Trojans Set to Face Difficult Non-League Schedule

Buy Season Tickets | Junior Trojans Club | 2016-17 Schedule

LITTLE ROCK – A very strong non-conference schedule awaits Little Rock women's basketball in 2016-17, as the team will be taking on at least six opponents with postseason experience from 2015-16, four opponents who made the 2015-16 NCAA Tournament and four opponents from major-conference schools.
 
The Trojans will take on NCAA Sweet 16 team Mississippi State and NCAA Second Round team Texas A&M at the Jack Stephens Center while also getting a rematch with their WNIT opponent from last year – Saint Louis – in Little Rock. All told, the Trojans will host five non-conference home games.
 
On the road, the Trojans will take on NCAA Second Round team Oklahoma and Southeastern Conference foe LSU.
 
"We are playing another challenging non-conference schedule this year with games against top-tier opponents that should make for very entertaining games for the fans," coach Joe Foley said. "We hope that playing this quality schedule will prepare us for the Sun Belt regular season as well as the conference tournament in March."
 
Little Rock will also battle NCAA Tournament team Missouri State and WNIT squad Memphis on the road. Games against Oral Roberts at home and Tulsa on the road round out the 2016 non-conference schedule.
 
There is also the potential to play more opponents who made the national postseason in 2015-16 as part of the Preseason WNIT. Little Rock begins its 2016 schedule in the Preseason WNIT against former Sun Belt Conference rival North Texas at the Jack Stephens Center. A victory in that game could send the Trojans to perennial mid-major powerhouse Green Bay, an NCAA Tournament team from 2015-16, or Elon, a WNIT team from 2015-16. Dates for second- and third-round Preseason WNIT games are still to be determined.
 
Season tickets start at just $99 and include all women's and men's basketball home games. Junior Trojans Club memberships for children will also be available at $50 for the first child and $40 for each additional child, with admission to the Kids Zone at all Saturday games included.
 
Before the season begins, fans will have a chance to get to know the members of the 2016-17 women's basketball team and all other Little Rock teams at the Meet The Trojans event held at the Jack Stephens Center on October 26 at 5:30 p.m. Admission to this event is free.
 
The opening Preseason WNIT game on November 11 (North Texas) will be followed by the Trojans' first road trip of the year, a drive over to Norman, Okla., for a date with the Sooners on November 16. Little Rock played at Oklahoma last season as well, falling to the Sooners on their home floor. Oklahoma reached the NCAA Tournament's second round in 2016, losing to No. 3 seed Kentucky.
 
The Trojans will then return home on November 23 for their pre-Thanksgiving matchup with Texas A&M, a team Little Rock defeated in the 2015 NCAA Tournament before the Aggies got revenge with a win in College Station last season. Texas A&M was defeated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2016 by Florida State.
 
Three days later on November 26, Saint Louis comes to the Jack Stephens Center with the Trojans looking to avenge their loss in the WNIT First Round last season on the Billikens' home floor. Saint Louis reached the Sweet 16 of the WNIT last year. This year's game will coincide with the Trojans' Family Day promotion where fans can get four tickets, four drinks and four hot dogs for just $40.
 
The Trojans will then travel to Missouri State on November 28, matching up with the defending Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Champions. Little Rock comes back home on December 1 to play Oral Roberts before heading on the road on December 4 to take on local rival Memphis.
 
That's when the Jack Stephens Center will host its second major-conference team as Mississippi State heads to Little Rock for a December 13 matchup with the Trojans. The Trojans and Bulldogs have not met since 1988. Mississippi State made the Sweet 16 last year, only losing to eventual national champion Connecticut.
 
The Trojans will end the non-conference slate with two road games. First, the team heads west to Tulsa, Okla., to take on the Golden Hurricane on December 18. After that, Little Rock heads down south to Baton Rouge, La., to battle LSU. Last time Little Rock took on the Tigers on their home floor, Little Rock escaped with a win over then-No. 24 LSU in the 2014 season opener.
 
Sun Belt play is set to begin on December 29 against Louisiana at the Jack Stephens Center, and the Sun Belt Tournament will be held March 8-12 at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans.
 
Game times will be released at a later date.