FULL SCHEDULE HERE

RICHMOND, Va. – VCU Women's Basketball has released its 2021-21 non-conference schedule headlined by the Goombay Splash in the Bahamas as well as games against ACC, Pac-12 and AAC opponents.
 
VCU, the defending Atlantic 10 champions, has six home games as part of its non-conference slate and faces three teams that earned a bid to the 2021 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament. Overall, the schedule includes six teams who finished in the top 100 of the NET rankings last season and nine teams from the top 160.
 
"Our non-conference schedule is designed to challenge our team and prepare us for the battles of Atlantic 10 play. We have one of our toughest schedules to date with multiple NCAA tournament teams from last year. It's an exciting schedule not only for us but also for our fans who get to see high-level competition at the Stu," said head coach Beth O'Boyle.
 
The Rams open the season with a three-game homestand against defending Conference USA champion Middle Tennessee State (Nov. 12). The Blue Raiders went 17-8 last season and earned the league's bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
VCU hosts North Carolina Central (Nov. 17) for Education Day and an 11 a.m. tipoff at the Siegel Center. The Rams close out the homestand against in-state rival ODU (Nov. 21).
 
The Black and Gold then head to Bimini in the Bahamas for the Goombay Splash where they will take on Washington (Nov. 25-26) and North Carolina (Nov. 25-26). The Huskies feature an all-new coaching staff after a 7-14 year a season ago while the Tar Heels earned an at-large NCAA Tournament bid after going 13-11 overall and 8-9 in the ACC.
 
East Carolina (Dec. 1) and Boston College (Dec. 5) both visit the Siegel Center before VCU travels up north to face Buffalo (Dec. 8). Boston College finished 85^th in the NET rankings last year while Buffalo finished 100^th and ECU was 159^th.
 
VCU hosts defending AAC champions USF (Dec. 12) who posted a 19-4 mark overall last season including a 12-2 mark in the AAC. The Bulls were ranked No. 19 in the final Associated Press Top 25 Poll and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Rams then travel to DeLand, Fla. To face Tennessee State (Dec. 18) and Texas State (Dec. 19) in a neutral site event hosted at Stetson University.
 
VCU faces former CAA rival and 2021 WNIT participant Delaware (Dec. 22) in Newark, Del. before closing out its non-conference slate at home against Delaware State (Dec. 29).
 
The Rams return four of five starters from the 2021 Atlantic 10 Championship game as well as nine letter winners overall.