NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Atlantic 10 Conference announced the 2020-21 women's basketball conference schedule on Thursday.
The 2020-21 conference schedule will see each team play 18 games for the first time in league history, and will feature a travel partner format that reduces travel by providing two opponents per regionalized road trip.
The season will tip off on Dec. 11 when St. Bonaventure faces Duquesne. There will be five A-10 rivalry games played in December, and Jan. 1 marks the first day of games in the travel partner format with six scheduled contests. The conference schedule concludes on Sunday, Feb. 28.
The 2021 Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Championship will be hosted by VCU, March 3-7, 2021 at the Siegel Center in Richmond, Va. The early rounds of the championship will be available live on ESPN+, while the semifinals games will air on CBS Sports Network. ESPNU will air the A-10 Championship final, marking the 24th straight year an ESPN network has televised the league's title game.
"The 2020-21 season will offer new and distinctive challenges with the COVID environment. The 18-game, Friday-Sunday format provides a balanced schedule with the opportunity to ensure the safety of our teams and student-athletes," said A-10 Senior Associate Commissioner Debbie Richardson. "Our teams are ready for competition and another exciting A-10 season!"
Last year, Dayton finished as the A-10 regular season champion and won a thrilling championship final on its home floor against VCU for its third Atlantic 10 title. The Flyers were poised to represent the A-10 in the NCAA Tournament before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancelation of the postseason. This followed the 2018-19 season, in which the Atlantic 10 Conference had four women's basketball teams qualify for postseason play.
National, regional and local television coverage will be announced at a later date. All games not carried as part of the A-10's national television package will be streamed through the Atlantic 10's partnership with ESPN+.
Atlantic 10 institutions reside in states that comprise 33.3 million television households, approximately 30 percent of the total national media market. There are eight A-10 institutions in or adjacent to the top 25 media markets in the country, and all 14 A-10 institutions are located in or adjacent to the top 65 media markets.