University of Houston Athletics
Women's Basketball Releases 2011-12 Schedule
9/6/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Sept. 6, 2011
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HOUSTON - Fourteen contests against teams that reached the postseason a year ago and 16 total home games highlight the 2011-12 University of Houston women's basketball schedule, head coach Todd Buchanan announced Tuesday.
The Cougars will once again face an exciting and challenging non-conference slate that features contests against seven teams that made an appearance in the postseason in 2011. Eight of the 12 games will be played at Hofheinz Pavilion and will feature teams from seven different conferences, including the Big 12, Big East and Pac-12.
"This is an outstanding non-conference schedule for us," said Buchanan. "The good news is, with such a young team coming in, we have the luxury of playing the majority of these games at Hofheinz. We'll have some incredible challenges, which at the end of the day is how you become a consistent top 25 team, and we're going to continue to raise the bar."
The defending Conference USA champions will look to extend their regular-season winning streak in league play to 20 games when it opens the conference slate against Marshall on Jan. 5. The Cougars will play seven contests against C-USA squads that reached the postseason a year ago, including four at Hofheinz Pavilion.
"I think this schedule speaks for itself," Buchanan said. "It's going to be pretty electric for us, in the sense of creating a phenomenal fan base, because we're certainly going to need our sixth man in the stands to help us with the energy.
"Our alumni season ticket holders really stepped up last year, but our student body has to come out and support," Buchanan continued. "We desperately need them to come out and create a positive atmosphere for us and make it hard for the opposition."
Five letterwinners return from last season's record-breaking squad, while eight newcomers are added to the mix after the graduation of six seniors.
Porsche Landry returns for her senior season after earning First Team All-Conference USA honors a year ago. Landry will set out to become the third-straight Cougar to earn C-USA Player of the Year honors.
THE SCHEDULE
The Cougars see their first action on Nov. 7 by playing host to St. Thomas University in an exhibition contest.
Houston officially kicks off the 2011-12 campaign on Nov. 11 with a rematch against New Mexico State at Hofheinz, followed by another home contest against Big 12 foe Texas Tech on Nov. 16.
Houston faces its second-straight NCAA Tournament squad when it takes to the road for the first time on Nov. 19 in Washington, D.C., against Georgetown, who advanced to last season's Sweet 16.
From there, the Cougars play host to a rematch against Oral Roberts on Nov. 22. Houston claimed a thrilling 93-89 victory over the Golden Eagles last season in Tulsa, Okla.
The Cougars then host the David Jones Classic over Thanksgiving Weekend, honoring the late assistant coach who served at Houston from 1999-2006. Houston will face Ivy League member Yale on Nov. 25 and McNeese State the following day in a doubleheader with the men's basketball program.
Houston continues its rivalry with TCU on Dec. 1 at Hofheinz Pavilion and returns to the road after four-straight home games against UT-San Antonio on Dec. 4.
The Cougars host their final two home contests of the non-conference schedule against Louisiana Tech (Dec. 7), who has made back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament, and Houston Baptist (Dec. 10), which will be another doubleheader with the men's basketball team.
Houston ends the non-conference slate with exciting road tilts to Washington (Dec. 18) in Seattle and New Mexico at historic venue, "The Pit", in Albuquerque.
The Cougars play C-USA home-and-away series against SMU, Tulsa, UTEP, Rice and Tulane, with single meetings against Marshall, Southern Miss, UAB, Memphis, East Carolina and UCF.
The C-USA squads that travel to Hofheinz Pavilion this season include Marshall (Jan. 5), UAB (Jan. 15), Tulsa (Jan. 19), Rice (Jan. 29), SMU (Feb. 2), Tulane (Feb. 9), UTEP (Feb. 19) and UCF (Feb. 26).
The team hits the road to face Southern Miss (Jan. 8), SMU (Jan. 12), UTEP (Jan. 22), Tulsa (Feb. 5), Memphis (Feb. 12), East Carolina (Feb. 16), Rice (Feb. 23) and Tulane (March 1).
This season's C-USA Championship will be held in Memphis, Tenn., on March 7-10.
