Houston Cougars announce 2012-2013 basketball schedule

Sixteen home games and eight contests against postseason teams from a year ago

POSTED: August 13, 2012 -- 7:47 p.m. CDT

HOUSTON, TX -- Sixteen home games and eight contests against postseason teams from a year ago highlight the 2012-13 University of Houston women's basketball schedule, head coach Todd Buchanan announced Monday.

Houston will face three non-conference opponents that reached the postseason in 2012, while eight of the 13 non-league contests will be played at Hofheinz Pavilion.

"We've continued the trend of putting together a tough non-conference schedule that should pay dividends for us down the road," Buchanan said. "Playing a schedule of this caliber is how you become a top-25 team, and we hope to reach our goals of returning to the national rankings and NCAA Tournament this season."

"We're extremely happy to be able to play so many of our games in front of our `Sixth Man' at Hofheinz, and we hope they'll come out and give us a true home-court advantage," Buchanan said. "With Porsche (Landry) returning along with some incredibly talented newcomers, we look to provide our fans with an exciting brand of basketball."

The Cougars open the 2012-13 campaign with back-to-back contests against SEC opponents, traveling to face Mississippi State on Nov. 9 before opening the home slate against Alabama on Nov. 13.

Houston tips off 2013 with its final non-conference contest against Delaware State (Jan. 6) at Hofheinz Pavilion before opening its final season of Conference USA action on Jan. 10.

The Cougars play C-USA home-and-away series against SMU, Tulsa, UTEP, Rice and Tulane with single meetings against Marshall, Southern Miss, UAB, Memphis, East Carolina and UCF.

This season's C-USA Championship will be held in Tulsa, OK, on March 13-16.

Houston welcomes eight other newcomers to the squad, including eight high school standouts and two junior college stars. The Cougars' recruiting haul has received national recognition, placing No. 40 in ESPN HoopGurlz' final rankings, while Houston's early signing period class in November was tabbed the nation's 22nd best by Dan Olson's Collegiate Girls Basketball Report.

More details can be read here.

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