CLINTON, S.C. ? First-year head coach Ronny Fisher announced Presbyterian College's 2008-09 women's basketball schedule on Monday, July 7.
The 2008-09 Blue Hose women's basketball schedule features a full Big South Conference slate as well as contests against programs from six other NCAA Division I conferences. PC's schedule includes games against three teams from the ACC, one team form Conference USA and two contests against Big South foe and 2008 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament participant Liberty.
PC's schedule also features 15 home dates. Each Big South member will visit the Templeton Center along with seven other non-conference opponents: USC Upstate, Colgate, Montreat, Ohio, Stetson, Allen and Longwood.
The Blue Hose women's basketball program will join the men at the Templeton Center for five doubleheaders on the year (Nov. 24 ? WBK against Colgate, MBK against San Jose State; Dec. 18 ? WBK against Stetson, MBK against UC Davis; Jan. 3 ? WBK against Winthrop, MBK against Radford; Jan. 17 ? WBK against Liberty, MBK against Charleston Southern; Feb. 28 ? WBK against Gardner-Webb, MBK against UNC Asheville).
Overall, the Blue Hose will be squaring off against squads from the ACC (Clemson, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech), Atlantic Sun (USC Upstate, Stetson), Conference USA (East Carolina), CAA (Georgia State), MAC (Ohio) and Patriot League (Colgate, Army).
“We have an exciting but challenging 2008-09 schedule,” noted Fisher. “Our non-conference schedule is demanding and will prepare us for tough conference play and our league opener with Winthrop in Clinton on Jan. 3. Our players look forward to competing in the Big South Conference and to the opportunity of winning a regular season conference championship. Also, we are thrilled to play 15 games in front of our home fans at the Templeton Center. It will be an exciting year for the Presbyterian College community and our basketball program.”
The Blue Hose open their 2008-09 basketball season at home for the first time in their NCAA Division I history. It also marks the first time that the Blue Hose have opened at home since the 2005-06 season.
PC's opening opponent will be a familiar foe in USC Upstate. The Blue Hose and Spartans will take the floor at the Templeton Center on Friday, Nov. 14.
It will be the 31st all-time meeting between the two schools. PC holds the all-time series advantage at 16-14. The Blue Hose enter the game having won the last contest between the two programs during the 2006-07 season.
After their meeting with the Spartans, PC hits the road for the first time in the 2008-09 season for a game with the ACC's Clemson Tigers at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, S.C. on Sunday, Nov. 16.
The two programs have not met since the 1985-86 season and Clemson holds a 1-0 all-time series advantage.
The Blue Hose return to the courts five days later for their second ever trip to Greenville, N.C. to face off against East Carolina (Friday, Nov. 21). PC and ECU played twice last year with ECU taking both games on the year.
After the Pirates, PC welcomes Colgate to the Templeton Center for the first time on Monday, Nov. 24. The contest is the first game of a two-game homestand for the Blue Hose, who will also welcome Montreat to the Templeton Center on Wednesday, Nov. 26.
The contest with Colgate also marks the first men's and women's basketball doubleheader of the year. After the Blue Hose women take the court against Colgate the Blue Hose men will take on the San Jose State Spartans.
After entertaining Colgate and Montreat at home, the Blue Hose then travel to Atlanta for its second ever game with Georgia State on Tuesday, Dec. 2.
PC returns home after its meeting with Georgia State to welcome the MAC's Ohio University to the Templeton Center for the first time in school history on Thursday, Dec. 4. The Blue Hose and Bobcats played last year on Ohio's home court in Athens, Ohio.
The game with Ohio is PC's final of the year before its fall semester exam break.
The Blue Hose return to the road after the exam break for their second ACC match-up of the season against Wake Forest. The Blue Hose and Demon Deacons will play in Winston-Salem, N.C. on Monday, Dec. 15.
PC's next game features Stetson University of the Atlantic Sun Conference on Thursday, Dec. 18 in Clinton, S.C. The two programs played last year with Stetson earning a narrow 68-61 victory in Deland, Fla.
The game with Stetson is the second of the five men's and women's basketball doubleheaders. After PC's women's basketball game with the Hatters the Blue Hose men will take on the Aggies of UC Davis.
PC concludes its third game in six days with a trip to West Point, N.Y. to take on Army for the first time in program history. The game will be played on Saturday, Dec. 20.
The Army contest is PC's final of the 2008 year.
PC will begin the conference portion of its schedule and the 2009 year with a home meeting against Winthrop on Saturday, Jan. 3. After the PC women take on the Eagles the Blue Hose men will take on Radford, who they defeated one year earlier at the Templeton Center.
After facing Winthrop, the Blue Hose women travel to Blacksburg, Va. to take on Virginia Tech on Monday, Jan. 5. The Hokies are the third and final ACC opponent of the year for PC.
After a meeting against UNC Asheville in Asheville, N.C. on Monday, Jan. 12 the Blue Hose have their second two-game homestand of the year on Jan. 17 and Jan. 19. PC will take on Big South power Liberty at the Templeton Center on Jan. 17 before concluding its quick homestand with a meeting with Radford on Jan. 19.
The Jan. 17 contest with Liberty is the first game of the fourth men's and women's basketball doubleheader of the year at the Templeton Center. Gregg Nibert's Blue Hose men will square off against Charleston Southern after the women's meeting with the Flames.
The Blue Hose after the two-game homestand against Liberty and Radford take to the road for a season-long five-game roadswing. All five games will be against Big South opponents with the Blue Hose visiting High Point (Jan. 24), Gardner-Webb (Jan. 26), Charleston Southern (Jan. 31), Coastal Carolina (Feb. 2) and Winthrop (Feb. 7) during the time frame.
PC returns home after facing Winthrop for its only three-game homestand of the season. The Blue Hose will first square off against Allen on Monday, Feb. 9 before welcoming Asheville on Saturday, Feb. 14.
The Blue Hose will close out the non-conference portion of their 2008-09 schedule with a Tuesday, Feb. 17 home contest against the Lancers of Longwood.
The game with the Lancers precedes PC's final two road games of the year against Radford (Feb. 21) and Liberty (Feb. 23).
The Blue Hose will then close out their second NCAA Division I schedule and first full Big South slate with four consecutive games at the Templeton Center. The four-game homestand marks the first time since the 2005-06 season that the Blue Hose have had four games in a row at home.
PC will first host Gardner-Webb (Feb. 28) and High Point (March 2) before ending their year one week later with home games against in-state and Big South foes Charleston Southern (March 7) and Coastal Carolina (March 9).
The Feb. 28 game against Gardner-Webb is the fifth and final men's and women's basketball doubleheader of the year. The Blue Hose men will close out their 2008-09 season after the women's game with the Bulldogs by taking on UNC Asheville.
