SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Ten of the eleven Southern Conference women’s basketball teams will tip off the 2011-2012 college basketball season Friday, November 11. The league’s complete composite schedule is now available at www.soconsports.com and will conclude with the 2012 SoCon Tournament in Asheville, N.C.

Appalachian State, Elon and Samford all made postseason appearances last season. Samford, the 2011 Southern Conference Champion, received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs’ season was ended in the first round as they fell to Florida State in the first round. Appalachian State made an appearance in the WNIT, before falling to South Carolina. Elon competed in the WBI and had the longest postseason run of any SoCon team. The Phoenix defeated USC Upstate 103-72 in the first round before falling to UAB 59-50 in the quarterfinals.

Many of the teams will compete in tournaments prior to the start of conference action, including the Preseason WNIT (Chattanooga), Maggie Dixon Classic (Samford), Cancun Challenge (Chattanooga), GSU Thanksgiving Classic (Appalachian State), Lady Eagles Thanksgiving Classic (Georgia Southern), UAB Thanksgiving Classic (Samford), East Carolina Thanksgiving Tournament (Elon), Doubletree Classic (College of Charleston), Marriott Cavalier Classic (Elon), and the Surf ‘n Slam Classic (UNCG) Appalachian State and Wofford will compete in the Asheville Collegiate Basketball Invitational December 10.

The first conference games are slated for Thursday, December 1 as UNCG hosts Chattanooga and Georgia Southern will travel to Boone, N.C., to take on Appalachian State. On December 3, College of Charleston hosts Furman, Elon hosts Chattanooga, Samford will play at UNCG and Davidson will travel to Western Carolina. Wofford starts its conference play at College of Charleston on Monday, December 5.

All 11 women’s teams will take part in the 2012 SoCon Tournament scheduled for March 2-5 in Asheville, N.C.