The U women’s basketball team recently released its non-conference schedule for the upcoming season.
The team will face tough competition from the get-go, as its first six games will be against teams that played in the NCAA tournament last season.
The Utes will kick off the season with home games against Jackson State, which won its conference championship last season, and Louisville, which danced all the way to the Sweet 16 a year ago.
The team will then hit the road to face four more teams that played in the post-season last year. South Dakota State is the first road game, followed by the Marquette Tournament where the Utes will face Marquette, Gonzaga and Virginia.
Following the Marquette Tournament, the team will play Santa Clara and Mississippi State at home. On the road, the Utes will take on in-state rival Weber State, perennial Pac-10 power Oregon and UC Santa Barbara. The Utes will wrap up their non-conference schedule with a home game against Norfolk State.
“This schedule will allow us to build a strong pre-season RPI,” head coach Elaine Elliott said. “It will continue our tradition of competitive scheduling, and it will help strengthen our national reputation.”
Throughout non-conference play, the Utes will face three defending conference champions and six teams that were in the top three of their respective conferences.
The non-conference schedule is still tentative and will be finalized when the conference schedule is released in August.