After coming off of a national title game appearance, the Arizona women's basketball team is entering its most highly-anticipated season in recent memory.

Tuesday, Arizona released its 2021-22 non-conference schedule with marquee games against Louisville, Texas, and Rutgers included as part of a group of 12 games and two exhibitions that will take place ahead of Pac-12 play.

"So we're going to a tournament which I thought would be great because we weren't able to have the foreign tour because of COVID. So I'm bringing the players to St. Thomas, that that was a good experience, said coach Adia Barnes.

"No one really gets to go to St. Thomas. Too often, you go to Hawaii more than St. Thomas, and we're playing Vanderbilt, DePaul, and Rutgers. And that's like three consecutive days, so challenging but fun. That's how the Pac-12 tournament will be. So all these things I thought prepare for what we're doing. And then we're going to go play in South Dakota, and we're going to play Louisville there. So that's a neutral site, tough game, and a very good team. Louisville's always on the best teams in the country; Jeff Walz is a great coach. And that's going to be a challenging game. And it's a very difficult travel and a tough environment. And then we're going to play Texas in Las Vegas. So these are all pretty big games. But I think that is going to be a lot of fun, but challenging because they're on the road. They're not at home. So I think it's not too easy."

This will be the first season since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic that there will be no restrictions for attendance at the start of the season.

During the 2020-21 season Arizona had to cancel games against Texas and Gonzaga that headlined the home schedule.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats weren't able to make those home games up, and will now play Texas in at a neutral site in Las Vegas as part of the Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge at T-Mobile Arena.

UA's matchup with the Cardinals will come early in the season in another neutral site game at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Invitational event will take place Nov. 12 and feature three Elite Eight teams and four NCAA Tournament teams total. South Carolina will take on South Dakota in the other matchup of the four-team event.

The Wildcats' matchup with Rutgers and legendary coach C. Vivian Stringer will take place in the final game of the Paradise Jam event in the US Virgin Islands over Thanksgiving Weekend. UA will face Vanderbilt (Nov. 25) and DePaul (Nov. 26) before wrapping up the event Nov. 27 against the Scarlet Knights.

Barnes' squad will host five nonconference games at McKale Center this season starting with Cal State Northridge to open the regular season Nov. 9. Texas Southern (Nov. 15), Marist (Nov. 19), North Dakota State (Dec. 9) and New Mexico (Dec. 12) will be the other home games for UA.

The Wildcats will have just two true road games during the first half of the season with trips to UC Riverside and Northern Arizona set for Dec. 3 and Dec. 17, respectively.

Arizona will host exhibitions against Eastern Washington (Oct. 28) and Arizona Christian (Nov. 5) before the start of the season.

Home games in bold; all times MST

Oct. 28 – Eastern New Mexico (Exhibition/6 p.m.)

Nov. 5 – Arizona Christian (Exhibition/6:30 p.m.)

Nov. 9 – Cal State Northridge (5 p.m.)

Nov. 12 – Louisville (The Invitational/2:30 p.m.)

Nov. 15 – Texas Southern (6:30 p.m.)

Nov. 19 – Marist (6:30 p.m.)

Nov. 25 – Vanderbilt (Paradise Jam/1:15 p.m.)

Nov. 26 – DePaul (Paradise Jam/1:15 p.m.)

Nov. 27 – Rutgers (Paradise Jam/1:15 p.m.)

Dec. 3 – UC Riverside (TBA)

Dec. 9 – North Dakota State (6:30 p.m.)

Dec. 12 – New Mexico (1 p.m.)

Dec. 17 – Northern Arizona (TBA)

Dec. 19 – Texas (Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge/3:30 p.m.)

Senior editor Matt Moreno contributed to this report.

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