Women's Basketball Announces 2006-07 Schedule

Women’s Basketball Announces 2006-07 Schedule

8/24/2006

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Two home tournaments, a trio of Atlantic Coast Conference opponents, a trip to Colorado and the perennially challenging Southeastern Conference slate highlight the 2006-07 Vanderbilt women’s basketball schedule, announced Thursday by Head Coach Melanie Balcomb.

The Commodores will play host to 14 games at historic Memorial Gymnasium, including dates against nationally-ranked Southeastern Conference rivals Tennessee (Jan. 25) and LSU (Feb. 22), as well as a nationally televised contest with Clemson (Dec. 3). Memorial Gym also will host a pair of two-day events — the Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tournament (Nov. 24-25, featuring Belmont, California and Florida Atlantic) and the Vanderbilt Holiday Classic (Dec. 20-21, featuring Lipscomb, Indiana State and Longwood).

“We wanted to play a pair of tournaments in order to experience the back-to-back scheduling that you see in the postseason,” Coach Balcomb said. “It’s also important for us to be in close-game situations and see different kinds of matchups. We have scheduled a good mix of games, both at home and on the road, to test our team.”

Vanderbilt will open the regular season on the road in Colorado (Nov. 12) before taking a trip up Interstate 65 to visit Western Kentucky (Nov. 16). Other non-conference road contests include UAB (Nov. 30), national runner-up Duke (Dec. 7) and South Florida (Dec. 17). The Commodores will also travel to Duluth, Ga., on January 21 for a neutral site game against Georgia Tech as part of the Russell Athletic Shootout. The Gwinnett Center in Duluth — just northeast of Atlanta — is also the site of the 2007 SEC Tournament.

“We like to play some games with national implications early on to help our team get stronger down the stretch,” Coach Balcomb added. “Playing a team like Duke in December will only help our team once conference play rolls around. And our other road games are also against quality, athletic teams in great venues.”

A total of 10 teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2006 — including five from the Southeastern Conference — are featured on Vanderbilt’s schedule. Ivy League champion Dartmouth (Nov. 18) and runner-up Princeton (Dec. 30) will both visit Memorial Gymnasium. Texas A&M Corpus Christi (Nov. 20) and La Salle (Jan. 1) will also visit Nashville after playing host to Vanderbilt a year ago.

In league play, the Commodores feature home-and-home series with Tennessee, South Carolina and Arkansas. Additionally, Vanderbilt will play host to Florida (Jan. 14), Alabama (Jan. 4), Auburn (Jan. 11) and LSU (Feb. 22), while traveling to Mississippi (Jan. 7), Georgia (Jan. 18), Kentucky (Feb. 1) and Mississippi State (Feb. 15). The February 1 match-up against Kentucky will be played at famed Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky.

Action at Memorial Gymnasium begins with a pair of exhibition games in the first week of November, as the Commodores will play host to West Coast Elite (Nov. 2) and EA Sports (Nov 6).

Season tickets for 2006-07 begin at $25. New orders are currently being accepted, but seat assignments will not be available until a later date.