2013-14 Schedule (.pdf)
MOBILE, Ala. – First-year University of South Alabama women's basketball coach Terry Fowler released the 2013-14 schedule for the program on Thursday. Among the games listed are four versus opponents which reached the postseason a year ago and a late-November tournament out west in Colorado.
Pac 12 member Colorado competed in and hosted the first two rounds of the 2012 NCAA tournament, while Indiana State and Sun Belt foes Western Kentucky and Arkansas-Little Rock each participated in the WNIT.
"We have a good mixture in the pre-conference portion of our schedule, which I definitely feel is going to prepare us for the Sun Belt schedule," Fowler said. "You look at the fact that we have some BCS teams in there. I think we've got a good mixture of home and away games that's going to help us prepare for conference play, as well. It's definitely a challenging schedule, but we're also excited to play it."
The Sun Belt Conference portion of the Jaguar schedule will have some noticeable changes as Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Middle Tennessee and North Texas are no longer in the conference after leaving the league for Conference USA in July. The Jags will begin new league rivalries this season with SBC newcomers Georgia State, Texas-Arlington and Texas State. Along with its 10 non-conference games, USA will also play an 18-game round-robin Sun Belt Conference schedule this season.
The Jaguars will welcome 15 opponents to the Mitchell Center this upcoming season, beginning with an exhibition contest versus the University of Mobile on Nov. 2.
South Alabama opens the 2013-14 regular season on a week later on Nov. 9 when it travels to take on Indiana State, which recorded 18 wins last season. The game will be a homecoming of sorts for Jag sophomore guard Brittany Webb, who is from Whiteland, Ind., about an hour-and-a-half away from the Sycamores' campus. Following the season-opener, USA will stay on the road for a regional battle with Southern Miss (Nov. 12). The Golden Eagles are led by Jameria Faulkner, who ranked among the nation's leaders with 6.6 assists per game last season. USA was victorious in last season's meeting between the two clubs, capturing a 69-67 win in Mobile.
Following the two road contests, the Jaguars return home for a pair of games at the Mitchell Center versus Nicholls State on Nov. 20 and Houston Baptist on Nov. 25. The Colonels finished with a 19-11 record, while the Huskies and the Jaguars opened last season together.
South Alabama will then head back out on the road over the Thanksgiving break as it will compete in a tournament hosted by the University of Colorado Nov. 29-30. Colorado finished the 2012-13 season at 25-7 overall and fourth place in the Pac 12 at 13-5. The Buffaloes were ranked No. 19 in the final AP Top 25 poll and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 13th time in team history, the first since 2004. Also scheduled to compete in the tournament are Rice from Conference USA and Samford, which has recorded 20-win seasons in two of the last three years. USA will open up tournament action with the host Buffaloes and face either Samford or Rice in either the consolation or championship game of the tourament.
Following the trip out west, USA comes home for three-straight home games – Spring Hill (Dec. 3), Tennessee Tech (Dec. 7) and Ole Miss (Dec. 16). The Badgers will begin their transition to the NCAA Division II level this season, while TTU is coming off a 19-12 record and a 12-4 mark in the Ohio Valley, which saw the Eagles win the league's East Division crown. The Rebels are entering this season under the direction of Matt Insell – son of Middle Tennessee head coach Rick Insell. Insell came to Oxford after a very successful stint as an assistant at Kentucky. During his time in Lexington, the Wildcats recorded four 20-win seasons and made four trips to the NCAA tournament.
The Jaguars close out the non-conference slate four days later with a road contest at Atlantic Coast Conference member Wake Forest (Dec. 20) before breaking for the Christmas holidays. The meeting marks the first time the program has faced an opponent from the ACC since USA hosted Florida State in the opening round of the 2004 WNIT tournament.
After breaking for nearly two weeks, South Alabama will open up conference play with a New Year's Day tilt versus Western Kentucky in Mobile (Jan. 1). This will be the last season the two clubs will meet in conference play as The Lady Toppers, who registered 22 wins a year ago and advanced to the second round of the WNIT, are scheduled to join CUSA next season.
USA will host Georgia Southern three days later on Jan. 4. Following the match up with the Panthers, South Alabama will begin a tough road stretch versus Arkansas-Little Rock, one of four road games during the month of January. The Trojans won the West Division title last season with a 24-9 overall record and a 14-6 conference mark. The title was the program's sixth-straight division title. The Jaguars will also have road games at Arkansas State (Jan. 11), at Texas-Arlington (Jan. 25) and at GSU (Jan. 29) during the month, with home games versus Louisiana-Lafayette (Jan. 15) and Louisiana-Monroe (Jan. 18).
During the month of February, the Jaguars will host UALR (Feb. 1), ASU (Feb. 12) and Troy (Feb. 22), and travel to Troy (Feb. 6), WKU (Feb. 15), Texas State (Feb. 19) and ULM (Feb. 26). The Feb. 1 meeting between the Jaguars and Trojans will be a "Men's and Women's Basketball Reunion Weekend" where former players from both programs will be invited back. Both the former women's and men's players will have a shoot around event prior to tip off of the women's game that day. USA's annual "Pack the House" game is slated for the Feb. 12th meeting versus the Red Wolves and the WBCA's Pink Zone contest will the Feb. 22 game versus Troy.
From there, South Alabama rounds out the regular season with a game at ULL on March 2 and home contests versus Texas State on March 5 and UTA on March 8.
This season, the Sun Belt Conference tournament will be held in New Orleans, La., on March 12-15 at Lakefront Arena. Unlike the previous few years, only the league's top eight teams will earn an invitation to the conference tournament where the winner will receive the Sun Belt's automatic bid to the NCAA tourney.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
2013-14 SCHEDULE
NOVEMBER – 2 – vs. Mobile (exh.), 9 – at Indiana State, 12 – at Southern Miss, 20 – vs. Nicholls State, 25 – vs. Houston Baptist, 29-30 – at University of Colorado Tournament (Colorado, Rice, Samford, South Alabama).
DECEMBER – 3 – vs. Spring Hill, 7 – vs. Tennessee Tech, 16 – vs. Ole Miss, 20 – at Wake Forest.
JANUARY – 1 – vs. Western Kentucky, 4 – vs. Georgia State, 8 – at Arkansas-Little Rock, 11 – at Arkansas State, 15 – vs. Louisiana-Lafayette, 18 – vs. Louisiana-Monroe, 25 – at Texas-Arlington, 29 – at Georgia State.
FEBRUARY – 1 – vs. Arkansas-Little Rock, 6 – at Troy, 12 – vs. Arkansas State, 15 – at Western Kentucky, 19 – at Texas State, 22 – vs. Troy, 26 – vs. Louisiana-Monroe.
MARCH – 2 – at Louisiana-Lafayette, 5 – vs. Texas State, 8 – vs. Texas-Arlington, 12-15 – Sun Belt Conference Championship
—USA—
