Women’s basketball schedule includes Penn, Ohio U.

The Binghamton women’s basketball team has released its 2016-17 schedule, which begins with a Nov. 11 game against Bucknell at Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center. The 29-game slate includes four non-conference opponents that took part in either the NCAA Tournament or WNIT last year as well as home and away games against all eight other America East opponents.

Bucknell finished the 2015-16 season 25-8 and advanced to the second round of the WNIT. It marked the second time in three seasons that the Bison earned a bid to a national postseason tournament.

The University of Pennsylvania, whom the Bearcats visit on Nov. 16, is the defending Ivy League champion and has advanced to the NCAA Tournament twice in the past three years. The game also marks the first time the Bearcats and Quakers square off in women’s basketball.

Ohio University is another first-time opponent and hosts the Bearcats on Dec. 19. This past season, the Bobcats advanced to the third round of the WNIT. In 2015, Ohio University won the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Sacred Heart is the Bearcats’ final non-conference opponent that took part in a national postseason tournament, having played in the first round of the 2016 WNIT. The Pioneers come to Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center on Nov. 23.

Also facing Binghamton for the first time is Providence College. The Friars, who host the Bearcats on Nov. 19, compete in the Big East Conference.

Binghamton has five other non-conference home games. After hosting Brown (Nov. 27), Columbia (Dec. 10), Misericordia (Dec. 17) and Georgian Court (Dec. 30), the Bearcats face Cornell on New Year’s Day.

The Bearcats have three other road games during non-conference play. They visit Yale (Nov. 13) for the first time since the 2000-01 campaign and head to Fairleigh Dickinson (Dec. 2) and NJIT (Dec. 6).

America East play begins on Jan. 4 as the Bearcats host UMBC in a rematch of last season’s conference quarterfinal game. Other home matchups are against defending conference champion Albany on Jan. 19 and on Jan. 28 against a Maine squad that advanced to last season’s WNIT. The Bearcats’ final regular-season home game is against Hartford on Feb. 23.

The remaining conference home dates are against New Hampshire (Jan. 14), UMass Lowell (Feb. 4), Vermont (Feb. 6) and Stony Brook (Feb. 18).

Binghamton starts its conference road slate with back-to-back games at UMass Lowell (Jan. 7) and Vermont (Feb. 11). It also concludes the regular season at Maine on Feb. 26.

The rest of the Bearcats conference road games are at Stony Brook (Jan. 22), Hartford (Jan. 25), UMBC (Feb. 1), Albany (Feb. 9) and New Hampshire (Feb. 12).

This year, the America East Tournament moves to the Cross Insurance Center in Portland, Maine. The quarterfinal and semifinal rounds will be held March 4 and 5, with all games airing on ESPN3.

The conference championship game, meanwhile, will be held March 10 at the highest remaining seed. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. and the game will air live on ESPNU.

Binghamton finished 14-17 (8-8 AE) in 2015-16 and was the eighth most-improved NCAA Division I program. Picked to finish last (ninth) in the America East, the Bearcats instead tied for third and advanced to the conference semifinals for the first time since 2012.