ECU women’s basketball: AAC announces schedule pairings

The American Athletic Conference announced the women’s basketball pairings for the 2020-21 season on Wednesday. All 11 league members will play a 16-game schedule, with each team playing six of its 10 opponents twice and four opponents once each, - two at home and two on the road.

The Pirates’ conference schedule features home-and-home series against Cincinnati, Houston, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa and Wichita State. ECU played Houston, SMU, Tulsa and Wichita State twice during the 2019-20 campaign while hosting Tulane and visiting Cincinnati.

The Pirates will play host to UCF and USF after traveling to the two Florida schools last year. ECU will have road trips to Memphis and Temple. The Pirates swept Memphis last year and have won three straight games against the Tigers. ECU and Temple split the series last year, with ECU overcoming a 17-point deficit to win at home before the Owls claimed a victory in the AAC Championship First Round.

Head coach Kim McNeill returns 11 players from her first season in charge of the Pirates, including reigning AAC Defensive Player of the Year Lashonda Monk and unanimous AAC All-Rookie Team selection Taniyah Thompson. Along with Monk and Thompson, redshirt seniors Raven Johnson, Justice Gee and Sierra DaCosta all return after injuries and DaCosta’s transfer from Hartford limited the trio to just four combined appearances in 2019-20. Dominique Claytor and Ariyana Williams round out ECU’s group of six seniors while Thompson leads four sophomores who gained valuable experience as rookies. Add in junior Tiara Chambers and four incoming freshmen and McNeill and her staff will have a strong mix of experience and youth heading into her second season.

Times, dates and broadcast information for the 2019-20 American Athletic Conference schedule will be released at a later date in addition to the complete ECU schedule.

Home and Away: Cincinnati, Houston, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa and Wichita State

Home Only: UCF and USF

Away Only: Memphis and Temple