Shenandoah women’s hoops announces schedule

Shenandoah University Head Women’s Basketball Coach Melissa Smeltzer-Kraft announced her 2019-20 schedule Tuesday.

Smeltzer-Kraft’s Hornets, the defending ODAC champions and the Division III champion for team GPA, have 11 home games in addition to a trip to Puerto Rico over the Christmas holiday on tap for the upcoming season.

SU opens the season on Saturday, November 9 with perennial power Marymount coming to the James R. Wilkins, Jr. Athletics & Events Center for a 2 p.m. non-league contest.

Following a midweek trip to Hood, the squad begins a two-game homestand that starts with Southern Virginia on November 16 and ends with the ODAC opener versus Virginia Wesleyan on November 20.

The Marlins are one of three ODAC schools that the Hornets will face in the opening two months of the season – Smeltzer-Kraft’s club travels to Ferrum on December 1 and hosts Roanoke on December 7.

In between those latter two ODAC games, the makes a quick trip to Towson, Maryland to play Goucher College in the final non-conference road contest of the year.

The team wraps up the first half of the year by playing Elizabethtown and Colby-Sawyer December 20 and 21 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The two games mark the first time that Shenandoah has played non-exempt games outside the continental United States in program history.

The new year begins in earnest as SU hosts Randolph in a New Year’s Day ODAC contest. The WildCats are one of seven schools scheduled to visit the Wilkins Center in January and February. Lynchburg, Bridgewater, Washington & Lee, Ferrum, Emory & Henry and Guilford round out the home ODAC slate with the Guilford contest on February 15 serving as Senior Day.

The Ferrum contest, on February 1, is Alumnae Appreciation Day.

SU travels to E&H, W&L, Guilford, Roanoke, Eastern Mennonite and Bridgewater to complete the league slate.

The final non-league game is January 22 at Mary Washington.

“We continually improved last season and improvement resulted in us winning the ODAC Tournament,” Smeltzer-Kraft said.

“Our goal this season is continue that upward trend. We have a number of excellent non-league games on our schedule to prepare us for the league schedule and the trip to Puerto Rico is going to be a highlight for our student-athletes.”