FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Eleven opponents from seven different conferences comprise the Fairfield University Women's Basketball non-conference schedule for the upcoming 2017-18 season, as announced today by Head Coach Joe Frager. A December 6 visit from WNIT Semifinalist Villanova on George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall highlights the slate, which also includes trips to Boston College, Seton Hall and 20-game winner William & Mary.
 
"We have a very challenging non-conference schedule this year," Frager said. "Our team is young and we will be having them jump into the deep end of the pool right away."
 
The 11th season under Frager will begin like his first campaign on the Fairfield sidelines when the Stags welcome the Richmond Spiders to Webster Bank Arena on November 10. This will be the first time the two teams have met since Frager's Fairfield debut on November 14, 2007 – a 72-57 victory in Richmond.
 
The Stags will embark on their first road trip of the season as they travel to play a pair of CAA foes in William & Mary (Nov. 14) and Northeastern (Nov. 17). The Tribe of William & Mary used a veteran team featuring four senior starters to compile 20 wins last season (20-11, 9-9 CAA), tying program record established by the 1993-94 squad.
 
The Northeastern Huskies won five of their final six regular season games to climb to the sixth seed in the CAA Championship. Six of the top seven scorers from that squad will return for the 2017-18 campaign including Claudia Ortiz, who was named Third Team All-CAA after netting a team-best 13.0 points per contest.
 
Fairfield takes the court on campus for the first time as Mount St. Mary's comes to Alumni Hall on November 21. The Stags and the Mountaineers met in Emmitsburg, Md. last season with Fairfield prevailing by a score of 70-57. The Stags are 3-1 all-time in the series with all four meetings coming during Frager's tenure at the helm.
 
The Stags will then travel to Bethlehem, Pa., to take part in the Lehigh Thanksgiving Classic starting on November 25. The Stags will join New Hampshire, La Salle, and the host Lehigh Mountain Hawks as the four teams in the field. The matchups from Stabler Arena are yet to be announced.
 
In their final game of November, the Stags will host UMass Lowell on November 29 at Alumni Hall. The two schools met for the first time in program history last season with the Stags pulling away from the host River Hawks en route to a 65-41 win.
 
Fairfield will hit the road to open up the month of December when they take on Boston College on December 3. This will be the ninth time the two Jesuit schools have met, with the Stags holding a 5-3 record in the series. The Eagles posted nine wins last season, including ACC victories over Clemson and North Carolina.
 
The Stags will return to Alumni Hall for their final home game in the non-conference slate when they face Villanova on December 6. The Wildcats are coming off their fifth-straight 20 win season and an appearance in the WNIT Semifinals. Villanova returns four of the five starters from last year's squad, with that quartet accounting for 42.4 points per game and 231 three-pointers in 2016-17.
 
The non-conference schedule will finish up on the road with the Stags traveling to Rhode Island (December 11) and Seton Hall (December 21). Fairfield competed against the Rams last season in a 72-65 loss at Alumni Hall. The Stags and the Pirates last met during the 2014-15 season, with Seton Hall picking up the victory. Both teams earned wins over MAAC opponent Marist in 2016-17, with Seton Hall also adding a MAAC victory over Rider to its non-conference tally last winter.
 
The 2017-18 MAAC schedule is expected to be announced by the conference office in September. The league slate will feature nine additional home games for the Stags.