After working on it for three years, Arizona women’s basketball head coach Adia Barnes was still trying to put the finishing touches on the Wildcats’ non-conference schedule last Friday. The contracts are finally all signed.
The program released the 2021-22 non-conference schedule on Tuesday. It features four games against NCAA Tournament teams from last season, including Elite Eight participants Louisville and Texas. Marist and Rutgers also took part in the 2021 tournament.
Only five of the Wildcats’ 12 regular season non-conference games will be played in McKale Center this season. Even the regular match-up against Northern Arizona will be held on the road. Arizona last played on the Lumberjacks’ home floor in 2017 when they were defeated by NAU.
The Wildcats will start the season in just over three weeks, kicking off with an exhibition against Eastern New Mexico on Thursday, Oct. 28 in McKale Center. They will also have an exhibition against Arizona Christian on Nov. 5 before jumping into the games that count.
The regular season starts at home against Cal State Northridge on Nov. 9. The last home game of the non-conference season will be Dec. 12 when Arizona faces New Mexico.
The Wildcats will then go to Flagstaff to play NAU before winding up the non-conference slate with a neutral-court game against Texas in Las Vegas on Dec. 19.
The complete schedule
October
28 Eastern New Mexico 6 p.m. MST (Exhibition)
November
5 Arizona Christian 6:30 p.m. MST (Exhibition)
9 CSU Northridge 5 p.m. MST
12 vs. Louisville in South Dakota 2:30 p.m. MST
15 Texas Southern 6:30 p.m. MST
19 Marist 6:30 p.m. MST
25 vs. Vanderbilt in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands 1:15 p.m. MST
26 vs. DePaul in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands 1:15 p.m. MST
27 vs. Rutgers in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands 1:15 p.m. MST
December
3 at UC Riverside TBA
9 North Dakota State 6:30 p.m. MST
12 New Mexico at McKale Center 1 p.m. MST
17 at NAU TBA
19 vs. Texas in Las Vegas 3:30 p.m. MST
Home games are bolded.
Games in italics are neutral-site games.