Troy University Athletics
Trojans Release 2009-10 Schedule
8/4/2009 7:15:00 PM | Basketball (W)
Troy University women's basketball head coach Michael Murphy released the 2009-10 version of his team's schedule, highlighted by 13 homes games; including five non-conference match-ups.
The Trojans will face three teams that won their conference championships and participated in the NCAA Tournament, including in-state rival Auburn University. The Trojans and Tigers will tip-off the season November 13 at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum. This will be the fourth consecutive season that the Trojans have opened their season against a team that participated in the NCAA Tourmament a season ago, and the second time in three years they will open up on the road against Auburn.
Troy then hits the road for the second game of the season, staying in-state and facing long-time rival Jacksonville State at Pete Mathews Coliseum on November 17. It will be the second time in three years that the Trojans have paid a visit to the city of Jacksonville to take on the Gamecocks, falling in 2007. The Trojans leads the all-time series over Jacksonville State 38-20.
Following the two road trips to their in-state rivals, the Trojans return home for their first game at Trojan Arena by hosting Longwood (VA) University on November 24. This will be the first meeting between the two teams as Longwood is making the move from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I this season. The two teams will also meet in Farmville, Virginia on February 10.
For the third consecutive season, the Trojans will be on the road for Thanksgiving. After visiting Tulsa and Chattanooga the last two seasons, the Trojans will take a trip up Interstate-85 to Atlanta to play in the Georgia State University Thanksgiving Tournament. The Trojans will play the host team on Saturday, November 28, before facing either Morgan State or Murray State in the consolation/championship game at the GSU Sports Arena on Sunday, November 29.
Following the tournament in Atlanta, the Trojans return home for three consecutive games. The first of the three games takes place on December 5 when the Trojans host Belhaven College for the second time in three seasons. The last two times the teams have met since 2006, the Trojans have defeated the Lady Blazers by a combined 82 points. Following the non-conference action against Belhaven, the Trojans face defending Ohio Valley Conference champion Austin Peay on December 12. The game is a return game from last season in which Troy defeating the Lady Govs in Clarksville 65-61.
The final game of the three-game homestand is the first conference game for the Trojans. Troy opens the Sun Belt Conference schedule against the University of New Orleans at Trojan Arena on December 19. Following the game against New Orleans, the Trojans travel to Brooklyn for their final non-conference game before the New Year. The Trojans will take on St. Francis December 22 in Brooklyn Heights, the second time in three years the Trojans have traveled to New York prior to Christmas.
Following the non-conference tilt against St. Francis, the Trojans travel to Monroe, Louisiana for their second conference game of the season. Troy will take on ULM at Fant-Ewing Coliseum December 30, the Trojans third trip to Monroe in the last three years (won in 2008 tournament and lost in 2008-09 regular season).
After the New Year, the Trojans host one more conference game before their final non-conference home game of the season. The Trojans host the University of Denver (January 2) for the second consecutive year, before the highlight of the non-conference home schedule. Troy hosts the United States Military Academy (Army) on January 4, the first day of the spring semester, at Trojan Arena in a return game from the Trojans' trip to West Point four years ago.
Following the game against Army, the Trojans will play 10 consecutive Sun Belt Conference games before the trip to Longwood in February. The Trojans will face Florida Atlantic (Janaury 6), Florida International (January 10), South Alabama (January 16), Louisiana-Lafayette (January 23), Middle Tennessee (February 3) and Western Kentucky (February 6) on the road during that stretch of games. They will also face North Texas (January 13), Western Kentucky (January 20), Louisiana-Monroe (January 27) and South Alabama (January 30) at Trojan Arena.
After the game in Virginia, the Trojans face Florida International (February 13), Middle Tennessee (February 17) and Florida Atlantic (February 20) at Trojan Arena before hitting the road to face UALR (February 24) and Arkansas State (February 27) to close out the regular season.
Troy returns two full-time starters, and two others who saw action in the starting line-up from last season's team that finished 16-14 overall and second in the East Division. Seniors Alyce Shearing and Brittnie Davis return to the starting line-up for their senior season, with Davis returning for an extra year after graduating this summer. They are joined by junior Donette McNair and sophomore Kirsten Smith as players who have experience in the starting line-up for the Trojans.
For more information on the Trojans opponents, make sure to check out the COURTSIDE previews over the next two weeks.
For a complete schedule, click here.
For up-to-the-minute information on Troy Athletics, visit TroyTrojans.com. For ticket information to all home Troy athletic events, and to get information on away events, call the Troy University Athletics Ticket Office at 1-877-878-WINS (9467).
Travis Jarome can be reached via e-mail at tjarome@troy.edu and can be followed on twitter at www.twitter.com/TJarome_SID.
