 
|
RETURN to main page
Lady Razorbacks to get early start on the roadROB KEYSARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas Coach Gary Blair usually cringes when he looks at his team's SEC schedule. This year, though, Blair began cringing well before he got to the Lady Razorbacks' January and February dates. Arkansas' 2000-2001 schedule was released Monday, and the Lady Razorbacks will play six games before their home opener, Dec. 4 against Brigham Young. "The only thing I didn't like about it is how we're opening the season -- at Memphis, at Missouri, at Hawaii, at Oklahoma State, then come back for the home opener against Brigham Young," Blair said. "To me, we'll find out in a hurry just how good we are. "The hard part about playing this kind of schedule is that you don't want it to beat you down." Arkansas will open the season against Memphis on Nov. 18 at The Pyramid, the site of the 2001 SEC Women's Tournament. The Lady Razorbacks then play at Missouri before traveling to the Rainbow Wahine Invitational, hosted by the University of Hawaii. While the matchups for that eight-team tournament have yet to be set, Arkansas will play three games from a field that includes three NCAA Tournament teams from last season. After returning from Hawaii, Arkansas will travel to Oklahoma State in the first game of a new, four-year series that will replace an 18-year series against Southwest Missouri State. Also new to Arkansas' schedule, which will feature at least nine games against NCAA Tournament teams from last season, are Dayton, Southeast Louisiana, Harvard, Western Kentucky and Howard. The Harvard game will be played Dec. 21 at Alltel Arena in North Little Rock. Arkansas' 14-game SEC schedule features home-and-home dates with Auburn, LSU and Kentucky, and is highlighted by a home game against Tennessee on Sunday, Jan. 7. Blair hopes to break the program's attendance record of 14,163, set at the 1999 WNIT championship game, when the Lady Vols come to town. "We're shooting for the record," Blair said. "We want to blow that out of the water." Before that can happen, however, Blair wants his team to use its early road trips to build confidence that will carry over into the SEC schedule. "We have not been a good road team in the SEC, and I think to be a good road team in the nonconference is a lead-up to conference success," Blair said. Arkansas will celebrate its 25th season of women's basketball during the 2000-01 season, culminating with a reunion weekend that includes the Lady Razorbacks' Jan. 14 game against Kentucky. Any former Lady Razorback basketball player who has not received information about the "Silver Season Weekend" is asked to call (501) 575-4415. Nov. 2 Red-White Game Fayetteville Nov. 5 Foreign Exhibition Fayetteville Nov. 14 Athletes in Action Fayetteville Nov. 18 Memphis Memphis, Tenn. Nov. 20 Missouri Columbia, Mo. Nov. 24-26 Rainbow Wahine Invitational at Honolulu, Hawai'i Dec. 1 at Oklahoma St. Stillwater, Okla. Dec. 4 Brigham Young Fayetteville Dec. 7 at Dayton Dayton, Ohio Dec. 10 SE Louisiana Fayetteville Dec. 21 Harvard North Little Rock Dec. 28 Western Kentucky Fayetteville Dec. 30 TCU Fayetteville Jan. 2 at South Carolina* Columbia, S.C. Jan. 5 Tulsa Fayetteville Jan. 7 Tennessee* Fayetteville Jan. 11 at LSU* Baton Rouge, La. Jan. 14 Kentucky* Fayetteville Jan. 18 Mississippi State* Fayetteville Jan. 21 at Vanderbilt* Nashville, Tenn. Jan. 24 at La.-Monroe Monroe, La. Jan. 28 Auburn* Fayetteville Feb. 1 at Alabama* Tuscaloosa, Ala. Feb. 4 at Kentucky* Lexington, Ky. Feb. 8 Florida* Fayetteville Feb. 11 LSU* Fayetteville Feb. 15 Howard Fayetteville Feb. 18 at Georgia* Athens, Ga. Feb. 22 at Auburn* Auburn, Ala. Feb. 24 Ole Miss* Fayetteville March 1-4 SEC Tournament Memphis, Tenn. * Conference games
This article was published on Tuesday, August 8, 2000RETURN to main pageCopyright and permissions Copyright © 2000, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved. This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. |
