2011-12 Campbell women's basketball schedule
BUIES CREEK, N.C.-Two tournaments, 13 home dates, plus a full slate of Big South Conference matchups highlight the 2011-12 Campbell University women's basketball schedule.
"Our nonconference schedule is different this year because a lot of times Big South teams made up most of our nonleague schedule," said Lady Camel head coach Wanda Watkins. "To see a Western Carolina, UNC Wilmington and Elon, as well as a couple of tournaments in Georgia State and Stetson on our schedule is great to see."
Campbell will open the 2011-12 season inside the Pope Center on Nov. 12 with Montreat at 6 p.m. The meeting will be the first ever between the two schools. Campbell is 24-15 all-time in season openers, including an 18-5 record when opening the season at home.
"Montreat is new to the schedule this year," said Watkins. "A lot of Big South teams have played them in the past and we're happy to open the season with them this year."
The Lady Camels get their first road test of the year at nearby North Carolina Central in Durham, N.C. on Saturday, Nov. 17. CU is 9-2 in that series, taking three in a row over the Eagles. The Lady Camels defeated NCCU in 2009 in Durham and 2010 in Buies Creek, with the last meeting before that coming in 1980.
Western Carolina returns to the schedule for the first time since 2003, coming to the Pope Center on Saturday, Nov. 19. Longwood will complete a stretch that gives the Lady Camels three of four games at home to open the year when the Lancers visit on Nov. 22. The meeting will be the seventh between CU and the Lancers since 2005.
"Longwood has been a great rivalry for us over the last few years and it's good to have them on the schedule again," said Watkins. "We have four girls from Virginia on our team so it's good for them to get a chance to play someone from close to home."
Next up for the Lady Camels will be the first of two regular-season tournaments, taking part in the Georgia State Thanksgiving Classic in Atlanta, Ga. Campbell will take on the host Panthers in its opener, Nov. 25, and finish with Eastern Kentucky one day later.
"I wanted to schedule a couple of tournaments this season because I think our team needs to be more tournament ready," said Watkins. "We're going to be playing in two competitive tournaments, meeting the host school in the first round of each. These should help us get more tournament ready for the Big South Tournament in March."
The Lady Camels and the Panthers are a pair of former Atlantic Sun Conference members meeting for the first time since 2005, GSU's last season in the league. The pair have met 24 times in all with the Panthers holding a narrow 13-11 advantage in the series. Campbell and EKU, meanwhile, will be meeting for the first time.
From there, the Lady Camels return home for their final nonconference home date, taking on Winston-Salem State into the Pope Center for Campbell Education Day on Nov. 29. Last season, the Lady Camels hosted NC Central at 11:45 a.m., hosting area fifth graders for a day.
Students arrived on campus at around 9 a.m. and took part in a pep rally featuring Lady Camel head coach Wanda Watkins. Visitors then toured the CU campus, and enjoyed geography, math and healthy lifestyles sessions over the course of the morning. Each student also had the chance to see the Lady Camels take on NCCU. The game was a sellout, setting a single-game program record at 3,095 spectators.
"I'm really excited about having another Campbell Education Day this season," said Watkins. "Last year we had an outstanding turnout and I think it was a great experience for everyone involved. It was a great atmosphere for our kids to play in. The great thing about this season is that the game falls when our students are on campus. Hopefully we can turn this into a standing room only event, which will be a fantastic atmosphere for college women's basketball to be played in."
Rekindling one of the oldest rivalries in CU women's basketball history (first meeting in 1974), the Lady Camels travel to UNC Wilmington on Dec. 10. Campbell has taken on UNCW 45 times in the program's history, winning 30 of those contests. Last season, the Seahawks clipped Campbell 83-80 in Buies Creek.
"Adding in-state opponents like Western Carolina and UNCW to our home schedule is great," said Watkins. "We're also going down to UNCW for the first time in quite a while, and we used to play them home and away every year. It was a great game with them last year, so we're looking forward to that one."
Another regional rival, Elon, will host the Lady Camels on Dec. 14. Campbell is 17-8 all-time against the Phoenix, taking a 57-51 win at Elon in their last meeting in 2007.
"It's good for basketball in this state if the teams play each other," said Watkins. "Elon is a really good Southern Conference school who had a postseason win last year. NC Central, who we played a good game with last year in our education day, is a good test as well.
The Lady Camels wrap up their 2011-12 nonconference schedule with their second regular-season tournament, the Hatter Classic, hosted by Stetson in DeLand, Fla. Campbell will face Stetson on Dec. 20 and Bethune-Cookman on Dec. 21. Stetson is another former A-Sun foe the Lady Camels will be meeting. CU and Stetson competed as conference rivals from 1995 until 2011.
Campbell will make its first appearance in a Big South Conference game since March of 1994 on Friday, Dec. 30 against Gardner-Webb in Buies Creek. The contest will be the first of nine home Big South home dates for the Lady Camels.
"I'm really excited about going back into the Big South Conference," said Watkins. "Of course, we were a charter member of this conference and I remember Wendell Carr (former Campbell Athletic Director) working to try to get this league established. It was a great conference for us back in the late 80's and early 90's. We're really excited about having new rivalries and rekindling some of the old ones we had in the past."
"We're very excited to open up Big South play at home against the conference's defending champion, Gardner-Webb," said Watkins. "They're one of the best teams in the league and we're going to have to be ready."
Campbell will also host UNC Asheville (Jan. 2), Charleston Southern (Jan. 21), Coastal Carolina (Jan. 23), Liberty (Feb. 4), Radford (Feb. 6), High Point (Feb. 11), Winthrop (Feb. 25) and Presbyterian (Feb. 27) for Big South home games.
The Lady Camels, meanwhile, will play at Radford (Jan. 7), Liberty (Jan. 9), High Point (Jan. 14), Presbyterian (Jan. 28), Winthrop (Jan. 30), Coastal Carolina (Feb. 18), Charleston Southern (Feb. 20), UNC Asheville (March 2) and Gardner-Webb (March 5).
"It's exciting to have most of our road games close to home where fans can come see us," said Watkins. "Our fans used to travel so well with us, and this schedule really encourages that again. For us to have a good draw at an away conference game is something we haven't seen in a while, and we're really excited about the chance to see that again."
The Big South Tournament will be held at High Point from March 8-10. The tourney format will be an eight-team bracket, with the four quarterfinal round games, on the first day of competition. The 1 and 8 seeds will meet, as well as the 2 and 7, 3 and 6, and finally, the 4 and 5. The semifinal games on March 9 will determine the championship on March 10.
In eight seasons, Campbell was a combined 80-26 in Big South games from 1986-94, making six consecutive conference tournament finals appearances from 1987-92. The Lady Camels won the 1989 title game, and earned the 1990-91 regular season championship with a perfect 12-0 record in league play.
"I like the variety of our schedule," added Watkins. "It will be a little bit different, and it will be challenging. Going in as a new Big South Conference school, having been a charter member, it is very important to me that we go in and try to establish some respect and accountability and try to make a move going into this conference that we can be proud of."
