HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University women's basketball team announced its schedule for the 2026-27 season Friday, with the season set to begin Nov. 2.
 
Second-year SLU Head Coach Jeff Dow spoke about the Lions' 2026-27 season. "We're excited about the schedule we've put together for this upcoming season. We will be challenged early and often with the likes of LSU, TCU, Texas Tech and the University of Texas on our schedule, all before Thanksgiving."
 
Some of SLU's non-conference opponents include the aforementioned Texas, TCU, LSU, and Texas Tech, all of which reached the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament last season. Vic Schaefer's Longhorns reached the Final Four, after Mark Campbell's Horned Frogs competed in the Elite Eight. Kim Mulkey's Tigers reached the Sweet 16 after defeating Krista Gerlich's Lady Raiders in the Round of 32.
 
"Altogether we have six games scheduled versus teams that played in the NCAA tournament and twelve that played in the postseason (NCAA, WBIT or WNIT) so that will prepare us for the rigors of a 22-game Southland Conference schedule," Dow added.
 
"We were also able to get a number of in-state non-conference games besides LSU by starting up a home-and-home series with Grambling, University of Louisiana and Tulane which will be exciting for our fans," said Dow. 
 
Southeastern returns five Lions from the 2025-26 squad, including last year's scoring leader, Aliyah Collins, juniors Eryn McKinzie and Emma Lucio, and sophomores Mia Ramos and Natalie Huff.
 
Collins had the fourth-best scoring average (14.7) in the Southland Conference in 2025-26, while Ramos and Huff put together strong freshman campaigns. After leading the Lions in rebounding average, McKinzie returns to the court for SLU. Lucio, who missed the 2025-26 season due to injury, will see her first action in green and gold.
 
The 2026-27 Southeastern team will have nine new Lions this season, including Division I transfers and high school standouts Lillian Merow and Micah Cooper, as well as freshmen Deena Holmes, Ne'talya Hurst and Trinity Jackson-Wilkins. Also joining SLU, Susan Fahnbulleh, Yolaine Luthi, Shaine Parker, and Diana Szakolczi will each bring two years of collegiate experience to Hammond, America.
 
Before beginning regular-season play, SLU will host Southern University New Orleans in an exhibition match on Thursday, Oct. 29, in the University Center.
 
On Monday, Nov. 2, the Lions will visit LSU in Baton Rouge, La., to start the regular season. Southeastern's home opener will take place later in the week, with the team hosting Arkansas-Monticello in the University Center, Thursday, Nov. 5.
 
From there, SLU will begin a three-game road trip, starting in Fort Worth, Texas, where the Lions will visit TCU (Nov. 12). After facing the Horned Frogs, Southeastern will travel to Lubbock, Texas, to compete against Texas Tech (Nov. 15). SLU's three-game road slate will end Nov. 18, against Grambling, in Grambling, La.
 
Back in Hammond, America, SLU will host UL-Lafayette Sunday, Nov. 22, before returning to Texas to take on the Longhorns in Austin, Wednesday, Nov. 25.
 
After returning from the Thanksgiving holiday, Southeastern is set to begin December at home with its first two Southland Conference matchups, facing HCU (Dec. 3) and UIW (Dec. 5).
 
On Wednesday, Dec. 9, SLU will make the trip across Lake Pontchartrain to face the Tulane Green Wave in New Orleans, La.
 
The following week, Southeastern will host Alabama State (Dec. 14) and Northwestern State (Dec. 17). Later that week, the Lions will head to Commerce, Texas, to face East Texas A&M (Dec. 19).
 
After a week off, SLU will host Louisiana Christian in the team's final non-conference matchup of the regular season (Dec. 28). The Lions will end 2026 and begin 2027 on the road with visits to Lamar (Dec. 31) in Beaumont, Texas, and Stephen F. Austin (Jan. 2) in Nacogdoches, Texas.
 
Southeastern will remain in Louisiana for the next six games, beginning with McNeese (Jan. 7) in the University Center. Then, SLU will visit LSU New Orleans (Jan. 9), before hosting the next four contests. The next week, UTRGV (Jan. 14) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Jan. 16) visit the University Center. SLU's four-game homestand will end with matchups against SFA (Jan. 21) and Lamar (Jan. 23).
 
From there, the Lions will embark on a four-game road trip, starting with Nicholls (Jan. 28) in Thibodaux, La, then McNeese (Jan. 30) in Lake Charles, La. February will begin with the Lions visiting UIW (Feb. 4) in San Antonio, Texas, and HCU (Feb. 6) in Houston, Texas.
 
Following the four-game road slate, SLU will host East Texas A&M (Feb. 11), before playing its final two Texas contests. The Lions will visit the Islanders (Feb. 18) in Corpus Christi, before battling the UTRGV Vaqueros (Feb. 20) in Edinburg.
 
SLU will end play in the University Center with home matchups against Nicholls (Feb. 25) and LSU New Orleans (Feb. 27). Southeastern's game against the Privateers will be the team's final home game of the season.
 
SLU's regular season will end in Natchitoches, La., where the Lions will take on Northwestern State, Monday, Mar. 1.
 
The top-eight seeded teams in the Southland Conference will meet in Lake Charles, La. to decide the winner of the Southland Conference Women's Basketball Championship. The tournament will begin Mar. 8, and conclude Mar. 11.
 
2026-27 Women's Basketball Schedule:
Oct. 29 vs. Southern-New Orleans – Exhibition
Nov. 2 @ LSU
Nov. 5 vs. Arkansas-Monticello
Nov. 12 @ TCU
Nov. 15 @ Texas Tech
Nov. 18 @ Grambling
Nov. 22 vs. UL Lafayette
Nov. 25 @ Texas
Dec. 3 vs. HCU*
Dec. 5 vs. UIW*
Dec. 9 @ Tulane
Dec. 14 vs. Alabama State
Dec. 17 vs. Northwestern State*
Dec. 19 @ East Texas A&M*
Dec. 28 vs. Louisiana Christian
Dec. 31 @ Lamar*
Jan. 2 @ Stephen F. Austin*
Jan. 7 vs. McNeese*
Jan. 9 @ LSU New Orleans*
Jan. 14 vs. UTRGV*
Jan. 16 vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi*
Jan. 21 vs. Stephen F. Austin*
Jan. 23 vs. Lamar*
Jan. 28 @ Nicholls*
Jan. 30 @ McNeese*
Feb. 4 @ UIW*
Feb. 6 @ HCU*
Feb. 11 vs. East Texas A&M*
Feb. 18 @ Texas A&M-Corpus Christi*
Feb. 20 @ UTRGV*
Feb. 25 vs. Nicholls*
Feb. 27 vs. LSU New Orleans*
Mar. 1 @ Northwestern State*
Mar. 8-11 – Southland Conference Women's Basketball Championship – Lake Charles, La.
Home Matches in BOLD
*- Southland Conference Game
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
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TICKETS
For ticket information, please contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.LionSports.net/tickets. Southeastern offers mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets. All tickets will be available via e-mail in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.
 
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics has instituted a clear bag policy for all ticketed events. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/clear.