Matadors To Face 4 Power-5 Opponents; CSUN Announces WBB Schedule
10/11/2021 10:23:00 AM | Women's Basketball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.— With a non-conference schedule that features four Power 5 conference opponents and the always tough Big West Conference slate, the CSUN Women's Basketball team comes off a COVID-19 induced sabbatical and returns to play for the first time in nearly two years. The 30-game schedule features 14 home contests.
Under interim head coach Carlene Mitchell, the Matadors will be tested right away as CSUN travels to the 2021 national runner-up, the University of Arizona, on Tuesday, Nov. 9. The first CSUN home game since Mar. 5, 2020, will occur Nov. 15 when the Matadors host Cal State Dominguez Hills.
The Matadors hit the road for the next three games, all against 2021 post-season tournament participants. The stretch begins Nov. 18 at UCLA, which made the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. In the middle, CSUN heads to Fresno State, which made the second round of the 2021 WNIT, Nov. 23. The road trip concludes at the University of Texas, which made the Elite Eight of the 2021 NCAA Tournament, on Nov. 27.
CSUN returns home for a pair of home games against West Coast Conference foes Loyola Marymount (Dec. 1) and San Diego (Dec. 5). CSUN returns to the road on Dec. 9 when the Matadors face the 2021 WBI runner-up, Portland. CSUN's final non-conference road game is at USC on Dec. 15 before the non-conference slate concludes Dec. 21 against the University of Antelope Valley.
20 Big West games await CSUN as the Matadors begin league play at home with UC Irvine on Dec. 30 and UC San Diego on New Year's Day. CSUN hits the road for the first time the following week at CSU Bakersfield (Jan. 6) and Cal Poly (Jan. 8). Cal State Fullerton (Jan. 13) and Long Beach State (Jan. 15) head to Northridge in week three. The Matadors hit the road for the next three games at UC Riverside (Jan. 20), UC Davis (Jan. 22), and UC Santa Barbara (Jan. 25) before closing out January at home against Hawai'i on the 29th.
February gets underway with a road trip to UC Irvine (Feb. 3) and UC San Diego (Feb. 5). Cal Poly (Feb. 10) and CSU Bakersfield (Feb. 12) hit The Matadome the following week then it's on to Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton (Feb. 17 & 19). A three-game home stand features games with UC Davis (Feb. 24) and UC Riverside (Feb. 26) before Senior Night on Mar. 1 against UCSB. The regular season concludes Mar. 3 at Hawai'i. The Big West Tournament moves to Henderson, Nev., and to the Dollar Loan Center Mar. 8-12.
"Our young team will be tested early and often during a non-conference schedule which includes road trips to three Pac 12 programs and a Big 12 program," Mitchell said. "I hope the challenging schedule and the experiences you can only get by playing elite-level competition will prepare us for conference play."
~#UniteTheValley~
NOTES
- The Matadors return three letter winners (Meghann Henderson, Jordyn Jackson, Olivia Smith) and have 13 newcomers (including 2019-20 redshirt Tess Amundsen) on the roster.
- Spectator policies for women's basketball in The Matadome can be found here;
- Thanks to the new contract signed by the Big West this past Fall, all CSUN home games, and all Big West games will be on ESPN+. Addition streaming and TV broadcast announcements will be made in the coming weeks.
- Of the 10 CSUN non-conference opponents, five made a 2021 postseason appearance;
- NCAA-Arizona (National Runner-Up), UCLA (Round of 32), Texas (Elite 8); WNIT-Fresno State (Second Round); WBI-Portland (Runner-Up).
- CSUN will play non-conference opponents from six different conferences
- Pac 12-3; West Coast 3; Big 12-1 Mountain West-1; NAIA Cal Pac-1; NAIA-GSAC
- CSUN is facing an opponent for the first time on two different occasions (Antelope Valley, Texas).
