COLUMBIA, S.C. — The non-conference schedule for the South Carolina women’s basketball team has been released and it features four programs that competed in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Combined with the nine NCAA Tournament teams in the SEC schedule and Carolina will face plenty of battle-tested teams in the 2022-2023 season. A total of 13 NCAA Tournament teams are on the Gamecocks’ 2022-2023 schedule.
After an exhibition game against Benedict on Oct. 31, the Gamecocks will face one of those NCAA teams on Nov. 7 when they open the regular season against BYU.
One of the more challenging road games is a trip to College Park on Friday, Nov. 11 to face a Maryland team that made it to the NCAA Sweet 16 back in March. This is part of the home-and-home contract with the Terrapins who finished in the top 15 of the national rankings.
Carolina won last year’s meeting in December with Maryland which also was a top 10 showdown as the top-ranked Gamecocks won 66-59 over the Terrapins.
The Gamecocks will play at Clemson on Thursday, Nov. 17, before heading to California for a pair of games. The Gamecocks will play at Stanford on Sunday, Nov. 20, marking South Carolina’s first trip to Palo Alto since November of 2010. The two powerhouse programs squared off in Columbia last season with the Gamecocks rallying from a nearly 20-point deficit to win 65-61.
South Carolina hosts Hampton on Sun., Nov. 27, before WNIT semifinalist UCLA travels cross country for a November 29 contest. The Bruins last visited Columbia in December of 2016
Also on the schedule is a trip to Sioux Falls, S.D., for the third-straight season, this time as Carolina will face WNIT Champion South Dakota State at the Sanford Pentagon. It will be the first meeting between the teams since the Gamecocks knocked the Jackrabbits out of the 2013 NCAA Tournament in Boulder, Colo.
In late December, South Carolina will host Charleston Southern on December 18 and Coastal Carolina on Dec. 21.
In the middle of the SEC schedule, the Gamecocks will play their final non-conference game of the regular season when they play at UCONN on Sunday, February, 5.
Tipoff times and television information for all games will be announced at a later date.