LSU EUNICE LADY BENGALS ANNOUNCE 2010-11 BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
EUNICE, La. – LSU Eunice women’s basketball head coach Michael Bari announced on Thursday the 2010-11 women’s basketball schedule.
This year’s slate of games includes the most home games scheduled in one season since Bari took over in 2004 with 13 home contests.
Bari spoke on the importance of having more home games this season.
“It’s more important to have home games, because the traveling for road games can take its toll on the team towards the end of the season. By playing less games on the road, and more at home, we can be much more fresh when playoff time comes.”
The Lady Bengals will open the season a little later than usual. While the official NJCAA-mandated start day of the season is set annually for November 1, LSU Eunice will kickoff on November 6-7 versus Southwestern Adventist University in a two-day doubleheader. The Lady Bengals defeated Southwestern Adventist in their only contest against them on the road last season 91-62.
November 11 will mark the beginning of the LSU Eunice Fall Classic. This year’s classic will feature eight teams, each playing three games over three days. The teams will be bracketed, and a champion will be crowned on the final day of competition on November 13. The schools and times of the playing times of the games are still in the process of being finalized, and will be announced at a later date.
The Lady Bengals will hit the road for the first time at the end of November to take on Letourneau University JV in a two-game series in Longview, Texas. It will be the first time the Lady Bengals have faced Letourneau.
Prior to finals week, the Lady Bengals will travel to Keene, Texas to face off against Southwestern Adventist for a third time this season.
LSU Eunice will then head east to participate in two tournaments in Florida. This will mark the first time the Lady Bengals have traveled to play in the State of Florida since 2007. This trip also brings to an end a streak of games played in other states. It was also in 2007-08 when the Lady Bengals did not play a regular season game in both Arizona and Kansas.
In the PJC Classic, hosted by Pensacola Junior College, the Lady Bengals will play two games. On Dec. 10 they will face-off against Northwest Florida State College, the first ever matchup between the two schools. The following day, the Lady Bengals will take on the host team Pensacola Pirates. Pensacola finished last season with an impressive 24-6 record, and were ranked by the NJCAA as high as 3rd in Division I. It will be the first matchup versus Pensacola since Jan. 3, 2009.
The following week, LSU Eunice will take part in the Palm Beach State College Holiday Classic. The tournament will take place over three days, and consist of three games. On the first day of competition on Dec. 18, the Lady Bengals will go to battle against the host team Palm Beach State. The following two days will see action against Kishwaukee College of Illinois and Shelton State College of Alabama, respectively. Shelton State qualified for the NJCAA Division I National Tournament last season, and lost in the first round to Midland CC, who had the most wins in Division I last season.
As 2010 draws to a close, the Lady Bengals will host a Holiday Tournament, in which they will participate in games on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, 2011. The times and opponents are still in the process of finalizing, and will be announced at a later date.
In 2011, LSU Eunice will begin competition against some familiar foes. The first team they face will be Southern University – Shreveport on Jan. 9 in Shreveport. Last season, the Lady Bengals swept the Lady Jags in their two contests. SU-Shreveport will travel to Eunice on Jan. 24 in the second of the two-game series.
The Lady Bengals will return to Houston, Texas for the first time since 2008 to take on the San Jacinto Lady Gators on Jan. 10. While the two teams did not schedule each other for a regular game last season, they met as part of the Murray State Classic, where the Lady Bengals came out on top 97-79. The Lady Gators will travel to Eunice to play in the final home game of the season on Feb. 23. The last time San Jacinto traveled to Eunice, they lost 115-104, and helped the home team set a LSU Eunice record for most points scored against a Division I team.
Baton Rouge Community College will travel to Eunice in their second year of competition at the NJCAA level on Jan. 14 as part of a two-game series. The two teams split last season, winning each game on the road. The second game of the series will take place in Baton Rouge on Feb. 7.
LSU Eunice will travel to New Orleans on Jan. 17 to take on Delgado Community College. Last season, the Lady Bengals had a 12-game winning streak versus Delgado snapped when the Lady Dolphins grabbed a win on Feb. 8, 2010. The second of the two-game series is scheduled for Feb. 19 in Eunice.
The Lady Bengals will travel to Raymond, Miss. for the first time since 2003 to take on Hinds Community College on Jan. 20. Although the two squads have never played since Bari took over as head coach, the Lady Bengals are 3-1 all time against Hinds.
On Feb. 12 and 13, the Lady Bengals will play back-to-back games with East Point. A semi-pro team from Georgia, East Point boasted multiple 20-point per game scorers on their squad last season. The Lady Bengals swept their two-game series last season in their first-ever two appearances against East Point.
To conclude the regular season, the Lady Bengals will go back-to-back in Dallas, Texas to play Mountain View College on Feb.25 and 26. The Lady Bengals won both games against the Lady Lions last year, and are an incredible 14-0 against them all-time.
After the regular season has concluded, the Lady Bengals, if qualified, will travel to Kansas to take part in the NJCAA District B Championship Tournament. The winner of the District tournament will qualify for one of the 12 spots available in the NJCAA National Tournament. The National Championship will take place in Peoria, Illinois and begins on March 16 and conclude on March 20.
The broadcast schedule for the Lady Bengal games will be announced at a later date. Last season Ville-Platte based KVPI 92.5 FM and 1050 AM presented the majority of the games. LSU Eunice’s own in-house cable channel LSUE.TV also broadcasted regular season games. In addition, they also were the exclusive broadcaster of the Lady Bengals run through the 2010 playoffs.
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Link to the 2010-11 schedule