George Washington University Athletics
GW Women's Basketball Sets Non-Conference Schedule
7/27/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
July 27, 2011
2011-12 GW WBB NON-CONF. SCHEDULE (HTML) | 2011-12 GW WBB NON-CONF. SCHEDULE (PDF) 
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The George Washington women's basketball team unveiled its non-conference schedule for the 2011-12 season today, highlighted by 12 games played within the District, Virginia or Maryland and opponents from three power conferences. The complete schedule, including game times and Atlantic 10 Conference matchups, will be announced later this summer.
"In preparation for the quality of competition we will see in the Atlantic 10, we have scheduled teams from other marquee conferences like the ACC, Big East and SEC," said head coach Mike Bozeman, who enters his fourth season in 2011-12. "The out-of-conference schedule is one where we can have success early and gain confidence going into conference play, while also challenging ourselves and bringing some exciting early-season games to the Charles E. Smith Center."
The Colonials will host seven non-conference games along with visits to Georgetown, George Mason, William & Mary, and Annapolis, Md., for the Navy Classic. Regional programs Morgan State, Virginia Tech, Radford, Old Dominion, Loyola (Md.) and American, along with longtime rival Rutgers, will travel to Charles E. Smith Center.
The non-conference slate features six teams that reached postseason play in 2011. Coupled with eight postseason participants from the Atlantic 10, half of GW's 28 regular-season contests will be against teams that reached either the NCAA or Postseason WNIT tournaments last season.
The Colonials will return 10 student-athletes, including four starters and the team's top five scorers, from last season as well as welcome incoming freshmen Bria Bourgeois, Chakecia Miller and Adrienne Phillips.
Fans can catch their first glimpse of the 2011-12 Colonials during an exhibition tune-up against the UDC Firebirds at Charles E. Smith Center on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
GW will open the 2011-12 campaign on Sunday, Nov. 13, with its longest road trip of the season, a visit to Arlington, Texas, for its first-ever meeting against the UT Arlington Mavericks.
The Colonials tip off their Smith Center home schedule with 2011 Postseason WNIT participant Morgan State on Wednesday, Nov. 16, and ACC foe Virginia Tech on Saturday, Nov. 19. The Colonials will look to avenge last year's overtime loss to the Lady Bears, as well as a 2002 Postseason WNIT defeat in their most recent meeting against the Hokies.
The team then makes its second-longest road trip of the season to face the Southeastern Conference's Auburn Tigers, who reached the second round of the 2011 Postseason WNIT, on Wednesday, Nov. 23. The game will mark the sixth straight season the programs have met, but will be the Colonials' first visit to new Auburn Arena, which opened in 2010.
GW returns to the District on Saturday, Nov. 26, to welcome back the program's all-time leading scorer in GW alumna and fourth-year Radford head coach Tajama Abraham Ngongba ('97). Ngongba, who totaled 2,134 points for the Colonials from 1994-97 and was inducted into GW's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004, was chosen 2011 Big South Coach of the Year after leading the Highlanders to a second-place conference finish.
The Colonials complete their November schedule against Colonial Athletic Association opponent and 2011 Postseason WNIT qualifier Old Dominion at Smith Center on Wednesday, Nov. 30.
GW plays its lone regular-season tournament Dec. 2 and 3 at the Navy Classic in Annapolis, Md. The Colonials open the event with the Maine Black Bears on Friday, Dec. 2, and finish with the Houston Baptist Huskies on Saturday, Dec. 3. Both games tip off at 3:30 pm at Navy's Alumni Hall.
The marquee contest of the non-conference schedule takes place Sunday, Dec. 11, at Big East member and 2011 NCAA Sweet 16 participant Georgetown. The game will be the 31st all-time between the District rivals, but the first meeting since 2004.
The team then has a week layoff for finals before returning to action Sunday, Dec. 18, against Loyola (Md.) at Smith Center. The Greyhounds won 21 games and defeated ODU in the first round of the Postseason WNIT last season.
GW enters the holiday season with its final two non-conference road games - at George Mason on Thursday, Dec. 22, and at William & Mary on Wednesday, Dec. 28.
The Colonials complete non-conference play with home games against Big East titan Rutgers, their sixth meeting against the Scarlet Knights over the last five seasons, on Friday, Dec. 30, and District rival American on Monday, Jan. 2. Rutgers qualified for its ninth straight NCAA Tournament last March, but returns to Smith Center for the first time since GW's 45-43 victory in December 2009.
For information about purchasing tickets for the 2011-12 GW women's basketball season, please visit www.GWsports.com/tickets, email GWpromos@gwu.edu or call 202-994-7325.
In the heart of the nation's capital with additional programs in Virginia, the George Washington University was created by an Act of Congress in 1821. Today, GW is the largest institution of higher education in the District of Columbia. The university offers comprehensive programs of undergraduate and graduate liberal arts study, as well as degree programs in medicine, public health, law, engineering, education, business and international affairs. Each year, GW enrolls a diverse population of undergraduate, graduate and professional students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and more than 130 countries. The George Washington University Department of Athletics fields teams in 22 varsity sports (10 men's, 12 women's), 16 of which compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
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