WOMEN’S BASKETBALL ANNOUNCES NON-CONFERENCE SLATE

DURHAM, N.H. - University of New Hampshire women’s basketball has released the non-conference schedule for the upcoming 2009-10 season. The 13-game slate is highlighted with a home game against the 2009 NCAA Championship runner-up Louisville on Dec. 22.

The Wildcats will face seven 2009 postseason-qualifying teams, including NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed University of Maryland, which advanced to the Elite-8 and Dartmouth, which won the Ivy League and earned a automatic bid to the “Big Dance.” Additionally, four opponents participated in the 2009 Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

New Hampshire will open up the season at home Nov. 13 when it plays host to St. Joseph’s. The Wildcats will then travel to face Maryland, the defending ACC Champions which finished the season fifth in the nation, on Monday, Nov. 16.

The Wildcats return home to host UMass on Nov. 20 and then Harvard on Nov. 24. The Crimson were selected to the 2009 WNIT, but fell to St. John’s in the first round. Wrapping up the month of November will be a trip to Quinnipiac on the 29th.

UNH will continue on the road with games at Seton Hall on Dec. 3 and at St. Peter’s on Dec. 5, before returning to Durham for a three-game homestand. The Wildcats will host Central Connecticut State on Dec. 10, and Holy Cross on Dec. 20.

New Hampshire will then welcome in Louisville, which wrapped up 2008-09 at No. 2 in the land, on Dec. 22. The Cardinals, who fell to UConn in the NCAA title game, are the first national championship runner-up team to make their way to Durham during the following season. The bout also marks the first time since 1991 that the Wildcats will face off against the previous season’s national runner-up team, as they played Auburn on Jan. 2, 1991 after it fell to Stanford in the 1990 NCAA Championship game.

The Wildcats will hit the road as they travel to face Canisius on Dec. 28 and Syracuse on Dec. 30. Both teams qualified for the 2009 WNIT and Syracuse earned its first postseason victory in program history as they advanced to the second round of the tournament.

The Wildcats will catch a break from America East action when they travel to face Dartmouth on Jan. 19. The Big Green won the 2009 Ivy League Championship and advanced to the NCAA tournament.

The America East slate will be released mid-September, but UNH knows they will be facing three more postseason squads, as Vermont earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and both Boston U. and Hartford were selected to the WNIT.