Lady Colonels Head Basketball Coach Mark Cook announced last week the women’s basketball schedule, which features two teams ranked in the preseason Top 25, and said the schedule is more favorable than last season’s. “It’s a little tougher playing the big teams, but the other games we are playing are winnable games,” Cook said. “I look at it as a little more balanced than last year.”

The Lady Colonels open their season Nov. 14 in Tucson against Arizona. The next day, the Lady Colonels travel to Tempe, Az. for a game against No. 11 Arizona State.

Cook said he wanted to play games back-to-back to help his team prepare for tournaments.

“I want to get them used to playing back-to-back games because that is the format the conference uses in the tournament,” Cook said. “The coaches figure out who can and can’t help us in a situation like that.”

The first in-state game for the Lady Colonels is Nov. 18 in Shreveport against Centenary.

After playing Prairie View A&M in Prairie View, Texas Nov. 22, the Lady Colonels will get their first taste of tournament action for the University of Miami Thanksgiving Tournament on Nov. 24-25 when they will play Miami, Indiana and Wright State.

The home opener in the newly renovated Stopher Gym is Nov. 29 against the University of New Orleans.

A trip to Jamaica, New York is on the schedule for Dec. 10 when the Lady Colonels play No. 22- ranked St. John’s followed by their second home game of the season against Tennessee State Dec. 17.

The Lady Colonels finish off their non-conference slate with games against Nebraska Dec. 21 and Ole Miss Jan. 2.

Cook said picking up a few wins in pre-conference is important for confidence going into conference play Jan. 4 at home against Stephen F. Austin.

“We want to have a couple of wins under our belt going into conference play so that when conference play does roll around, it’s easier to win,” Cook said. “We have Tennessee State and UNO coming in here, as well as a road game against Centenary, which are all winnable games.”

After Stephen F. Austin, the Lady Colonels travel to play three games in Texas against Sam Houston State. (Jan. 6), Texas-Arlington (Jan. 11) and Texas State (Jan. 13.)

The Lady Colonels return home against Southeastern on Jan. 20 before traveling to Natchitoches to play Northwestern State Jan. 25. The Lady Colonels then return home for two straight conference home games against Central Arkansas (Jan. 27) and Lamar (Feb. 1).

Following a Feb. 3 trip to McNeese, the Lady Colonels return home for two straight home games against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Feb. 8) and Texas-San Antonio (Feb. 10.)

The Lady Colonels then travel to play Southeastern on Feb. 17 before returning home to play Northwestern State on Feb. 22.

After playing back-to-back games on the road against Central Arkansas (Feb. 24) and Lamar (March 1), the Lady Colonels close out the conference and season slate on March 3 against McNeese.

Cook said conference play will be more exciting now that it has gone to a divisional play format.

“It evens it out, and we play the conference tournament on a neutral floor in Houston,” Cook said. “With both divisional play and the neutral site, everyone has a chance to win.