The Florida women’s basketball team unveiled its 2021-22 non-conference schedule, which features six games at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on Monday.
The Gators face Georgia State for the first game of the regular season on Nov. 9 in the O’Dome.
Florida will be tested early at the Preseason WNIT Classic in Raleigh, North Carolina, where it takes on Towson Nov. 12, NC State Nov. 14 and Wofford Nov. 15.
Both Towson and Wofford finished .500 in their own conferences, and NC State qualified for the past three Sweet 16s. These early matchups give the new Florida interim head coach Kelly Rae Finley’s team a chance to see how they stack up against postseason-caliber competition.
After their return from Raleigh, the Gators prepare for back-to-back home games against Grambling State on Nov. 19 and USC Upstate on Nov. 22.
The team then heads to San Juan, Puerto Rico to face St. Louis and George Washington in the San Juan Shootout on Nov. 26 and 27 before they continue on the road to play George Mason on Dec. 1.
The schedule ends with the Gators hosting three straight home games against Dayton on Dec. 8, in-state rival Florida State on Dec. 12 and Murray State on Dec. 21.
This upcoming season is marked by the sudden departure of the team’s former head coach, Cam Newbauer, who resigned due to personal reasons just six weeks after signing a three-year extension.
Newbauer served as the team’s head coach from 2017-21, maintaining a .397 overall win percentage for four seasons.
Finley, Newbauer’s associate head coach, will act as Florida’s interim head coach until a permanent replacement is named.
The team comes off a 12-14 (.426) regular season record and a second-round exit in the WNIT at the hands of Villanova. The team will look to bounce back in a major way and attempt to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016.
Contact Brian Olmo at olmobrian123@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BrianOlmo0211.
