Prairie View A&M releases women's basketball schedule

Prairie View A&M University Sports Information

Prairie View, Texas — The Prairie View A&M University women’s basketball team will play a 29-game schedule in 2007-08 as they look to defend their Southwestern Conference title and make a return trip to the NCAA Tournament under the direction of third-year head coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke. The Lady Panthers play 11 home games while traveling to take on teams from the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the Big 12, Conference USA (C-USA), PAC-10, and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

“This will be the most challenging schedule that I have faced on the Division I level playing against two SEC schools (Florida & Georgia), two Big 12 team (Texas A&M and Baylor) and two Conference USA schools (Rice and UTEP) in addition to playing in the Bahamas Tournament,” said Cooper-Dyke. “It’s always difficult to repeat the next season as champions because there is no surprise factor; instead we have a bull’s eye on our back. The quality of the schools that we’ll play and the conferences they come from will prepare us for inter-league play so there will be no easy games for us this season.”

Photo: PVAMU'S Gaati Werema, #20 Guard, 6-0 Soph., Orlando Christian Prep H.S., Orlando, Fla.

Prairie View A&M will be facing five of their 11 non-conference opponents for the first time in team history. The Lady Panthers open up the season in the Basketball Travelers Tip Off Tourney against St. Mary’s College of California (Nov. 9) Howard (Nov. 10), and Baylor (Nov. 11).The Lady Panthers then travel to College Station to take on sister school, Texas A&M for a first-time meeting with the Aggies (Nov. 15). Five days later, they travel to Gainesville to play the Gators of the University of Florida.

They will then head out to Freeport, Bahamas to play in the Junkanoo Jam before the Thanksgiving holiday and play against SEC member Georgia (Nov. 23) and either USC or Virginia Tech the following day.

The Lady Panthers open the month of December on the road in Thibodaux, Louisiana as they will square off against the Colonels of Nicholls State for a 2pm tilt (Dec. 8). Prairie View A&M will host one of two home games vs. Houston Baptist University on Dec. 13. For the second year in a row, the Lady Panthers travel to El Paso to compete against UTEP (Dec. 18) and take a pre-Christmas trip to Nacogdoches, TX to play Stephen F. Austin (Dec. 20). Finally the Lady Panthers round off the out of conference play and welcome the Lady Owls of Rice to the William Nicks Arena on Dec. 28.

PVAMU opens Southwestern Athletic Conference play with two home games beginning Saturday, Jan. 5 against Southern University. Prairie View A&M will return to the court 48 hours later to host Alcorn State.