University of San Francisco Athletics

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SAN FRANCISCO – Highlighted by a trip to the East Coast and a new West Coast Conference foe, the San Francisco women's basketball team has announced the 2013-14 season schedule.

The Dons will begin the regular season in the Big Apple, facing off with Fordham (Nov. 8) and Columbia (Nov. 10) in the cross-country road trip.

"It's a great way to kick off the season and also to travel to New York City – a lot of our players have not been to New York," head coach Jennifer Azzi said of the season start. "Our players will get to have the cultural experience of going to New York City, and I think that's going to be great from an education perspective. From a game perspective, Fordham got us last year so we'll be back there playing them again, and we have not played Columbia since I've been at USF so that will be a new one for us. I think the New York trip is going to be really good for us for a lot of reasons."

After the two-game swing through New York, the USF will open its regular-season home slate against Dominican on Nov. 13. The Dons will enjoy one more home game as it hosts Long Bach State Nov. 17, before finishing off the month on the road against quality competition highlighted by a Thanksgiving weekend tournament at Cal Poly where USF will meet UC Davis along with the tournament hosts in the Holiday Classic.

December sees the Dons host non-conference opponents UNLV and Cal State Bakersfield before a rematch with Boise State in Idaho on Dec. 14. USF closes out the non-conference slate with games against UMKC and Fresno State. The Bulldogs, a 2013 NCAA Tournament team, are one of three non-conference opponents that played in the postseason a year ago.

"It's great that we're playing teams that have been to the NCAA Tournament, that have been to the WNIT, because that's where we want to get to," Azzi said of the overall schedule. "I think our non-conference schedule is strong, and it's a great way to get us ready and prepare us for conference."

Add in West Coast Conference competition, including new member Pacific, and USF will square off with seven teams that played in either the NCAA or WNIT Tournament last season. Conference action begins league-wide on Dec. 28 for everyone save the Dons and Santa Clara. Instead, USF opens its WCC competition two day later against the Broncos in Santa Clara.

After a pair of games against Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine in the Los Angeles area to begin 2014, USF's schedule sets up with four home games in a row. The Dons will begin the stretch by welcoming Pacific to the conference as the WCC's 10th member on Jan. 9, followed by a Saturday date with Bay Area rival Saint Mary's. The longest home swing of the year culminates with a rare Friday/Sunday combination as it hosts the 2013 conference champion Gonzaga Bulldogs on Jan. 17, followed by Portland.

"I'm excited about getting started with conference and I think it's going to be much better for us to get into a better rhythm this year with this schedule," Azzi said. "I like the fact that we have 10 teams in the conference now, and it makes life a lot better. I'm excited about the organization and the way that the schedule is laid out this year."

The Dons hit the road again for another four-pack of games that ends in Spokane, Wash., before settling down in the Bay Area once more. USF will enjoy a stretch of seven-straight either at War Memorial Gym or close enough for a day trip destination to close the regular season. Just like last year, the last opponent USF will face in the regular season fray is Loyola Marymount on March 1.  

"I think the conference is really strong, and I think every team is going to be better next season," Azzi projected. "I think again Gonzaga is going to be very good, BYU is going to be very good, USD – across the board. But we have a group of players that are very bought in, that are working hard. They're excited  to get started – they wish we played tomorrow. And we can't wait for our opening game."

Postseason play in the WCC Championships will take place March 6-11 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. For season and single-game tickets to see the Dons in action, visit usfdons.com/tickets or call 415.422.2DONS (2873).

Date	Opponent	Location	Time
11/2/2013	CS Chico (Exhibition)	San Francisco	2:00 p.m.
11/8/2013	Fordham	New York	4:00 p.m.
11/10/2013	Columbia	New York	11:00 a.m.
11/13/2013	Dominican	San Francisco	7:00 p.m.
11/17/2013	Long Beach State	San Francisco	2:00 p.m.
11/20/2013	San Jose State	San Jose, Calif.	7:00 p.m.
11/23/2013	Air Force	USAF Academy, Colo.	1:00 p.m.
Cal Poly Holiday Classic
11/29/2013	UC Davis	San Luis Obispo, Calif.	5:00 p.m.
11/30/2013	Cal Poly	San Luis Obispo, Calif.	7:00 p.m.
12/6/2013	UNLV	San Francisco	7:00 p.m.
12/11/2013	CS Bakersfield	San Francisco	7:00 p.m.
12/14/2013	Boise State	Boise, Idaho	1:00 pm
12/18/2013	UMKC	San Francisco	7:00 p.m.
12/20/2013	Fresno State	Fresno, Calif.	7:00 p.m.
12/30/2013	Santa Clara	Santa Clara, Calif.	TBD
1/2/2014	Loyola Marymount	Los Angeles, Calif.	TBD
1/4/2014	Pepperdine	Malibu, Calif.	TBD
1/9/2014	Pacific	San Francisco	TBD
1/11/2014	Saint Mary's	San Francisco	TBD
1/17/2014	Gonzaga	San Francisco	TBD
1/19/2014	Portland	San Francisco	TBD
1/23/2014	BYU	Provo, Utah	TBD
1/25/2014	San Diego	San Diego, Calif.	TBD
1/30/2014	Portland	Portland, Ore.	TBD
2/1/2014	Gonzaga	Spokane, Wash.	TBD
2/6/2014	San Diego	San Francisco	TBD
2/8/2014	BYU	San Francisco	TBD
2/15/2014	Santa Clara	San Francisco	TBD
2/20/2014	Saint Mary's	Moraga, Calif.	TBD
2/22/2014	Pacific	Stockton, Calif.	TBD
2/27/2014	Pepperdine	San Francisco	TBD
3/1/2014	Loyola Marymount	San Francisco	TBD
3/6-11/2014	WCC Championships	Las Vegas (Orleans Arena)

*All times Pacific, and subject to change