PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State women's basketball team brought a Big Sky tournament trophy back to the Viking Pavilion last season. In 2019-20, the Vikings will gift the second-year arena its marquee game to date as one of the premier women's basketball programs in the country – Tennessee – comes to the Viking Pavilion on Dec. 21.
 
The Vikings host the eight-time NCAA champion Tennessee Lady Volunteers at 2 p.m. on Dec. 21 in what will be the Vikings' final non-conference game on their 2019-20 schedule.
 
"When anyone thinks about top women's basketball programs, Tennessee is one of the first. The tradition of excellence that Coach Pat Summitt established at Tennessee set a standard that all coaches try to achieve," head coach Lynn Kennedy said of scheduling the Lady Vols.
 
"We are excited that they accepted the invitation to play at the Viking Pavilion, but we are also up for the challenge of playing a perennial top 25 program. In order for us to maintain what we accomplished last year, we need to play the best and compete at a high level."
 
The Vikings challenged themselves throughout their 2019-20 schedule, as the team looks to integrate six freshmen with seven returners from its Big Sky title-winning team last season. The Vikings host two doubleheaders with the men's basketball team between an exhibition against Warner Pacific on Oct. 30 and their regular-season opener against Multnomah on Nov. 5, before things pick up dramatically from there.
 
The Vikings open the first round of the Preseason WNIT against Boise State on Nov. 8, a year after the Broncos pushed Oregon State to the brink of an upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
 
If the Vikings beat the Broncos, they will face either Texas A&M-Corpus Christi or Missouri State in the second round of the tournament on Nov. 10. Semifinals of the Preseason WNIT follow on Nov. 14, with the championship game set for Nov. 17.
 
If the Vikings lose in the first or second round of the Preseason WNIT, they are still guaranteed a total of three games against fellow teams in the tournament field. Dates and times for those consolation games will be announced following the first and second rounds.
 
The Vikings return home for a game against Nevada on Nov. 23, while two more road games follow against UC Davis on Nov. 30 and UC Irvine on Dec. 2.
 
All told, as many as six of the Vikings' first eight games will come on the road depending on how far the Vikings advance in the Preseason WNIT. That's a stark difference from last season, when the Vikings played seven of their nine non-conference games at home, and didn't play a road game until Dec. 9.
 
"We wanted a schedule that could challenge our veteran players as well as prepare our freshmen for the conference season," Kennedy said of the team's difficult non-conference schedule. "We have had some success on the road the last three seasons, but we also realize this is a new team that needs to establish how to play on the road. Preseason road trips are the best way to create team chemistry and to define who we will become during Big Sky play."
 
Things shift in December, when the Vikings stay in Portland for their final three non-conference games. The Vikings host Grand Canyon at the Viking Pavilion on Dec. 6, and then head across town for a rivalry game against the University of Portland on Dec. 15. The Vikings then wrap non-conference play with their marquee game against Tennessee on Dec. 21.
 
Tennessee will be at least the third NCAA tournament team the Vikings will face in the non-conference. The Vikings could face more NCAA tournament teams depending on how far they advance in the Preseason WNIT, but as it stands now, Boise State, UC Davis and Tennessee all made the NCAA tournament last season.
 
"We will need to establish team chemistry [during non-conference play] with so many new players. It should be easier because we do have some experienced players coming back, but this schedule will allow us to play high-level, post-season caliber opponents. That is what you need to have experienced as a team going into conference play," Kennedy said.
 
Big Sky play opens the week after the Vikings' Tennessee game, and a unique conference schedule will await the Vikings. With 11 teams in the Big Sky Conference, one team is left without a travel partner each season. That was Northern Colorado last season, and it's the Vikings' turn to serve as the lone wolf this season.
 
The setup makes for an imbalanced conference slate for the Vikings, who will have pockets of several games in row followed by several days off. The Vikings play six games in a span of 14 days from Jan. 11-25, but then have eight full days off between a road game against Montana on Jan. 30 and a home game against Southern Utah on Feb. 8. Additionally, the Vikings will play five Monday games during Big Sky play, after playing only one Monday game last season.
 
"One game at a time," Kennedy said of how the team will handle its unique conference schedule. "We can't get caught up in the schedule and feel sorry for ourselves. Every team should end up playing this schedule and this just happens to be our year. Take one game at a time, wherever we play, whoever we play and go on to the next game. Like the last three years, we need to be playing our best basketball in March. We now have a championship title to defend."
 
The Vikings play Weber State in their final home game on Feb. 29, before closing the regular season on the road against Northern Arizona and Sacramento State on March 5 and 7, respectively. 
 
And if the Vikings handle the lone wolf schedule well, then they'll be looking to win their second Big Sky tournament title in a row when they make their return trip to Boise for the Big Sky tournament, March 9-13.