Women's Basketball Announces 2007-08 Schedule

Utah State University’s women's basketball coach Raegan Pebley announced the 2007-08 schedule Thursday [July 26], with the Aggies playing a total of 30 games during the regular season, including two home exhibition contests as part of USU's 15 home games at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. USU plays its first three home contests as doubleheaders with the men.

"I'm looking forward to the doubleheaders, which helps us expose our program and increase our fan support," said fifth-year USU head coach Raegan Pebley. "We are also adding contests against BYU and Utah, which is exciting for our program and hopefully it will extend the rivalries between these schools to the women's basketball program."

Utah State's 2007-08 schedule includes five games against in-state opponents and five teams that played in postseason action a year ago. NCAA Tournament teams from 2007 include Boise State, Idaho State and BYU, while Nevada and Utah played in the Women's National Invitational Tournament.

The season tips off with USU hosting a pair of exhibition games against Utah Pride on Oct. 31, followed by NCAA Division II Albertson's College on Nov. 3, along with a game against Pacific on Nov. 9 for Utah State's third doubleheader with the men.

The Aggies will play a total of 15 games away from home, beginning with Portland and Portland State on Nov. 16 and 18, respectively. Other non-conference road games include Idaho State, Eastern Washington, Northern Arizona, Utah and Southern Utah.

Utah State has home non-conference contests slated with Pacific, Utah Valley State, Montana State, St. Mary's and BYU.

"This is the first time we've ever had five home games in the non-conference portion of the schedule," added Pebley. "We hope to increase this number every year and will look to have seven home games in the 2008-09 season."

The Western Athletic Conference schedule sees the Aggies face their eight other conference foes in home-and-home match-ups. USU opens WAC play on Jan. 5 by hosting San Jose State and concludes league play on March 8 hosting Idaho, while the 2008 WAC Tournament will once again be held in Las Cruces, N.M. for the second year in a row from Mar 11-15. Noteable home games during league play includes match-ups with defending WAC tournament champion Boise State on March 6, while USU hosts Louisiana Tech on Jan. 26, the WAC regular season co-champion, who tied with Boise State.

"The parity in the WAC this season will create a very competitive environment," said Pebley. "Anyone can beat anyone, so no one can take a night off."

Utah State returns nine letterwinners, including three starters, from last season's squad that was 11-18 overall and 7-9 in WAC action. The Aggies will also have seven newcomers on the roster, consisting of two juniors and five incoming freshmen.

Utah State Women's Basketball 2007-08 Schedule (As of 7-26-07)

DATE	OPPONENT	TIME
Wed., Oct. 31	UTAH PRIDE (EX.)	5 p.m.
Sat., Nov. 3	ALBERTSON'S COLLEGE (EX.)	5 p.m.
Fri., Nov. 9	PACIFIC	5 p.m.
Fri., Nov. 16	at Portland State	7 p.m.
Sun., Nov. 18	at Portland	2 p.m.
Sat., Nov. 24	UTAH VALLEY STATE	7 p.m.
Wed., Nov. 28	at Idaho State	7 p.m.
Sun., Dec. 2	at Eastern Washington	2 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 8	at Northern Arizona	1 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 15	at Utah	3 p.m.
Mon., Dec. 17	MONTANA STATE	7 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 22	ST. MARY'S	1 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 29	BYU	5 p.m.
Wed., Jan. 2	at Southern Utah	7 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 5	SAN JOSE STATE*	7 p.m.
Sat., Jan.12	at New Mexico State*	7 p.m.
Thur., Jan.17	at Boise State*	7 p.m.
Sat., Jan.19	at Idaho*	7 p.m.
Thur., Jan. 24	NEW MEXICO STATE*	7 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 26	LOUISIANA TECH*	7 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 2	at Nevada*	7 p.m.
Thur., Feb. 7	at Hawai'i*	7 p.m.
Sun., Feb. 10	at Fresno State*	TBA
Thur., Feb.	at San Jose State*	7 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 16	HAWAI'I*	7 p.m.
Thur., Feb. 21	NEVADA*	7 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 23	FRESNO STATE*	7 p.m.
Thur., Feb. 28	at Louisiana Tech*	7 p.m.
Thur., Mar. 6	BOISE STATE*	7 p.m.
Sat., Mar. 8	IDAHO*	7 p.m.
Mar. 11-15	WAC Tournament, Las Cruces, N.M.