The Big South Conference finalized its 2017-18 conference schedule Friday morning, which completes Radford’s 29-game regular season women’s basketball schedule, featuring three Power Five opponents and an invitation to the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic.
“Last year’s team raised the bar for our program by winning the regular season championship. I thought they did an outstanding job of being consistent in their preparation and winning several close games,” said head coach Mike McGuire. “We know we have several areas that require improvement collectively and individually if we want to have the type of season we had last year.”
The Big South slate consists of an 18-game schedule, featuring nine home and away contests. Conference play begins on Tuesday, January 2, 2018 with games slated to be played again on Tuesday and Saturdays. Radford owns a 12-game winning streak in Big South home games to go along with a 16-game home winning streak.
“I know this year’s team is hungry and determined for the upcoming season,” McGuire said. “We aren’t going to sneak up on anyone, so we must have great discipline in our focus and preparation for the next several months.”
Before the Highlanders enter league play, they will open the season at home on Sunday, November 12 against Appalachian State. Radford only has three home contests before Christmas break, including an Education Day matchup with UNC Greensboro (Nov. 28) and a Commonwealth battle against VCU (Dec. 10). The Highlanders will host UVa-Wise for a Dec. 30 matchup, before entering conference play.
“We will need our non-conference schedule to challenge us in as many ways as possible to prepare us for Big South play,” McGuire noted. “Most of us felt that anyone could have beaten anyone on any given night last season and this season will be no different.”
Radford’s two November non-conference road matchups will come back-to-back at North Carolina (Nov. 16) and Tennessee Tech (Nov. 20). The other two non-conference road contests come on Dec. 3 against New River Valley foe Virginia Tech and Western Carolina on Dec. 7.
Following the contest against in-state VCU on Dec. 10, Radford will play three straight neutral site matchups. The Highlanders will meet West Virginia in a boarder bash on Dec. 16 in Charleston, W.Va. The contest will be a tune-up for the Highlanders’ trip to the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic. Radford will play two games, matching up against Abilene Christian (Dec. 21) and Towson (Dec. 22) in the Highlanders first trip to the Silver State.
“We are excited that our Big South Conference schedule has been released. I believe all of the head coaches in our conference expect a great year for women’s basketball within in the conference,” McGuire added. “The amount of experience and leadership returning from several teams will create a demanding nine-week stretch of conference games.”
Radford will look to defend its Big South Regular Season Championship on Jan. 2, hosting Winthrop in a Tuesday night battle. Benefiting Radford will be two back-to-back Saturday/Tuesday games; however, the Highlanders will have to play three back-to-back games on the road.
Putting its conference home winning streak on the line; Radford will host UNC Asheville (Jan. 9), Presbyterian (Jan. 20), High Point (Jan. 23), Gardner-Webb (Feb. 3), Charleston So. (Feb. 10), Liberty (Feb. 13) and Longwood (Feb. 20). The regular season finale and Senior Day will come on March 3 against Campbell in a rematch of the 2016-17 regular season championship deciding contest.
A season ago, Radford went 5-4 in Big South road games, the Highlanders will look to improve that mark after a battle tested non-conference road schedule. The rest of the Big South road schedule consists of matchups at Gardner-Webb (Jan. 6), Charleston Southern (Jan. 13), Longwood (Jan. 16), Liberty (Jan. 27), Campbell (Jan. 30), UNC Asheville (Feb. 6), Winthrop (Feb. 17), Presbyterian (Feb. 24) and High Point (Feb. 27).
The 2018 Big South Women’s Basketball Tournament will once again be played at the Vines Center on the campus of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. The tournament will run March 8-11 with the champion earning the league’s automatic bid into the 2018 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
“I hope Highlander Nation will get behind this year’s team and support us in the Dedmon Center all season long. We will have some excellent home games,” McGuire expressed. “This group is fun to watch and will compete their hearts out for Radford.”
–RU Athletics
