CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Big South Conference announced the conference schedule for the upcoming 2021-22 women's basketball season on Tuesday afternoon (Sept. 14).
 
A total of 18 games are on the schedule for High Point University, with nine of them to be played inside the brand new, state-of-the-art Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena and Conference Center. This brings the total number of home games up to 14 for the Panthers in the inaugural season of the Qubein Center.
 
The conference slate kicks off on Dec. 29 with the Big South-opener at the Qubein Center against Gardner-Webb in a rematch of the semifinal game from the Big South Tournament in 2021. HPU then travels to Charleston Southern for the first road test of the conference season on New Year's Day. It will mark the first time the Panthers have played a game on the first day of a calendar year in the program's Division I history.
 
A home contest with Radford on Jan. 4 is after the New Year's showdown in Charleston, followed by road games at USC Upstate and Winthrop on Jan. 8 and 11, respectively, before a rematch of last year's Big South Championship game. Campbell makes its first visit to the Qubein Center on Jan. 15 in the marquee matchup in the new arena. It features the two finalists from the 2021 Hercules Tires Big South Women's Basketball Tournament - which HPU came away victorious in, 62-46, to earn the program's first berth in the NCAA Tournament.
 
High Point heads to the mountains three days later for a game with UNC Asheville on Jan. 18 before two games in a row in its new home. Hampton visits on Jan. 22 and Longwood comes to town on Jan. 25 before the Purple and White head back down to South Carolina to face Presbyterian on Jan. 29. HPU returns to the Triad to open February on Groundhog's Day (Feb. 2) at Big South newcomer North Carolina A&T. The four games against Hampton, Longwood, Presbyterian, and North Carolina A&T are the only times the Panthers will play those teams this season, with PC and A&T not making the trip to the Qubein Center in 2021-22.
 
The final month of the regular season continues when Winthrop comes to town on Feb. 5, followed by a game at Radford on Feb. 9. USC Upstate makes the trek up I-85 on Feb. 12 before HPU has its penultimate road game of the season on Feb. 15 at Gardner-Webb. High Point's final home games of the season follow with games against Charleston Southern on Feb. 19 and UNC Asheville on Feb. 23 before traveling to Buies Creek for a rematch with the Fighting Camels in the season finale on Feb. 26.
 
The game against UNC Asheville on Feb. 23 will be the last chance Panther fans have to see the women's basketball team in action at the Qubein Center. The entirety of the 2022 Hercules Tires Men's and Women's Big South Basketball Championships will be played at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C., marking the first time the tournament has been held at a neutral site since 2003.
 
High Point's season gets underway on Nov. 9 at 5 p.m. when Elon visits for the first-ever regular-season basketball game played at the Qubein Center.