Wisconsin women’s basketball: Big Ten schedule released for 2020-21 season [UPDATE]

On Monday afternoon, the Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball released their full schedule for the 2020-2021 season.

The Badgers, who went 12-19 last season, will kick off their season with two out-of-conference games at home against the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks on November 25 and the Western Illinois Leathernecks on November 29 before the Big Ten season opens up with a road contest against the Iowa Hawkeyes December 5.

Wisconsin will also host Prairie View A&M, Valparaiso and Omaha in out-of-conference games.

Head coach Jonathan Tsipis is excited to start the season and have expanded tests against what he called “the finest basketball conference in the country.”

“With the opportunity to play top-25 teams almost every game, the Big Ten has done a great job of spreading out games to give us the opportunity for our student-athletes to have a great season,” Tsipis said. “As always, the road to Indianapolis and the Big Ten Tournament will be a great challenge but collectively we are excited for the chance to play.”

Five Big Ten teams are ranked in the top 25, with Maryland leading the way at No. 12 followed by No. 16 Indiana, No. 17 Northwestern, No. 20 Ohio State and No. 25 Michigan.

The Badgers are a young team — UW has zero seniors, three juniors and one graduate transfer, Madison-native Estella Moschku who joins Wisconsin from powerhouse Stanford — and will be looking to turn things around this year.

UW’s Big Ten home opener is against Rutgers on December 11. Wisconsin will get their first chance against a ranked team on December 31 on the road against Michigan, while the Badgers host the Maryland Terrapins on January 17.

The full Big Ten schedule is here.

UPDATE 11/24/20 at 12:05 p.m. CST:

MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin women’s basketball team’s season opener against Miami (Ohio) on Wednesday has been postponed due to protocols related to COVID-19 for the Redhawks.

The two programs will look for a new date for the game.

The Badgers will continue practicing this week in preparation for its next game on Sunday when it hosts Western Illinois in the Kohl Center at 2 p.m. The game will be streamed on BTN+.