Valparaiso University women’s basketball fans can now mark their calendars for the 2018-2019 Missouri Valley Conference schedule, which was released by the league office on Tuesday.

Year 2 of Valpo in The Valley will get underway on Sunday, Jan. 6 at Gentile Arena as Valpo visit Loyola. A string of three straight road games begins the first season of Valley play for head coach Mary Evans, as Valpo will head to UNI (Jan. 11) and defending conference champion Drake (Jan. 13) the following weekend.

Indiana State will make its way to the Athletics-Recreation Center for the first home conference date of the season on Jan. 18, before Valpo welcomes Evansville on Jan. 20. A road-heavy stretch that sees Valpo play five of its first seven away from its home venue will continue with a trip to Southern Illinois (Jan. 25) and Missouri State (Jan. 27).

After that, it’s a four-game homestand for Valpo, which plays host to Bradley (Feb. 1), Illinois State (Feb. 3), Drake (Feb. 8) and UNI (Feb. 10) to begin the month of February. Valpo finished with an 8-6 home mark a year ago, its best home record since 2012-2013.

Valpo will stay in the Hoosier State for the Feb. 15 and Feb. 17 road trip as Valpo matches up with Evansville and Indiana State, respectively. Then it’s back to the ARC for dates with Missouri State (Feb. 22) and Southern Illinois (Feb. 24).

The Feb. 28 game at Bradley will take place on a Thursday evening instead of the typical Friday slot, which will give Valpo an extra day off prior to its visit to Illinois State on Sunday, March 3. Illinois State will host Loyola on Thursday, so both teams will be on two days of rest for Sunday’s game.

The regular season will end the same way Valley play begins – against the Loyola Ramblers. Valpo will close the year at home against its travel partner, hosting Loyola on Saturday, March 9 – Senior Day at the ARC.

The Missouri Valley Conference Tournament is back in the Quad Cities as Hoops in the Heartland will begin on Thursday, March 14 in Moline, Ill. with all 10 teams vying for an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. Valpo has four starters and 12 letter winners back from the 2017-2018 season.