Women's Basketball Announces 2006-07 Schedule
9/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Sept. 26, 2006
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HOUSTON - University of Houston head women's basketball coach Joe Curl announced Tuesday a challenging 27-game slate for the 2006-07 season.
Throughout the 27-game slate, Houston will play a total of eight games - five NCAA Tournament, three WNIT - against teams coming off postseason appearances last season. UH will face two ACC squads as well as teams from the Pac-10, BIG EAST, Big Ten and Big XII.
"I think we're going to have one of the toughest schedules in the country," Curl said. "Top to bottom, there are no gimmies. I feel it's the kind of schedule we need to play if we are going to continue our progression as a team. It speaks highly of our program that we are playing some of the top teams in the country like Duke, Miami, Michigan State and USC."
After a pair of exhibition games against Lake Truck and the Houston Jaguars on Oct. 29 and Nov. 10, respectively, the Cougars face off against Texas Tech on Nov. 14. It is the first meeting between the two programs since the 1996 season, which featured three contests, all Texas Tech wins.
UH enters its toughest stretch of the season after the home opener, playing three-straight games against NCAA tournament teams from a year ago, including 2005-06 NCAA Championship runner-up Duke on Nov. 19 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke will play in Houston during the 2007-08 campaign. The Cougars return to Texas to take on TCU on Nov. 22 in Fort Worth before returning home to play Michigan State at Hofhienz Pavilion on Nov. 26.
"It's a pleasure to be able to schedule home-and-home series with Duke and Michigan State," Curl said. "I applaud their coaching staffs and administrators for wanting to play in Houston."
Following a Nov. 30 game at West Virginia, Houston will squeeze in an early Conference USA game with Marshall in Huntington, W.Va. on Dec. 2. The Cougars are back at Hofheinz Pavilion to play Cal-State Bakersfield on Dec. 6 before heading back on the road for the Women of Troy Classic in Los Angeles on Dec. 15-16. The Cougars face Prairie View A&M on Dec. 15 before playing host USC the next day.
UH's second ACC opponent of the year, Miami (Fla.), comes to town on Dec. 19 for a matchup in Hofheinz Pavilion. The Cougars close out 2006 on the road, playing at Charlotte and Colorado on Dec. 21 and Dec. 30, respectively.
Houston rings in the new year with a C-USA matchup against long-time rival Rice at Hofheinz Pavilion on Jan. 2. That game marks the 38th time the Cougars and Owls meet on the court with UH holding a 32-6 advantage and winning six of the past eight contests.
The next weekend brings a road trip to Tulane and UTEP on Jan. 5 and 7, respectively, prior to a home contest on Jan. 10 against East Carolina. After an 11-day layoff, the Cougars head to Autry Court on Jan. 21 for the second matchup of the season with the Owls. Houston returns to Hofheinz Pavilion for a four-game homestand from Jan. 25 to Feb. 3, its longest of the season. The Cougars will welcome Tulsa, SMU, Tulane and UTEP for C-USA games during that span.
The Cougars head back on the road for four-straight games at the end of the homestand, opening up with UH's first, and last, trip to UCF Arena on Feb. 9 in Orlando, Fla. The Golden Knights, in their second year of C-USA competition, are slotted to open up the UCF Convocation Center in the fall of 2007. UH also plays at Southern Miss on Feb. 11, at Tulsa on Feb. 15 before closing the season-long road swing out at SMU on Feb. 17.
UH closes out the regular season at home, playing Memphis on Feb. 22 and UAB on Feb. 24. The 2007 C-USA Women's Basketball Championship presented by Aéropostale is scheduled to run from March 1-4 at the Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Okla.
"You line up and play every game, no matter what," Curl said. "This is a definite RPI schedule. We didn't go out and schedule wins; we scheduled to make ourselves a better team. The proof will be in the pudding, and we'll find out in March how we did."