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With all of the anticipation over today’s announcement of the men’s hoops schedule, the Buffalo Bulls Women’s Basketball team has done the same. The Bulls are the reigning Mid-American Conference champs and return many key pieces to last year’s squad.
The first chance for fans to see the ladies in action will be November 4 at 6:00 PM in Alumni Arena. The game will be against the Division II Bloomsburg Huskies.
Buffalo starts with a favorable three game home stretch to open the regular season. The Bulls will start off with UMass — which happens to be the team that new Bull Cierra Dillard transferred from — on November 11. Buffalo will then have two ensuing contests with Niagara and Manhattan.
The next stretch of games gives Buffalo a shot at redemption when they hit the road to play Duquesne on November 22. For new followers of the program, last year’s Duquesne matchup began a lackluster mid-season stretch for the Bulls in which defensive play was abandoned. Buffalo then returns to Alumni with probable odds of collecting wins over Sacred Heart and Central Florida.
One of Buffalo’s biggest challenges this year in non-conference will be against the Hofstra Pride on December 4. Hofstra lost in the NIT quarterfinals last season to Florida Gulf Coast and stomped all over the Bulls 79-36 in non-conference play.
After a small road trip to Canisius on the Eighth, Buffalo will face its toughest matchup since their bout with #3 Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament. The St. Bonaventure Bonnies are coming off a remarkable season that saw them upset #7 Oklahoma State in the NCAA Tournament before losing to #2 Oregon State. Bulls fans should pencil this December 21st matchup into their schedules.
The Mid-American Conference schedule for the 2016-17 season was also released today. Two key games early on in conference play will be back-to-back bouts with Ohio and Central Michigan on the road.
Buffalo’s full non-conference schedule can be found here and their conference schedule can be found here.