Lebanon, IL - Basketball schedules are just starting to fly off the shelves, and on Friday morning, that was exactly the case for the McKendree University Women's Basketball program, which unveiled its 27-game regular season calendar for 2026-2027 after going 18-9 last year, ending the season going (9-1) in their last 10 games and earning the 5-seed in the GLVC Tournament.
Beyond the usual Great Lakes Valley Conference opposition, there are some new faces to go up against.
Delta State, whom Bearcat Women's Basketball has never played before, is the regular season home opener on Monday, November 9th at 6:00 PM. Union from Tennessee, who McKendree hasn't played since the 2005-2006 season, will be coming to Lebanon in November.
As part of the Hansen-Spear Funeral Home Classic just before Thanksgiving in Quincy, the Bearcats will take on a familiar foe in Purdue-Northwest before going toe-to-toe with DII power Minnesota State-Mankato. The two-time National Champions led all of Division II in scoring last season at 91.2 points per game. Despite going 29-3 last year, they were stunned in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Mavericks, who will play Quincy the night before they play the Bearcats, have not played a GLVC opponent since Upper Iowa in 2017-18; however, the Peacocks were still members of the Mavericks' Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Another first-time opponent will tip it off when the Bearcats go to Detroit to take on Wayne State on November 25th.
For the first time since the 2023-2024 season, McKendree will venture south to Rincon, Puerto Rico, and play their last two games before the Christmas break there. In that season, the Bearcats defeated Puerto Rico-Bayamon (76-56) and Puerto Rico-Mayaguez (85-52) before venturing back home to Lebanon. Fans will recall that being the same season McKendree went 16-6 in league play and earned the 2-seed in the GLVC Tournament.
The GLVC schedule is to be expected; however, the format may not be. In the offseason, the schedule changed from every week being a Thursday/Saturday run to a Wednesday/Saturday run, with the occasional Monday and Thursday sprinkled in. While the opponents are as familiar as they'll get, specific locations that haven't happened in a few seasons' time include traveling to Quincy January 9th, hosting Lincoln January 13th, traveling to Drury on January 20th, hosting Missouri S&T on February 10th, and making the short trek to UMSL on February 17th.
Additionally, the Bearcats will host Upper Iowa on Saturday, January 16th at 1:00 PM for Alumni Day, and host Southwest Baptist on Saturday, February 27th at 1:00 PM for Senior Day.
The GLVC Women's Basketball Tournament has also been relocated. For 2026-27, it will take place at Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Missouri, March 4th-7th. Fans of Division-II Women's Basketball may recognize the venue as a frequent host of the NCAA DII Elite Eight, Final Four, and National Championship. It's hosted a total of six times, most recently in the 2023-2024 season.
For the full schedule, click HERE.
