Women's Basketball | August 03, 2016

KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan women's basketball team announced its non-conference schedule highlighted by five home games and a pair of Big Ten Conference (B1G) opponents and Michigan State and Michigan.

"I love this time of year for our program as we look forward to the fall and the start of a new season for us," head coach Shane Clipfell said. "We have put together a challenging schedule for our team this year with a nice balance of home and away games." We were in a holiday tournament last season at the end of December, so this year we opted for a holiday tournament at the end of November. We have always felt it important to keep a balance for our players to be able to spend time with family during those holiday seasons.

The Broncos will prepare for the season with an exhibition game against Alma at home before welcoming in Davidson on Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. for the 2016-17 home/season opener. Following Davidson, the Broncos will play host to 2016 NCAA Tournament team Michigan State on Friday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. The last time the Spartans traveled to Kalamazoo, Mich., was in 2010. WMU will then hit the road for a matchup with B1G foe Michigan on Monday, Nov. 21. The Broncos follow that matchup with a pair of neutral games as the team competes in the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) Tournament against Eastern Kentucky and Morgan State.

"We were in a Holiday tournament last season at the end of December, so this year we opted for a Holiday tournament at the end of November," Clipfell added. "We have always felt it important to keep a balance for our players to be able to spend time with family during those Holiday seasons."

Following the tournament, WMU heads to Fargo, N.D., to face the Bison of North Dakota State on Wednesday, Nov. 30 before coming home for two straight games against Loyola-Chicago and IPFW. On Saturday, Dec. 10 the Broncos travel to face Detroit before taking on Bradley on Dec. 17 and finishing the nonconference season with a road game at Chicago State on Wednesday, Dec. 21.

"We love that we are able to play not just BCS level games, but have the opportunity to play two quality BCS schools like Michigan State and Michigan in the same calendar year," Clipfell said. "That is a real luxury and we appreciate that opportunity. This year we will host Michigan State and we expect that will be a very well-traveled game by their loyal fan base. Our fans will see lots of new faces on the floor this year as we lost a lot to graduation but we like how this team is working together this off-season in preparation for the start of the new season."
Follow the team on Twitter @WMU_WBB for all updates about the team!