SPORTS
A-10 Dates Set for Davidson Women’s Basketball
From the cake race to the hard court – the Wildcat Women’s Basketball A-10 schedule has been set.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The Atlantic 10 Conference Tuesday afternoon released the women’s basketball league opponent dates for each team, as Davidson found out when it will be playing its 13 league opponents.
With the release of the league dates, the Wildcats’ 2018-19 schedule is set after they announced their non-conference schedule in August.
“I am excited about the opportunities that await us in conference play,” said second-year head coach Gayle Coats Fulks. “Last season we showed a lot of growth in our ability to compete in a very rigorous Atlantic 10 conference that included seven teams that qualified for postseason tournaments. I feel as though we learned a lot as a program and are ready to take the next step forward.”
Entering its fifth year in the A-10, Davidson will face each of the 13 conference opponents during the 16-game league schedule that features eight home and eight away games. For the second time in the past three years, the Wildcats begin A-10 play at home with a Jan. 6 game against George Mason. This will be the ‘Cats’ lone game against the Patriots, who went 24-10 a year ago.
Four of the next six games will be on the road, starting at Duquesne (Jan. 9) and going to Rhode Island (Jan. 12), Fordham (Jan. 27) and George Washington (Jan. 31). The Colonials won the tournament title last year, defeating Saint Joseph’s in the championship game.
Davidson faces the two Rams teams, URI and Fordham, twice again this season. It swept last year’s two games against Rhode Island, but fell twice to Fordham.
The two home games during that stretch will feature Richmond and Massachusetts, Jan. 16 & 20.
Three days into the month of February, the Wildcats open up against La Salle at home before they head on the road to take on the Hawks of Saint Joseph’s, Feb. 6.
Davidson comes back home for four of the next six games, starting with a Feb. 9 contest against St. Bonaventure and followed by its second matchup vs. Fordham, Feb. 13.
The two road trips during the six-game stretch will be at UMass and Dayton, Feb. 16 & 20. The ‘Cats return to John M. Belk Arena to close out their final two home games against Saint Louis (Feb. 23) and Rhode Island (Feb. 27) to end the month of February.
Rounding out the 16-game schedule is a trip to VCU, March 2. Davidson downed the Rams, 69-63, in last year’s regular season finale at home, highlighted by Justine Lyon reaching the 1,000-point mark for her career.
The 2019 A-10 Championship will again feature six first-round games being played on campus sites Tuesday, March 5, before heading to Pittsburgh, Pa., where Duquesne will host the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship games, March 8-10. The top-two championship seeds will receive a bye, with the remainder of the field facing off in games hosted by seeds 3-8 for the first round.
The first-round games as well the championship quarterfinals, will be available live on ESPN+, while the semifinals games will air on CBS Sports Network. ESPNU will air the A-10 championship final, the 22nd straight year an ESPN network has televised the league’s title game.
During the 2017-18 season, the Atlantic 10 Conference had seven women’s basketball teams qualify for postseason play. It was also the 15th time in the last 16 years that the A-10 had multiple teams earn bids to the NCAA Tournament, with GW and Dayton each advancing.