Women's basketball annouces 2006-07 hoops schedule
8/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Aug. 27, 2006
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Games against 12 teams that appeared in postseason action, including nine NCAA Tournament teams, highlight the 2006-07 TCU women's basketball schedule that was announced today.
In addition to facing perennial Mountain West Conference foes, the Lady Frogs will also clash with a number of non-league opponents that competed in NCAA Tournament action last year, including defending national champion Maryland, George Washington, Pepperdine, Florida, Georgia, and DePaul.
"We play one of the hardest schedules in the country every year," said Lady Frog head coach Jeff Mittie, who is beginning his eighth season at TCU and has led his team to six straight NCAA Tournament appearances, the longest such streak by any school in the state of Texas. "By challenging our team early on, we get a good idea of our strengths and weaknesses. Every year, our goal is to plan a good, balanced schedule that will better prepare us for conference and NCAA play."
The Lady Frogs will open the 2006-07 season Sunday, Nov. 5, with an exhibition tune-up against Lake Truck Lines (formerly EV1) before traveling to College Park, Md., for the BTI Classic, hosted by the University of Maryland. TCU will jumpstart the tournament at the Comcast Center against the Terrapins, who return all five starters and 98 percent of the scoring from last year's championship squad, on Friday, Nov. 17 at 6:30 p.m. The Lady Frogs will have little rest before facing George Washington, who reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season, on Sat., Nov. 18 at 1 p.m. Traditional Pac-10 power Arizona and TCU will tangle Nov. 19 at noon to complete the round-robin tournament.
After the three-day tournament in Maryland, the Lady Frogs will return to the friendly confines of Daniel-Meyer Coliseum for a six-game home stretch. The first three games will be against former Southwest Conference opponents Houston (Nov. 22), Rice (Nov. 25), and SMU (Nov. 30).
"It will be fun to get a few old-school SWC rivals in here during the six-game home stand in December," Mittie said. "Our fans have been so supportive throughout the years, so I'm excited we'll be playing 17 home dates that include some familiar old-school rivals."
The remainder of the home stand in early December includes Pepperdine (Dec. 3), Florida (Dec. 8), and cross-town foe UTA (Dec. 10). The Lady Frogs will then head east to Athens, Georgia, on Dec. 17 to square off against the University of Georgia, a powerful SEC team that advanced to the Sweet 16 last year.
The Lady Frogs will escape to San Juan, Puerto Rico for the San Juan Shootout, Dec. 20 and 21 where they face Syracuse in the first round. TCU will wrap-up the tournament against DePaul, a Sweet 16 participant last season, before taking a break for the Christmas holidays. TCU closes out the year of 2006 and concludes its pre-conference slate with a pair of home contests against North Carolina A&T (Dec. 30) and UMKC (Dec. 31).
The Purple and White jumpstart MWC play Wed., Jan. 3, against UNLV at home and then faces Colorado State Jan. 6. From there, TCU hits the road for battles against Air Force (Jan. 11), Utah (Jan. 18), and Wyoming (Jan. 20). Both Utah and Wyoming participated in postseason action in 2006.
New Mexico, a second-rounder at the NCAA Tournament last year, visits Fort Worth on Jan. 24 and San Diego State follows suite with a Jan. 28 battle against the Frogs. TCU concludes the first portion of conference play against BYU (Feb. 1) and UNLV (Feb. 3).
"Once again, the MWC will be as strong as it's ever been," said Mittie. "The league schedule will be very challenging and I expect to see several teams play in postseason action."
The 2007 Mountain West Conference Tournament will venture to Las Vegas, March 6-10. The NCAA Tournament opens with First/Second Round games March 17-20 and four NCAA Regionals, March 24-27. The 2007 NCAA Final Four will take place at the Quickens Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, April 1 and 3.
A listing of television appearances and game times will be announced at a later date. TCU veteran radio play-by-play announcer Jeff Williams and color commentator Marcy Girton will by back on the airwaves this season.
IN THE KNOW:
• A total of nine letterwinners return, including four starters, from last year's TCU squad that went 19-12 (11-5 MWC) overall.
• Senior forward Ashley Davis (honorable mention) and junior guard Adrianne Ross (third-team) are returning all-MWC performers.
• The Lady Frogs appeared in its sixth straight NCAA Tournament in 2006. TCU had never appeared in the Big Dance until 2001.
• The six straight tournament appearances in the longest streak by any school in the state of Texas.
• Only 14 teams boast the distinction of making the NCAA Championship field each of the past six years. In addition to TCU, Connecticut, Duke, Georgia, Liberty, Louisiana Tech, LSU, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Old Dominion, Purdue, Stanford, Tennessee and Vanderbilt have accomplished the feat.
