SAN ANTONIO — Entering his fourth season at the helm of the UTSA women's basketball program, head women's basketball coach Lubomyr Lichonczak announces his schedule for the upcoming 2016-17 season on Thursday.
The Roadrunners' 29-game schedule features 17 homes games, 12 road contests and a pair of tune-ups to begin the campaign. Also returning to the season schedule are the annual Thanksgiving Classic (Nov. 27 & 29) and the Rae & Craig Blair Memorial Tournament (Dec. 19-20).
A pair of tune-up contests will kick-off the season with an exhibition game against Texas A&M International on Oct. 28 followed by a match-up against Trinity on Nov. 5. The official start to the season is set for Nov. 11 at the Convocation Center against Division II Angelo State.
"If you look at the schedule, we have a tough one this year," said head women's basketball coach Lubomyr Lichonczak. "We have a pair of American Athletic Conference teams, a Big 12 team, a Pac-12 (team) and our traditional rivals like Texas State and UT Arlington that we've played for years. It may be our toughest schedule since I've been a head coach at UTSA."
On the docket for the Birds this season is a West Coast trip to Eugene, Ore., as the Roadrunners will face the Oregon Ducks on Nov. 20. The last time UTSA made the trek West was in the Roadrunners' lone season in the Western Athletic Conference when they matched up with Seattle towards the end of the regular season.
"Oregon is a tough team to play, especially on their home court. It will help with our RPI, but playing a team of this caliber on the road will also set us up for success when we hit the road in Conference USA play," added Lichonczak.
Eighteen league games also highlight the final months of the season, including three home-and-home games against UTEP, Florida Atlantic and FIU. The Birds open C-USA action on Jan. 1 in El Paso against the Miners and will end the regular season on the road at Charlotte (March 2) and Old Dominion (March 4).
"Opening up with UTEP will be a great start. It's become a healthy rivalry in one that we respect each other but at the same time we want to beat each other. After defeating them at home last season, I'm sure they are going to want to come back and take it to us," said Lichonczak.
The Conference USA Basketball Championship returns to Birmingham, Ala. for the third straight year and will be hosted by UAB, March 8-11. This season, only 12 of the 14 teams in the league will earn a berth to the conference tournament.
UTSA concluded its last season 10-19 with a 6-12 C-USA record. Only one starter returns from one year ago with six total letter winners returning.
