CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Contests against Big 10 member Purdue and Big East member Pittsburgh highlight the 2010-11 Austin Peay State University women's basketball schedule, released by head coach Carrie Daniels, Friday.

The Lady Govs will face six teams that reached postseason play in 2009-10. Middle Tennessee, Chattanooga and Bowling Green each reached the NCAA Tournament, where they lost in the first round. In addition, Purdue, Eastern Illinois and Duquesne each played in the Postseason WNIT, Purdue reaching that tournament's second round.

"Once again I am very pleased and excited about the schedule we have been able to put in place," Daniels said. "First and foremost I want to give some credit to (former assistant coach) Marcus Payne. He worked diligently on finishing up this schedule before leaving and made sure everything was in place. I believe we have a good balance and some great competition that will help prepare us for conference season." 

Wednesday's announcement of the Preseason Women's National Invitational Tournament bracket was the final piece of the Lady Govs 2010-11 slate. The Lady Govs will open their season at Purdue, Friday, Nov. 12, in first-round WNIT action. Austin Peay's succeeding contests in the WNIT will be played the following week and will be determined by its result against Purdue.

Before its second game of the WNIT, Austin Peay will play one of its three home non-conference tilts when it hosts Middle Tennessee, the Sun Belt Conference's East Division and tournament champion, in a Nov. 16 contest.

Following its game against Middle Tennessee, Austin Peay will embark on a five-game road trip with games at Southern Conference regular-season and tournament champion Chattanooga (Nov. 23), future Ohio Valley Conference member SIU Edwardsville (Nov. 26) and at Missouri Valley Conference member Southern Illinois (Nov. 28)

The Lady Govs abbreviated non-conference home slate includes a Dec. 8 game against Lipscomb and a Dec. 11 affair against Bowling Green, the Mid-America Conference's East Division and tournament champion. Those two games will start a four-game home stand that concludes with Ohio Valley Conference contests against Eastern Kentucky, Dec. 19, and Morehead State, Dec. 21.

"One thing everyone will notice for sure when they look over this schedule is we will be one team that is road tested," said Daniels. "I would have liked to have more home games but there are some years it just doesn't shake out that way, this happens to be one of those years. We'll just go with it and get our team prepared wherever those games are played."

A six-game road trip awaits Austin Peay following its Christmas break, featuring a visit to Pittsburgh, Pa., where it will meet Big East member Pittsburgh (Dec. 28) and Atlantic 10 member Duquesne (Dec. 30). The New Year begins with a trip to Alabama-Birmingham, Jan. 2, to close out the non-conference slate.

Austin Peay will dive into the final 14 games of its Ohio Valley Conference schedule beginning with three-consecutive road games: UT Martin (Jan. 6), Murray State (Jan. 8) and Tennessee State (Jan. 15).

The Lady Govs will have only two home OVC outings in January - Tennessee Tech (Jan. 20) and Jacksonville State (Jan. 22) - but will play five home conference games in February.

That final critical month begins with three straight home contests: UT Martin (Feb. 3), Murray State (Feb. 5) and Tennessee State (Feb. 12) before concluding with home outings against Eastern Illinois (Feb. 24) and Southeast Missouri (Feb. 26).

That 18-game OVC slate is the lead up to a revamped OVC Women's Basketball Championship. All eight qualifying teams will travel to Nashville's Municipal Auditorium - the first time since 1996 the entire tournament has been held at a neutral site.

In addition, the tournament will have a new format with the league adopting a "ladder" bracket for the 2010 championships. The bottom four qualifying teams (5-8) will play an first-round game, March 2, with the winners advancing to face the third- and fourth-place teams in the quarterfinal round, March 3. Those winners advance to the semifinals, March 4 where the league's top two teams await. The league's championship game will be played March 5, with the winner receiving the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship, which begins March 19.

-AP-