Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG, Va. - Home contests against Duke and Virginia, a date with Michigan in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, along with 15 postseason participants, highlight the 2009-10 Virginia Tech women’s basketball schedule. The Hokies return eight letterwinners from last year’s squad and welcome five newcomers to the team.
Tech will have three regular-season contests televised this year. Home contests with Virginia and Wake Forest along with a road game at NC State will be broadcast as part of the ACC television package on the Regional Sports Network (RSN). RSN affiliates include Fox Sports Net South, ComCast Sports Net, SunSports and the New England Sports Network.
The 2009-10 schedule will be another challenging one, as the Hokies face 2009 Elite Eight participant Maryland along with eight other teams (Charlotte, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Liberty, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth) that made the 2009 NCAA Tournament field and five (Boston College, James Madison, St. John’s, Texas-Arlington, Wake Forest) that participated in the WNIT. In addition, the schedule includes five teams (#5 Maryland, #14 Duke, #17 North Carolina, #18 Florida State and #24 Virginia) that ended the year in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25.
The non-conference schedule presents the Hokies with many challenges, including home contests against Longwood, George Mason, Elon, North Carolina Central, Mount St. Mary’s, Maryland-Baltimore County and Savannah State. Additionally, the Hokies host Michigan in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Tech will also host its annual holiday tournament, the Hilton Garden Classic, featuring Central Connecticut State, Charlotte (NCAA participant) and NJIT.
The non-conference away schedule has Tech traveling to Jamaica, N.Y., for the St. John’s tournament, where the Hokies will face Alabama-Birmingham in the opening round and play either St. John’s (WNIT participant) or Texas-Arlington (NCAA participant) on the second day. The remaining away non-conference contests are against Virginia Commonwealth (NCAA participant), James Madison (WNIT participant) and Radford.
The ACC schedule will once again present a tremendous challenge as the Hokies battle in the toughest league in the nation. The ACC sent six teams to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season including one “Elite Eight” team. With Boston College and Wake Forest being selected to the WNIT, the ACC had two-thirds of its members in the postseason.
The women play a 14-game regular-season conference schedule, with each team playing member teams at least once a year. Primary partners will be utilized, meaning certain teams are guaranteed to play twice - home and away - every year. The primary partners can be changed after a minimum of two seasons of play. Tech’s primary partners this year are Duke, Virginia and Wake Forest. The Hokies will play Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and Wake Forest at home. The conference away slate includes contests at Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, NC State, Virginia and Wake Forest.
“Our schedule proves to be extremely competitive this season with over half of our games against teams that competed in the post-season last year,” said Virginia Tech head coach Beth Dunkenberger. “Our non-conference schedule features a strong mix of opponents from several top conferences as well as several in-state rivals. We think our team will be well prepared once we begin the always competitive ACC season.”