July 13, 2009

Fort Wayne, IN – IPFW Head Women’s Basketball Coach Chris Paul has announced the 2009-10 schedule, which includes some of the nation’s top talent from the country’s best conferences. Some of the highlighted opponents include NCAA National Runner-Up Louisville, Notre Dame, Big 10’s Northwestern University, with the remaining slate of non-conference opponents filled by some of the top mid-major schools in the Midwest.

Seven of the 11 Mastodon non-conference foes finished at or near .500 a season ago, and had a combined 195-138 record last season. Three non-conference opponents, and five overall, made postseason appearances last year, highlighted by a 1-1 showing by Butler in the WNIT, a Notre Dame first-round NCAA exit, and Louisville’s run in the NCAA Tournament.

The schedule opens on November 14, when the ‘Dons play host to the Raiders of Wright State University, 15-16 last season, in the first game of a women’s basketball/women’s volleyball double header. IPFW will look to hold serve in a series with their foes from Dayton, Ohio, as in the previous 11 games in the series, the home team has come out victorious. Following the basketball game, the women’s volleyball squad will cap their conference regular season with a match against Southern Utah at 7:00 PM.

Back-to-back road games follow, as IPFW initially travels south to take on the Bulldogs of Butler University on November 18. Last season Butler, at 20-12 on the year, was the Horizon League runner-up, and went 1-1 in the WNIT, topping Duquesne, before falling to Marquette. Four days later the squad will face off against a Big 10 team for the seventh consecutive year, as the ‘Dons take to the road in Chicago, taking on the Northwestern Wildcats, who finished last year 7-23.

A day after Thanksgiving on November 27, IPFW looks to exact revenge against Eastern Illinois, who topped IPFW in Charleston, en route to finishing as the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament runner-up. A road game against Akron of the Mid-American Conference, 11-19 last season, follows on December 2. Three days later the ‘Dons play in their first Summit League game of the season, as the squad hosts Oakland University on December 5.

Three straight road games over the next 15 days include trips to South Bend to face off against Notre Dame on December 8, a squad that fell to Minnesota last season in the NCAA Tournament first round. Toledo, 18-13 last season, follows on December 12, before IPFW travels to the East Coast to take on Fairfield University, 18-13 in 2008-09, in Fairfield, Connecticut, on December 20. On December 23 IPFW returns home to take on Indiana Tech University.

Their final non-conference road trip follows on December 29, as the team travels to defending National Runner-Up Louisville on December 29, who went 34-5 on the year, with three of those losses coming to NCAA National Champion Connecticut.

In the calendar year 2010, 17 of the team’s 18 games are in the Summit League, including leading off the new year with a weekend series at home against Western Illinois and IUPUI on January 2 and 4, respectively. A southern road swing to Oral Roberts and Centenary on January 9 and 11 sets the stage for three straight games at home; January 16 against UMKC, January 18 against Southern Utah, and January 20 against Chicago State, who went 16-13, and topped IPFW in Chicago a season ago.

After a four-game road swing to North Dakota State and South Dakota State, and then to IUPUI and Western Illinois, the schedule finishes with a home weekend (Centenary and Oral Roberts), an away weekend (Southern Utah and UMKC), another home weekend (South Dakota State and North Dakota State), before capping the season with a road game at Oakland on February 27.

The Summit League Tournament follows, as the event will remain in Sioux Falls for this season through the 2012 championships.

~Dons~