
Women's Basketball Announces 2005-06 Schedule
8/24/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Aug. 24, 2005
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Marshall University head women's basketball coach Royce Chadwick announced today the Thundering Herd's inaugural schedule as a Conference USA member, as well as his team's demanding 11-game non-conference schedule which includes a meeting with defending NCAA and Big 12 Conference champions Baylor.
"Top to bottom, this is the most aggressive schedule we have ever had," Chadwick, in his fifth season at Marshall, said. "We have a tremendous challenge ahead of us to see if we're ready for the next level of basketball in Conference USA. It's going to be a big jump for us."
The 27-game schedule features nine games versus teams that qualified for postseason play in 2004-05. Five of the teams (Baylor, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Rice, Houston) participated in last year's NCAA Tournament while four (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, West Virginia, Tulsa, SMU) saw action in the Women's NIT.
Marshall, last season's Mid-American Conference East Division champions, will begin its new life in C-USA with a Dec. 16 home matchup with new division foe East Carolina at the Cam Henderson Center. The remainder of the league schedule resumes three weeks later when the Herd travels to Memphis (Jan. 6) and UAB (Jan. 8) for the first of several two-game, conference road trips in 2006.
Before Marshall, 19-10 in 2004-05, can dive into its first year of C-USA play, it must engage in a rigorous non-conference slate, highlighted by the Caribbean Classic matchup with Baylor (Nov. 27) in Cancun, Mexico. Before Marshall takes on the defending national champions - a first for any Herd team in program history - it will have to face the Pac-10's Cal Golden Bears on Thanksgiving (Nov. 24).
"It's great to have a Pac-10 team on the schedule and it's a once in a lifetime opportunity to play against the defending national champions," Chadwick said. "We look forward to playing both teams in Cancun."
Prior to the Cancun trip, Marshall will once again host the Fifth Third MU Classic on Nov. 18-19 to commence regular season play. The Herd will take on Tennessee State in the season-opener and will play either South Carolina State or former MAC rival Ohio in the consolation/championship game.
"I think this is one of the strongest tournament fields we've hosted," Chadwick, whose Herd teams have won the three previous Fifth Third MU Classics, said. "We can thank Fifth Third Bank for continuing to raise the bar in their support of this event. We appreciate them deeply."
After its two season-opening tournaments, Marshall will travel to Morehead State (Nov. 30), play host to Binghamton (Dec. 2) and return to the road to face Wright State (Dec. 13) and Virginia (Dec. 20), with the aforementioned conference opener against ECU squeezed in on Dec. 16.
The Herd will take on the Cavaliers, who appeared in the second round of last season's NCAA Tournament, for the first time since 1993 in the first of a home-and-home series agreement with UVa.
Marshall will remain in ACC country at the Lady Luck Classic, hosted by Virginia Tech, on Dec. 28-29 to face a pair of 2005 postseason participants. The Herd will face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and the host Hokies on consecutive days in Blacksburg, Va.
Marshall's eight-game, home league schedule kicks off with ECU (Dec. 16), followed by Rice (Jan. 13), Tulsa (Jan. 27), SMU (Jan. 29), UAB (Feb. 10), Memphis (Feb. 12), UCF (Feb. 24) and the regular-season finale versus Southern Miss (Feb. 26). The Herd's C-USA road schedule gets underway in Memphis (Jan. 6) and continues with UAB (Jan. 8), UCF (Jan. 20), Southern Miss (Jan. 22), East Carolina (Feb. 4), Houston (Feb. 6), Tulane (Feb. 17) and UTEP (Feb. 19).
Marshall and West Virginia will once again clash in the annual Toyota Capital Classic in Charleston, W.Va. The Herd defeated the Mountaineers, 82-76, in the January '05 matchup before WVU ran all the way to the WNIT finals in March. A date for the men's-women's doubleheader has yet to be set.
The C-USA Tournament is slated for March 2-5 at SMU's Moody Coliseum in Dallas, Texas.
Marshall's exhibition schedule puts the Herd against Division II opponents West Virginia Wesleyan (Nov. 5) and Glenville State (Nov. 12).
All dates are tentative and subject to change. Complete game times will be released once television packages are announced.
Nov. 5 WEST VIRGINIA WESLEYAN (exhibition)
Nov. 12 GLENVILLE STATE (exhibition)
Nov. 18 TENNESSEE STATE !
Nov. 19 OHIO or SOUTH CAROLINA STATE !
Nov. 24 vs. California %
Nov. 27 vs. Baylor %
Nov. 30 at Morehead State
Dec. 2 BINGHAMTON
Dec. 13 at Wright State
Dec. 16 EAST CAROLINA*
Dec. 20 at Virginia
Dec. 28 vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi $
Dec. 29 at Virginia Tech $
Jan. 6 at Memphis*
Jan. 8 at UAB*
Jan. 13 RICE*
TBA vs. West Virginia &
Jan. 20 at UCF*
Jan. 22 at Southern Miss*
Jan. 27 TULSA*
Jan. 29 SMU*
Feb. 4 at East Carolina*
Feb. 6 at Houston*
Feb. 10 UAB*
Feb. 12 MEMPHIS*
Feb. 17 at Tulane*
Feb. 19 at UTEP*
Feb. 24 UCF*
Feb. 26 SOUTHERN MISS*
March 2-5 Conference USA Tournament
March 18-21NCAA First/Second Rounds
March 25-28 NCAA Regionals
April 2-4 NCAA Final Four
Home games in BOLD CAPS
! Fifth Third MU Classic - Huntington, W.Va.
% Caribbean Classic - Cancun, Mexico
$ Lady Luck Classic - Blacksburg, Va.
& Toyota Capital Classic - Charleston, W.Va.
* Conference USA Games
Conference USA Tournament - Moody Coliseum - Dallas, Texas
