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Jan 22, 2023; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Virginia Cavaliers head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton talks to her players in the second half against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at the Purcell Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

Virginia Women's Basketball Officially Announces Its Non-Conference Schedule For the Upcoming Season

Originally posted on Virginia Cavaliers on SI
By Jackson Caudell | Last updated Aug 8, 2025 3:40 PM ET

The Virginia women’s basketball team announced Friday (Aug. 8) its 2025-26 non-conference schedule which features eight games at John Paul Jones Arena in addition to a preseason exhibition game.

Entering her fourth season as head coach of the Cavaliers, Amaka Agugua-Hamilton and her team will host Frostburg State for a preseason exhibition game on Thursday, Oct. 30. That contest will be open to the public with free admission.

The 2025-26 season will tip off on Tuesday, Nov. 4 against Morgan State at John Paul Jones Arena.

Virginia’s home schedule also features matchups with Bucknell (Nov. 9), UMBC (Nov. 13), Radford (Nov. 16), Longwood (Nov. 20), Maryland Eastern Shore (Nov. 30), Howard (Dec. 10) and Winthrop (Dec. 20).

The Cavaliers will travel to Vanderbilt on Wednesday, Dec. 3 in the ACC/SEC Challenge as previously announced.

Virginia will also travel to the Emerald Coast Classic in Destin, Fla. where they will face off with Northwestern St. (Nov. 24) and either Nebraska or Purdue Fort Wayne (Nov. 25).

Dates for ACC contests, game times and TV designations for the entire 2025-26 season will be announced at a later date.

The notable game on the non-conference slate is the ACC/SEC Challenge against Vanderbilt.

This will be the first meeting for the Cavaliers and Commodores since 2012. Virginia is 4-2 all-time in a series that dates back to 1989. The Cavaliers won the first two games of the series, including a 70-58 victory in the 1992 NCAA East Regional Final, which sent Virginia to its third consecutive Final Four. Vanderbilt picked up wins in 1992 and 1995. Virginia enters the matchup on a two-game winning streak over the Commodores with victories in 1996 and 2012.

The creation of the SEC/ACC Challenge in 2023 marked the end of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, which ESPN established with the two conferences in 1999 for men’s basketball as a first-of-its-kind event. It expanded to include women’s matchups in 2007. SEC women’s basketball conducted a challenge with the Big 12 from 2014 to 2021.

Virginia enters the 2025-26 season coming off the program’s first winning season since 2017-18. The Cavaliers concluded last season by winning five of their last seven contests, including a 78-75 win at No. 8 North Carolina, the program’s first victory in Chapel Hill since 2001.

Last season, the Commodores finished 22-11 overall and 8-8 in conference play, good for ninth in the SEC standings. Vanderbilt earned a No. 7 seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament, falling against Oregon, 77-73, in the first round.

This is going to be a highly anticipated year for the ACC/SEC Challenge with some of the best matchups of the non-conference season:

Wednesday, Dec. 3

Georgia at Florida State

Georgia Tech at Texas A&M

Kentucky at Miami

NC State at Oklahoma

Tennessee at Stanford

Auburn at Syracuse

Virginia at Vanderbilt

Thursday, Dec. 4

Cal at Missouri

Clemson at Alabama