SPORTS
Davidson Women’s Basketball Sets 2018-19 Non-Conference Slate
Davidson head coach Gayle Coats Fulks talks to her team during a time out.
DAVIDSON, N.C. — Second-year head coach Gayle Coats Fulks recently announced Davidson’s non-conference schedule for women’s basketball, a 13-game slate that includes three NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago.
The Wildcats again will be staying close to home for the 2018-19 season, as 10 of their games will be played in the state of North Carolina and half of those are at John M. Belk Arena. They will take on old rivals Appalachian State and Elon for the second-straight season, while also facing local Big South foes Gardner-Webb, UNC Asheville and High Point.
Last year the Cats played the Princeton Tigers at home, this year it will be a road game.
In addition, Davidson will face Charleston Southern and Presbyterian, travel to Princeton, face two ACC schools in N.C. State and Clemson, and continue their annual cross-county battle against Charlotte.
N.C. State, Elon and Princeton each earned a bid into the NCAA Tournament last year, with the Wolfpack advancing to the second round.
“I am very excited about our non-conference schedule,” said coach Coats Fulks. “The opportunity to play quality opponents early in the season, including three NCAA Tournament teams from last season, will help prepare us for the rigors of our A-10 Conference schedule.”
Davidson begins the regular season with a home game Nov. 7 against Division II Queens from right down the road in Charlotte. Two road games follow, Nov. 11 and 14, at Charleston Southern and Gardner-Webb, respectively. This will be the first time since the 1994-95 season the Wildcats will be playing Charleston Southern, as they hold a 3-0 lead in the series.
Three of the next four games will be at John M. Belk Arena, starting with a Saturday, Nov. 17, game against the Mountaineers of Appalachian State. Last year in Boone, Justine Lyon hit a driving layup with 6.7 seconds to help the Wildcats take a 59-57 win.
A road trip to UNC Asheville (17-16 last year) follows on Nov. 21 and then home games against William & Mary and High Point, respectively, Nov. 24 & 26. Davidson looks to continue its winning ways against the Panthers, riding a three-game winning streak including taking last season’s meeting, 82-72.
The Wildcats fly up to Princeton, N.J., to take on the Tigers (24-6 a year ago) to start the month of December. This will be the second time the ‘Cats will have played at Princeton, having gone there during the 2011-12 season. Staying on the road, the ‘Cats travel to Elon, Dec. 5, before taking a break for final exams. After finals, they will play at Clemson, Dec. 16, to wrap up the three-game road swing. Davidson took a 77-57 victory against the Tigers in the last meeting, Nov. 18, 2013.
The final non-conference home game has Presbyterian coming to town, Dec. 18, and it will be Davidson’s Education Day game as well.
As has been the tradition the past few seasons, the cross-county rival game against Charlotte (14-16 last year) will be right before Christmas on Dec. 21 down on the 49ers’ home court. The Wildcats snapped an eight-game skid in the series last year with a thrilling 68-66 win on Katie Turner’s game-winning three-pointer.
Wrapping up the non-conference slate of games will be a trip to Raleigh, N.C., to face ACC-foe N.C. State after Christmas, Dec. 30. The Wolfpack finished 26-9 last year and went 16-2 at Reynolds Coliseum. This is the fifth time in the last six years both teams will be playing each other.