GREENSBORO, North Carolina – The North Carolina A&T women’s basketball team released a 2016-17 schedule that includes three teams that finished in the Top-25 last season. Four teams on the schedule advanced to the NCAA tournament with one of those teams reaching the Sweet 16.There are also three postseason WNIT participants from the 2015-16 season on the schedule. Twenty-sixteen and 17 is also highlighted by an SEC school and a Pac-12 visiting Corbett Sports Center to face the Aggies. Even one of the Aggies Division II foes reached the NCAA Division II Elite 8. But the Aggies are not without their own accolades heading into a tough 2016-17 season thanks to a 2016 NCAA appearance and a 2016 MEAC title in their possession.
The defending champs open the season on the road in Statesboro, Ga. to take on Georgia Southern on Nov. 11 before returning to Greensboro to open their home schedule at Corbett Sports Center against Tennessee Martin on Nov. 14. The non-conference games continue as N.C. A&T faces SEC foe Auburn at home on Nov. 17 at 5:30 p.m. Like the Aggies, the Tigers clinched a spot in the NCAA Division I tournament in 2016. The Tigers finished the season 20-13.
Over Thanksgiving break, N.C. A&T will compete in three games at the Savannah Invitational Thanksgiving Tournament. The Aggies open the tournament against West Virginia on Nov. 22 and play Ball State the following day. The Big 12 Mountaineers finished the season ranked 23rd in the nation, while Ball State finished 22-10 and competed in the WNIT. The tournament wraps up against Marist on Thanksgiving. The Red Foxes were 16-16 last season but closed the year 12-5.
N.C. A&T’s other non-conference opponents include at Appalachian State on Nov. 30, at the University of Florida on Dec. 11, at Florida Gulf Coast on Dec. 14, at home for three straight games against Division II Slippery Rock on Dec. 17, UCLA on Dec. 20 and Ohio University on Dec. 28. The Florida Gators finished ranked 25th in the country while FGCU opened last season with a 60-36 win over N.C. A&T before finishing the season in the WNIT finals. UCLA finished ranked 10th in the country, and Ohio went 26-7 and won two games in the WNIT postseason. The Aggies finish 2016 at home on Dec. 31 against Francis Marion. The Patriots (24-9) competed in last season’s NCAA Division II Tournament in Sioux Falls, S.D., before being eliminated in the quarterfinals.
The ringing in of 2017 means the MEAC portion of the schedule is set to begin for the defending regular-season co-champion Aggies. The team will play at Hampton, a perennial power in the MEAC, on Jan. 4 prior to a two-game conference home stretch on Jan. 7 and 9 against Delaware State (2 p.m.) and Maryland Eastern Shore (5:30 p.m.). The Aggies conference regular-season closes with a three-game homestand against Savannah State (Feb. 25), 2015 MEAC champions; Bethune-Cookman (Feb. 27), 2016 MEAC regular-season co-champions; and archrival North Carolina Central (March 2).
N.C. A&T head coach Tarrell Robinson’s team is coming off a 19-2 season that included a 12-4 mark in the conference. They won their three MEAC tournament games by an average of 15 points before facing No. 1 seed Notre Dame of the Lexington, Ky., region in South Bend in what was the school’s first NCAA tournament appearance in seven years.
NCAT MBB 2016-17 SCHEDULE
DATE OPPONENT LOCATION TIME (ET)
Fri, Nov 11 Georgia Southern at Statesboro, Ga. TBA
Mon, Nov 14 Tennessee Martin Corbett Sports Center 5:30 PM
Thu, Nov 17 Auburn Corbett Sports Center 5:30 PM
Savannah Invitational Thanksgiving Tournament
Tue, Nov 22 West Virginia at Savannah, Ga. 7:00 PM
Wed, Nov 23 Ball State at Savannah, Ga. 2:00 PM
Thu, Nov 24 Marist at Savannah, Ga. 2:00 PM
Wed, Nov 30 Appalachian State at Boone, N.C. 12:00 PM
Sun, Dec 11 Florida at Gainesville, Fla. TBA
Wed, Dec 14 Florida Gulf Coast at Fort Myers, Fla. 7:00 PM
Sat, Dec 17 Slippery Rock Corbett Sports Center 2:00 PM
Tue, Dec 20 UCLA Corbett Sports Center 12:00 PM
Wed, Dec 28 Ohio Corbett Sports Center 2:00 PM
Sat, Dec 31 Francis Marion Corbett Sports Center 2:00 PM
Wed, Jan 04 Hampton * at Hampton, Va. TBA
Sat, Jan 07 Delaware State * Corbett Sports Center 2:00 PM
Mon, Jan 09 Maryland Eastern Shore * Corbett Sports Center 5:30 PM
Sat, Jan 14 Coppin State * at Baltimore, Md. TBA
Mon, Jan 16 Morgan State * at Baltimore, Md. TBA
Sat, Jan 21 Howard * Corbett Sports Center 2:00 PM
Sat, Jan 28 N.C. Central * at Durham, N.C. TBA
Mon, Jan 30 Norfolk State * at Norfolk, Va. TBA
Wed, Feb 01 Delaware State * at Dover, Del. TBA
Sat, Feb 11 Florida A&M * Corbett Sports Center 2:00 PM
Mon, Feb 13 S.C. State * Corbett Sports Center 5:30 PM
Sat, Feb 18 Howard * at Washington, D.C. TBA
Mon, Feb 20 Maryland Eastern Shore * at Princess Anne, Md. TBA
Sat, Feb 25 Savannah State * Corbett Sports Center 2:00
Mon, Feb 27 Bethune-Cookman * Corbett SpoBrts Center 5:30 PM
Thu, Mar 02 N.C. Central * Corbett Sports Center 5:30
BOLD: HOME GAME
NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS
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