Northwestern Women’s Basketball Releases Non-Conference Slate
For the first time since hoisting the Big Ten Championship Trophy in 2020, fans are welcome back into the Welsh-Ryan Arena to get a glimpse of the 2021-22 Wildcats, as the women’s basketball team announced their out-of-conference schedule for the upcoming season earlier today.
It's LIVE! Our 2021-22 non-conference schedule is can't miss. 👀
— Northwestern Women’s Basketball (@nuwbball) August 24, 2021
And for the first time since THAT game (🏆), fans are coming BACK in Welsh-Ryan Arena. See you there.
🗞 https://t.co/hPK8a2CKpc#GoCats x #LockedN pic.twitter.com/NtCX6sJygK
Coming off of the program's first NCAA Tournament win in 28 years against UCF this past March, the Wildcats are looking to continue to elevate their game with a considerably challenging collection of teams outside of the B1G comfort zone to start off the 2021-22 season. The non-conference agenda calls for seven home games and three road trips, including a trip to the 2021 Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands (St. Thomas, specifically) from November 25-27.
The Wildcats’ first game of the year on their home court will take place on Wednesday, November 10 against cross-town rivals UIC, soon followed by two other contests in Evanston that month: UCSB on November 14, and Loyola Chicago making the short trip north on November 17.
On November 21, the much-anticipated rivalry between Northwestern and DePaul returns to the hardwood, as the Wildcats will head to the Blue Demons’ den to avenge their 70-68 loss back in December 2019. The matchup will also include yet another showdown between Wildcats head coach Joe McKeown and DePaul’s Doug Bruno, both notable names in women’s college hoops.
At the Paradise Jam on Thanksgiving weekend, Northwestern will face a tough slate of opponents, as they are scheduled to take on South Dakota, powerhouse Texas A&M and Pittsburgh, the former of whom made it last season’s “big dance” at the NCAA Tournament, and the latter, which constitutes a rematch of the 2018 ACC/B1G Challenge matchup.
The Wildcats are then on the road again to face Clemson in the 2021 edition of the ACC/B1G Challenge on December 2.
The rest of December consists of four other tune-up matchups before rolling into the Big Ten season, including contests against Delaware, Milwaukee, and Temple on December 11, 14 and 17, respectively. To round out the non-conference slate before the holiday season, the Wildcats will face the Oregon Ducks on December 21 at Welsh-Ryan Arena in a highly-anticipated matchup; the contest also includes a reunion between USA Basketball teammates and FIBA AmeriCup gold medalists, Wildcats senior Veronica Burton and Oregon’s Sedona Prince (who you may know from TikTok).
You can take a look at the entire schedule for the women’s basketball 2021-22 season here.
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Molly Keshin is a reporter/contributor for Wildcats Daily on Sports Illustrated's FanNation Network. She is a graduate student in the Northwestern University Medill School journalism program, specializing in Sports Media. Molly recently graduated from the University of Virginia, where she was a member of the softball team.