NEC schedule unveiled, Bryant opens Jan. 2 at home

SOMERSET, N.J. – The Northeast Conference officially announced the 2019-20 women's basketball conference schedule on Wednesday afternoon, with the Bryant University women's basketball team set to play 18 league games.

The 2019-20 conference schedule will feature an unbalanced format with the addition of Merrimack as the 11th league member. Bryant will face eight teams twice and two teams (Long Island and Robert Morris) once each during the regular season.

Bryant opens the league slate on Jan. 2 when it welcomes Saint Francis U to the Chace Athletic Center for the first of nine home games. The first half of the regular season, however, will feature five road games. Bryant will travel to Fairleigh Dickinson (Jan. 4) and then will travel to Merrimack on Wednesday, Jan. 8 to renew an old NE-10 rivalry.

A pair of single-game weekends follow as the Black and Gold will host Mount St. Mary's (Jan. 11) and Long Island (Jan. 18) on consecutive Saturday's at the Chace Athletic Center. Bryant will then travel to Mount St. Mary's on Jan. 25 before returning home to face Wagner on Jan. 27.

After their annual trip to western Pennsylvania for games with SFU (Feb. 1) and Robert Morris (Feb. 3), the Black and Gold return to the Chace to host Central Connecticut (Feb. 8) and St. Francis Brooklyn (Feb. 10). It starts a stretch in which the Bulldogs will play five of their next eight games at home. Bryant's only road games during that stretch are at CCSU (Feb. 15), St. Francis Brooklyn (Feb. 21) and Sacred Heart (Feb. 23).

The Black and Gold will welcome Merrimack to the Chace on Feb. 17 and then wrap up their home slate with a Saturday-Monday weekend against Fairleigh Dickinson (Feb. 29) and Sacred Heart (Mar. 2). Bryant closes the regular season on Thursday, Mar. 5 at Wagner.

The top eight teams (excluding Merrimack, which is reclassifying to DI) qualify for the NEC Tournament which will be held March 9, 12 and 15.

Bryant's full 2019-20 non-conference schedule will be announced on Tuesday, Aug. 6.