VCU women’s basketball non-conference schedule looks to be a competitive season
VCU women's basketball in a huddle preparing for a game. CT file photo by Andrew Hill
Andrew McGhan, Contributing Writer
The VCU women’s basketball team is excited about the competition in their non-conference schedule, according to head coach Beth O’Boyle.
VCU released the non-conference schedule for the women’s basketball team on Aug. 24, according to VCU Athletics.
The schedule contains four teams who made an appearance in the 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, according to VCU Athletics. Those teams are James Madison University, Sacred Heart University, East Carolina University and St. John’s University.
The schedule will be a great experience for the team to go up against very talented teams, according to O’Boyle.
“When you look at it, it’s challenging, we have some teams on the schedule that have been very successful last year, and will be a great test for us,” O’Boyle said.
VCU sophomore guard Timaya Lewis-Eutsey said she feels great about competing against talented teams.
“I feel like it gives us a chance to really step up and every time we do play teams that went far in the tournament I find that we’ve always performed very well,” Lewis-Eutsey said. “It’s going to definitely prepare us for our conference season playing against some really, really high level competition.”
VCU will face teams with different styles of play during their non-conference to help them make adjustments for when the conference season would start, according to O’Boyle.
“One of the things that we look at when putting the schedule together is playing against a variety of styles of play,” O’Boyle said. “We really tried to mix up the style of play, so that it exposes our players to it and we can build confidence and learn from it and then take it into the A-10 conference.”
Lewis-Eutsey hopes to have a great year for herself individually and for the team as a whole to have a great year.
“Honestly, I’m just excited to play the entire season,” Lewis-Eutsey said. “This is my sophomore year, It’s a big year for me. It’s a big year for us as a team and we have a chance to make a really big statement, and I have very high hopes that we will.”
VCU women’s basketball will participate in the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico over Thanksgiving break, according to VCU Athletics. The teams VCU will face are St. John’s, Sacred Heart and the University of Puerto Rico.
VCU senior guard Sarah Te-Biasu said she is excited to go to the San Juan Shootout, not only to see San Juan, but to compete and show how good VCU women’s basketball is.
“I know it’s a beautiful city and to enjoy times there but I know we’re gonna play St. John’s and that’s an opportunity for us to show them how we play and how good a team we are,” Te-Biasu said. “So I’m excited.”
One of the positives of going to the San Juan Shootout is that it allows the players and coaches to build bonds, according to O’Boyle. It also helps that players and staff can bring their families on this trip.
“When you get to be outside of the day to day of a home game or an away game that the travel isn’t as far, there’s so many things that we can do with the team that helped build relationships and connections,” O’Boyle said.
The Puerto Rico trip is also a time where players and coaches can be thankful because of the Thanksgiving spirit, according to O’Boyle.
“That’s probably the highlight of the non conference is that Thanksgiving tournament and spending that time with our staff and our players and being grateful for the opportunities that we have at VCU and getting to do it in a beautiful place like Puerto Rico,” O’Boyle said.
