Louisiana College announces 2021-22 basketball schedules

PINEVILLE, La. – The Louisiana College men’s and women’s basketball teams have announced their schedules for their inaugural season in the NAIA and Red River Athletic Conference, and tickets to all home games are on sale right now.

The Louisiana College men’s basketball team is looking to improve on a very successful spring 2021 season that saw the Wildcats make the American Southwest Conference Finals for the second time under head coach Reni Mason. Their new home, the Red River Athletic Conference, will see them play seven games against four teams which made the NAIA National Championship Tournament back in the spring. Among those four teams are three Louisiana schools: LSU Shreveport, LSU Alexandria, and Xavier-New Orleans.

LC’s season opens with a three-game home stand, starting on October 23rd against Lindsey Wilson College, followed by Philander Smith College and the University of Mobile. Centenary College, a traditional non-conference foe from the NCAA Division III days, will make a trip to Pineville in November. The Wildcats also play a non-conference, home-and-home series against William Carey University, meaning LC will play at least one NAIA Tournament semifinalist from each of four out of the last five seasons where a tournament was played. LSUA made the semis in 2017 and finals in 2018, LSUS was also a semifinalist in 2018, William Carey made the semifinals in 2019.

The schedule also features a rare home game on New Year’s Day as the Wildcats welcome in Tougaloo College for the back-half of a home-and-home series against the Bulldogs at 2:00 P.M. to kick off 2022. LC’s inaugural run through the RRAC begins on January 6th against Our Lady of the Lake at home.

“By all means, our schedule is very challenging as we continue to make the transition to NAIA,” said Louisiana College head men’s basketball coach Reni Mason. “I have challenged our team to only work as hard as they can today and not worry about tomorrow. It is important that we understand that this will not happen overnight. We must trust the process and we’re excited to get started.”

On the women’s side, head coach Matt LeBato and his Wildcats start off fast, taking on a 2021 NAIA Tournament participant right off the bat as LC heads to Oklahoma to face Langston University on November 1st and features another road game against another team from that field on November 27th when the Wildcats head to New Orleans to take on Loyola. LC’s home opener takes place on November 22nd against the University of Mobile.

Conference play for the Wildcats starts on January 6th against perennial RRAC power Our Lady of the Lake. In conference play, the Wildcats will face a pair of conference champions in LSU Shreveport, the defending RRAC champion, and Xavier-New Orleans, the 2021 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference champion who is also in their debut season in the RRAC.

Tickets for both single men’s and women’s games as well as the doubleheaders are on sale now at lcwildcats.net under the tickets tab for one flat fee of $6 per date, regardless of the number of games being played.