IU women’s basketball released its 2016-2017 schedule Monday. The schedule features 14 games at Assembly Hall and is highlighted by visits from in-state rival Purdue and defending Big Ten champion Maryland.
The Hoosiers have 29 official games on their schedule and a home exhibition game to kick off the season Nov. 6 against University of Indianapolis, IU Coach Teri Moren’s former team.
After two consecutive seasons of playing 18 conference games, the Big Ten made the move back to 16 conference games for each team this year. Therefore, IU will play only three opponents twice this season. They are Penn State, Michigan and Northwestern, which all finished below the Hoosiers in last year’s standings.
“We’re looking forward to our non-conference schedule once again,” Moren said in a press release. “We feel there is a good balance in and away from Assembly Hall. The strength of the non-conference schedule will prepare us for the always difficult Big Ten schedule.”
IU will officially kick off its season with a pair of weekend home games. IU will play Presbyterian on Nov. 11 and Vanderbilt on Nov. 13. Other non-conference matchups against power five schools include road trips to Auburn and North Carolina State.
In addition, IU will play in the Florida Sunshine Classic during the week before Christmas for the second year in a row. The tournament takes place in Winter Park, Florida, and IU is scheduled to take on Florida and Stony Brook.
Big Ten play begins Dec. 28 at Penn State and will wrap up on the road Feb. 25 at Illinois. The first Big Ten home game for IU is New Year’s Eve against Ohio State, and the final home game of the season will take place Feb. 22 against Iowa.
The Hoosiers will look to improve on last year’s 21-12 record, which included a perfect 14-0 mark at home. They reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 14 years and won a game in the tournament for the first time in 33 years. Times and television schedules for all Big Ten games will be announced at a later date.
Jake Thomer
