Women's Basketball releases 2023-24 schedule
The Wiley College women's basketball team will play 27 games with 12 at Alumni Gymnasium as the program announced its 2023-24 schedule on Friday.
All eight Gulf Coast Athletic Conference schools will visit Marshall. Last season, Wiley College only hosted four schools with nearly the entire conference schedule being played in pods. The schedule will begin with a tune-up at Angelina College on October 24. DeWitte Mandley enters his first season as head coach. His era will officially tip-off on October 28 at Arkansas Baptist College and visit national powerhouse Oklahoma City University on November 2. Mandley's first home game will be November 4 as the Lady Wildcats resume the Highway 80 rivalry against Jarvis Christian University for its 2023 Homecoming. It will be the Lady Bulldogs' first visit to Alumni Gymnasium since 2020.
The game against Jarvis Christian will be the first of five against schools from the Red River Athletic Conference. Wiley College will play its other East Texas rival Texas College on November 7 in Marshall and on November 17 in Tyler. The Lady Wildcats will play at Texas A&M University-Texarkana for the first time as a nonconference opponent on November 20. The Eagles went 29-2, including 20-0 in RRAC play. They won the regular season and tournament championship – advancing to the second round of the 2023 NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship Tournament. On November 27, the Lady Wildcats will travel to Louisiana Christian University. It will be the first time the teams have met since 2010.
Wiley College will host Arkansas Baptist on November 9 and Centenary College (La.) on November 11. The Lady Wildcats took two from the Ladies last season. With Wiley College's Fall Semester ending just before Thanksgiving, it will open GCAC play on the road at Dillard University (La.) on November 30. The teams split their regular season meetings last season but the Lady Wildcats fell to the Lady Bleu Devils in the 2023 GCAC Quarterfinals. They will follow with games at Southern University at New Orleans (Dec. 2), Fisk University (Tenn.) (Dec. 7) and Oakwood University (Dec. 9). Wiley College will close the 2023 portion of its schedule with exhibition games at Grambling State University (Dec. 11) and Prairie View A&M (Dec. 30).
The Lady Wildcats will begin 2024 with eight straight home games. Rust College – the defending regular season and tournament champion will visit Alumni Gymnasium for the first time since 2017 on January 4. Tougaloo College and Philander Smith University follow on January 6 and 13. The homestand will continue with Dillard (Jan. 19), Southern-New Orleans (Jan. 20), Fisk University (Jan. 25) and Oakwood University (Jan. 27).
Only one of the Lady Wildcats' five games in February will be at home. They will visit the University of Virgin Islands for the first time in program history on February 1. The road swing will continue at Rust College (Feb. 8) and Tougaloo College (Feb. 10). Wiley College will host Virgin Islands on February 12 and conclude the regular season at Philander Smith on February 17.
The 2024 GCAC Championship will be February 21-25 at a location to be announced. Mandley will lead a team with nine returners from last season's team, including All-GCAC Second Team selection Diamond Hawthorne and starters Tamia Dolls and Minnie Miller. The Lady Wildcats are coming off a 16-win season which is their most since 2016-17.
For more coverage on the Lady Wildcats visit Women's Basketball - Wiley College (wileyathletics.com)
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