HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton University women’s basketball program, entering its eighth season under head coach David Six, has released its 2016-17 schedule – a slate that includes 10 home games and three non-conference match-ups against in-state rivals.
The season will start on Nov. 11, when the Lady Pirates head to Evanston, Ill. – just outside of Chicago – to take on Northwestern. From there, Hampton will head to Iowa City, Iowa on Nov. 13 to take on Iowa, before heading to Raleigh, N.C. on Nov. 16 to take on N.C. State.
The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Challenge kicks in after that three-game stretch, beginning with a trio of games in Columbia, S.C. It begins on Nov. 20 against the host Gamecocks – marking the third straight season in which the Lady Pirates have faced the perennial national contenders.
Hampton will then face Saint Peter’s on Nov. 21 and Maine on Nov. 22, before the Lady Pirates head to Springfield, Mass. – the site of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame – to take on Lafayette on Nov. 27.
The season-opening road swing will end on Dec. 2 in Harrisonburg, Va. against James Madison.
The Lady Pirates will then have a pair of home games on Dec. 7 and Dec. 15, taking on Temple and Richmond at the Convocation Center. Hampton will then cross the Hampton Roads Tunnel on Dec. 18 to take on Old Dominion in the final game before the holiday.
On Dec. 29-30, the Lady Pirates will wrap up non-conference play in a tournament hosted by Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Fla. The tournament field will include host FGCU, UC Riverside, and Samford. Hampton will open up with Florida Gulf Coast University on Dec. 29 at 7 pm.
The MEAC slate following the New Year will see Hampton at home for three straight games: against North Carolina A&T on Jan. 4, against South Carolina State on Jan. 7, and against Savannah State on Jan. 9. Hampton will then head to Dover, Del. on Jan. 14 to take on Delaware State before returning home on Jan. 16 to take on North Carolina Central.
The Lady Pirates will take on rival Norfolk State in Echols Hall on Jan. 21, before returning home for contests against Coppin State (Jan. 30) and Maryland Eastern Shore (Feb. 1).
Feb. 4 and 6 will see the Lady Pirates on the road, taking on Savannah State and South Carolina State on those respective dates. Hampton will return home on Feb. 11 to take on rival Howard, before a three-game road stretch follows.
That stretch will begin at Bethune-Cookman on Feb. 18, before heading to Tallahassee, Fla. to take on Florida A&M on Feb. 20. A match-up at Morgan State in Baltimore, Md. on Feb. 25 will wrap up the road swing.
Hampton’s home finale will be on Feb. 27 against rival Norfolk State, and the regular season will wrap up at Coppin State on March 2.
The 2017 MEAC Basketball Championships will be held March 6-11 in Norfolk Scope Arena.