By: Michael Pitts
KENNESAW, Ga. - An exciting schedule featuring 14 games inside the KSU Convocation Center highlight the 2023-24 Kennesaw State women's basketball season, third-year head coach Octavia Blue revealed Tuesday.
The home schedule is headlined by non-conference meetings against Georgetown, Florida Atlantic, Chattanooga and Belmont.
On the road, KSU is set to face Southeastern Conference opponents Vanderbilt and Mississippi State in addition to in-state trips to Georgia Tech, Mercer and Georgia State.
"We have most certainly assembled ourselves a challenging non-conference schedule," Blue noted. "We will learn pretty early on a lot about ourselves, which is what we've set out to do. If you want to be the best, you've got to beat the best and we are up for the challenge."
Coach Blue led the Owls to a 15-16 record a year ago, the most single-season wins for KSU since the 2014-15 campaign. The Miami alumna won 24 games in her first two seasons at the helm, the second-most by a KSU head coach in the program's Division I history.
"Competing in the ASUN Conference at a high level night-in and night-out is no joke," Blue added. "We will be battle-tested by the time we begin conference play."
The Black and Gold are set to open their 42nd season of competition in Nashville, Tenn. on Monday, Nov. 6 against the Vanderbilt Commodores. The two schools last met on Nov. 11, 2016 in a win for the SEC foe.
KSU welcomes Life University to Kennesaw for the home opener on Friday, Nov. 10 with tipoff set for 7:00 p.m. This marks the third meeting in the series with the Owls holding a 2-0 advantage.
A couple of Peach State battles follow on Nov. 14 and Nov. 19 at Georgia State and at Georgia Tech, respectively. The Yellow Jackets earned a No. 9 seed in the 2022 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball tournament.
Coach Blue leads the Owls back home two days after Thanksgiving on Saturday, Nov. 25 against Florida Atlantic at 2:00 p.m. KSU is looking to top its Owl counterparts for the first time since Nov. 14, 2010.
Four days later on Nov. 29, Chattanooga enters the Convocation Center for a 7:00 p.m. start. KSU is 2-0 at home all-time against the Mocs. UTC earned a spot in the 2023 NCAA tournament and held No. 1 seed Virginia Tech to only 58 points in the first round, but was unable to topple the Hokies, who lost to eventual champion LSU.
The home stand concludes on Saturday, Dec. 2 at 4:00 p.m. against Coastal Georgia. The two met for the first time on Dec. 29, 2022 in a 109-53 victory for KSU. The victory marked a program-record for points scored as
Amani Johnson broke the KSU Division I career scoring mark.
Kennesaw State heads back into SEC country on Dec. 11 at Starkville, Miss. against the Mississippi State Bulldogs. The December showdown will mark the first meeting between the Owls and Bulldogs. Mississippi State also earned a 2023 March Madness berth as an 11 seed and upset No. 6 Creighton, 81-66, in the opening round.
Sunday afternoon basketball returns to the Convo on Dec. 17 against the Belmont Bruins. The Owls last win over the Bruins came on Feb. 27, 2010 en route to clinching a five seed in the 2010 Atlantic Sun tournament.
KSU is set to play in the West Palm Beach Classic on Dec. 20 and 21 - opponents for the Owls' trip to the Sunshine State are to be determined.
The final contest of 2023 is squeezed in between Christmas and New Year's Day on Dec. 28 as Kennesaw State welcomes the Georgetown Hoyas at 7:00 p.m, marking the first meeting between the two programs.
A familiar foe starts off the new year for KSU on Jan. 2, 2024 against the Mercer Bears in Macon, Ga. for the final non-conference game of the regular season. The Black and Gold will look for their 14th win over the in-state rival.
The ASUN schedule begins Jan. 6 at home against Queens followed by home contests against North Florida (Jan. 11) and Jacksonville (Jan. 13). A three-game road trip follows with games against Stetson (Jan. 18), FGCU (Jan. 20) and North Alabama (Jan. 24). Three more games inside the Convocation Center continue the conference run versus Central Arkansas (Jan. 27), Austin Peay (Feb. 1) and Lipscomb (Feb. 3).
Kennesaw State travels to the Bluegrass State for a pair of games at Bellarmine (Feb. 8) and Eastern Kentucky (Feb. 10).
The final two regular season home games for KSU this season are against FGCU (Feb. 15) and Stetson (Feb. 17). The Owls end the schedule on a three-game road trip at Jacksonville (Feb. 22), North Florida (Feb. 24) and Queens (Mar. 2).
The Owls went 10-8 in ASUN play a season ago, doubling their conference win total from the previous season and marked the most single-season ASUN wins for the Owls since 2008-09.
KSU ended the regular season winning five of its last eight league games in head coach Octavia Blue's second season at the helm.
Click
here for the full release of the Owls' 2023-24 conference schedule.
Season tickets are
now on sale for the 2023-24 campaign as the Owls are set to complete their final season in the Atlantic Sun Conference before moving to Conference USA effective July 1, 2024. Click
here for more info on the transition as we Soar in 2024!
Dates and times for the 2023-24 KSU women's basketball season are tentative and subject to change.
