LEBANON, Ill. – McKendree University women's basketball coach Kari Kerkhoff officially released the Bearcats' 2021-22 schedule on Wednesday afternoon.

The 28-game regular season slate features 20 games in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, along with four games against teams that advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament a season ago. In addition, the schedule features 13 home games in the Statham Sports Center and two exhibition games against two schools from the Missouri Valley Conference this coming year.

"We're excited for the upcoming season with our Bearcat fans back in the stands!," Kerkhoff said. "They will have an early opportunity to see us play with us hosting the Conference Crossover at Statham Gymnasium playing conference champion Tiffin University and following up with Purdue-Northwest. It will be a tough and competitive start to the season, we must be ready to compete which will help prepare us for our GLVC schedule."
 
The Bearcats will open its 2021-22 season on Saturday, Oct. 30 with a 1 p.m. exhibition contest in Carbondale, Ill., against Southern Illinois University and five days later, McKendree will play an exhibition game on Thursday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. in Peoria, Ill., against Bradley University. SIUC went 9-16, while Bradley was 17-12 during the 2020-21 season.

Following its two-game exhibition slate, McKendree will tip off its regular season at home as the Bearcats host the GLVC/GMAC Crossover in the Statham Center on Nov. 12-13. The Bearcats will open the season at 1 p.m. on Nov. 12 against Tiffin University and then face Purdue-Northwest on Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. The other team in the two-day event will be the University of Illinois-Springfield. Tiffin went 18-9 a season ago and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Division II Tournament, while Purdue-Northwest was 4-15 a season ago.

After the GLVC/GMAC Crossover event at home, the Bearcats will hit the road the next weekend as they travel to Quincy, Ill., for participate in the Quincy Subway Classic. McKendree will open the event hosted by Quincy University at 5 p.m. on Nov. 19 against Winona State and then face Ferris State the following day on Nov. 20 at 1 p.m.

The Bearcats will then close out the first month of the regular season with a home non-conference contest on Nov. 23 at 5:30 p.m. against Blackburn College and then open GLVC play on Monday, Nov. 29 at the University of Illinois-Springfield.

McKendree will play three of their four scheduled games in December on the road as they open the month on Dec. 2 with a 5:30 p.m. league game at Maryville University, before returning home two days later on Dec. 4 to host Lewis University at 5:30 p.m. The Bearcats will then close out the month with road games in Joplin, Mo., on Dec. 13 against Missouri Southern State and on Dec. 15 in Maryville, Mo., against Northwest Missouri State University.

The remainder of the Bearcats' 18 game schedule will feature all GLVC games as they open the New Year at home on Jan. 2 with a 1 p.m. game against the University of Southern Indiana, before traveling to Indianapolis, Ind., two days later on Jan. 4 to face the University of Indianapolis and then returning home to host Truman State on Jan. 8 at 1 p.m. Truman State went 17-5 last season and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Following the Truman State game, the Bearcats will remain at home as they host Indianapolis on Jan. 13, before playing two straight road games on Jan. 15 at Lewis University and Jan. 17 at the University of Southern Indiana. Lewis went 13-9 and USI was 11-5 a season ago.

After the two road games at Lewis and USI, the Bearcats return home to face Quincy on Jan. 20 and Jan. 22 against Illinois-Springfield, before closing the first month of the New Year with road contests on Jan. 27 in Liberty, Mo., against William Jewell and Jan. 29 in Kirksville, Mo., against Truman State.

The Bearcats will open the month of February with back-to-back home games on Feb. 3 against Southwest Baptist and Feb. 5 against Rockhurst, before returning to the road for league games on Feb. 10 against Missouri S&T and a match-up on Feb. 12 in Springfield, Mo., against Drury University, who went 24-2 last season and was the Division II National Runner-up.

Following the games at Missouri S&T and Drury, the Bearcats will play two of their final three regular season games at home as they host Lindenwood on Feb. 17 and Maryville on Feb. 19, before closing the regular season on Feb. 26 at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

The GLVC Tournament, which will feature the top eight teams in the final regular season standings, is scheduled for March 3-6 at the First Community Arena at Vadalabene Center on the campus of the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, with the NCAA Regional Tournament scheduled for March 11-14.