A young, injury-plagued team that struggled mightily last season will not be getting any warmup acts to open the 2017-18 season.

The University of Montana Lady Griz basketball schedule was announced Tuesday, and the home fans are going to be treated to some big-name matches. Montana will open the season at Wyoming on November 13, then come home to face Kentucky and Gonzaga on November 16 and 18 respectively! How's that for a start?

After a treat of a road trip to a Cancun tournament, the Lady Griz will return home to play two California programs, Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton. It promises to be an exciting season, including the return of two premier players, seniors Kayleigh Valley and Alycia Sims, who had to sit out last season with devastating injuries, and a wave of sophomores who gained a lot of experience as freshmen, having to play more than they were expected to.

Our thanks to Sports Information Director Joel Carlson for furnishing us with the complete 2017-18 schedule.

DB

2017-18 University of Montana Women’s Basketball Schedule

Date Day Opponent Local Time

Nov. 13 Mon. at Wyoming Laramie, Wyo.

Nov. 16 Thurs. Kentucky Missoula 7 p.m.

Nov. 18 Sat. Gonzaga Missoula 7 p.m.

Cancun Challenge Cancun, Mexico

Nov. 23 Thurs. vs. Indiana State, 7 p.m. (MT)

Nov. 24 Fri. vs. Marquette, 7 p.m. (MT)

Lady Griz Classic Missoula

Dec. 1 Fri. Oral Roberts vs. Long Beach State, 5 p.m.

Montana vs. Cal State Fullerton, 7 p.m.

Dec. 2 Sat. Oral Roberts vs. Cal State Fullerton, 5 p.m.

Montana vs. Long Beach State, 7 p.m.

Dec. 7 Thurs. Stephen F. Aus n Missoula 7 p.m.

Dec. 10 Sun. at Fresno State Fresno, Calif.

Dec. 13 Wed. Sea le Missoula 7 p.m.

Dec. 20 Wed. Rocky Mountain Missoula 7 p.m.

Dec. 28 Thurs. Northern Arizona * Missoula 7 p.m.

Dec. 30 Sat. Southern Utah * Missoula 2 p.m.

Jan. 4 Thurs. at North Dakota * Grand Forks, N.D.

Jan. 6 Sat. at Northern Colorado * Greeley, Colo.

Jan. 11 Thurs. Sacramento State * Missoula 7 p.m.

Jan. 13 Sat. Portland State * Missoula 2 p.m.

Jan. 20 Sat. at Montana State * Bozeman, Mont.

Jan. 25 Thurs. at Southern Utah * Cedar City, Utah

Jan. 27 Sat. at Northern Arizona * Flagstaff , Ariz.

Feb. 1 Thurs. Northern Colorado * Missoula 7 p.m.

Feb. 3 Sat. North Dakota * Missoula 2 p.m.

Feb. 8 Thurs. at Portland State * Portland, Ore.

Feb. 10 Sat. at Sacramento State * Sacramento, Calif.

Feb. 15 Thurs. Eastern Washington * Missoula 7 p.m.

Feb. 17 Sat. Idaho * Missoula 2 p.m.

Feb. 24 Sat. Montana State * Missoula 2 p.m.

Feb. 28 Wed. at Weber State * Ogden, Utah

March 2 Fri. at Idaho State * Pocatello, Idaho

Big Sky Conference Tournament Reno, Nev.

March 5 Mon. First-round games

March 7 Wed. Quarterfi nal games

March 9 Fri. Semifi nals games

March 10 Sat. Championship game

* Big Sky Conference game

The Big Sky Conference Tourney is in Reno NV March 5-10

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