JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State women's basketball released its full 2023-24 schedule on Wednesday afternoon, announcing 12 non-conference tests for the Gamecocks ahead of their first season as a member of Conference USA.
 
Head coach Rick Pietri is entering his eleventh season leading the program and guided his 2022-23 squad to another winning season last year. Jax State scored big non-conference victories over the likes of Chattanooga, Samford, and Utah Tech before advancing to ASUN play, where they would go 9-9 in a tough league and secure the eight-seed in the ASUN Championship. The Gamecocks finished 16-14 overall, making four of the last five seasons they have had a winning record and six years in a row that they have went .500 or better in conference play. The veteran head coach again lined up a solid non-conference slate that should have the Red-and-White prepared for its CUSA opener at Florida International on Jan. 6.
 
Jacksonville State will open the new year on Nov. 1 in an exhibition against Montevallo at Pete Mathews Coliseum. Following that Education Day affair they kick off the regular season five days later at Auburn, marking the team's first trip to the Plains since 2019. Their first three contests of the regular season will all be on the road in matchups versus the Tigers (Nov. 6), Utah Tech (Nov. 9), and Mississippi State (Nov. 12). Those games with Southeastern Conference foes continue a streak of six straight seasons that Pietri's squad has faced off with SEC competition.
 
The official home opener for the Gamecocks will be held on Fri., Nov. 17, as Jax State takes on Alabama-Huntsville at The Pete. That pairing with the Division II Chargers will be the first of consecutive meetings with non-Division I opponents. NAIA program Life University will return to Calhoun County the following week for the second year in a row.
 
The Red-and-White will round out non-conference play with road tests at UAB (Nov. 17), Alabama State (Nov. 30), Samford (Dec. 3), and College of Charleston (Dec. 11) and home games versus Coastal Carolina (Dec. 16), UT Arlington (Dec. 19), and South Carolina State (Dec. 29).
 
In Conference USA action, Jacksonville State will play 16 CUSA contests meeting the other eight schools for home-and-home series. League play starts Jan. 6 at Florida International in Miami and concludes with Senior Day against Sam Houston on March 9. The Conference USA Tournament will take place at Huntsville's Propst Arena from March 12-16.
 
Start times and television matchups will be announced at a later date.
 
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