The University of Minnesota women’s basketball team will play 13 games in its 2017-18 non-conference schedule, including seven at Williams Arena. The Big Ten also announced the 16-game conference schedule on Wednesday.
“We are eager to compete in the non-conference and build chemistry between our marquee newcomers and returners who combined for 83 percent of last year’s offense,” head coach Marlene Stollings said. “It will be exciting for our team to take on three teams from the ACC in an 11-day stretch at the end of November as well as travel to both coasts where we play at Georgetown and San Diego.”
The Golden Gophers will open the season by hosting Lehigh on Saturday, Nov. 11. Minnesota will head to Rhode Island for its first road contest of the year Nov. 13 before returning home to face head coach Marlene Stollings’ former team, VCU, on Nov. 16. Games against Boston College (Nov. 19) and Xavier (Nov. 22) will close out a three-game stretch in Minneapolis.
The Gophers will spend Thanksgiving in Las Vegas for the Lady Rebel Round-Up. Minnesota start the tournament against Wake Forest on Nov. 25, and take on either UNLV or Hofstra Nov. 26.
In a previously announced Big Ten/ACC Challenge tilt, Minnesota will meet North Carolina in Chapel Hill Nov. 29. It will be the Gophers’ fifth meeting with the Tar Heels, and the first as part of the Challenge.
Minnesota starts the second month of the season with a Dec. 3 home game against Eastern Michigan. The Gophers will play at 2017 WNIT team Georgetown Dec. 7 and then travel across the country for a Dec. 10 matchup at San Diego.
The Maroon and Gold’s non-conference slate concludes at historic Williams Arena. Cal Poly will come to town for a Dec. 13 game, and UC Riverside for a Dec. 22 game.
Conference play starts on the road at Northwestern Dec. 28. Minnesota will ring out the old year with a Dec. 31 Big Ten home opener against Nebraska. The Gophers’ first game of 2018 will be at Ohio State Jan. 4. They will return home to face Michigan State on Jan. 7.
“Our fans are in for a treat as we host conference champion Maryland and play both border rivals, Wisconsin and Iowa, at Williams Arena,” Stollings said. “We are excited to continually grow our amazing fan base and host some of the largest crowds of my tenure this season with this exciting home schedule.”
Minnesota will head east for road games at Penn State (Jan. 10) and Rutgers (Jan. 13) before a four-game stretch of border battles. The Gophers host Wisconsin (Jan. 18) and Iowa (Jan. 21) before playing the Badgers (Jan. 31) and Hawkeyes (Feb. 4) again on the road back to back. A matchup at Purdue on Feb. 8 will close the three-game road swing.
February will feature a packed home schedule, with four straight games at Williams Arena. Penn State (Feb. 11), Michigan (Feb. 14), Maryland (Feb. 18) and Indiana (Feb. 20) will all visit Minneapolis in a 10-day period. The Gophers wrap up the regular season at Illinois on Feb. 25 before traveling to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Tournament (Feb. 25-March 4).
Tipoff times and TV/online coverage will be announced at later dates. Radio broadcasts of all games will be on ALT 93.3 FM and available to stream via the iHeartRadio app anywhere with cell service.