BTN releases 2013-14 women's hoops slate, talent roster

CHICAGO - BTN will air an exciting lineup of women?s basketball matchups for the 2013-14 season, including 43 conference, six non-conference and 10 Big Ten Women?s Basketball Tournament games. With six Big Ten teams selected to the 2013 NCAA Championship, the Big Ten expects to enter this season with several ranked teams.

The season will tip off at noon ET on Nov. 17, with defending Big Ten Champion Penn State hosting eight-time NCAA Champion Connecticut. Also included in the schedule are three games from the Big Ten/ACC Women?s Basketball Challenge, beginning with Penn State hosting Notre Dame, a Final Four participant for the past three seasons, on Wednesday, Dec. 4.

The conference slate opens on Thursday, Jan. 2, with Northwestern at Nebraska. BTN?s coverage continues on Friday, Jan. 3, when Illinois hosts Wisconsin and Michigan will open its conference season on Sunday, Jan. 5, as the Wolverines head to Ohio State. Indiana will face two-time defending Big Ten Tournament champion Purdue on Monday, Jan. 6, followed by a doubleheader on Thursday, Jan. 9 with Nebraska at Michigan State and Penn State at Illinois.

Highlights and coverage of Big Ten women?s basketball will be featured on the Women?s Sports Report, which will air before games on Thursdays during conference play. Host Lisa Byington and analysts Stephanie White, Kara Lentz and Michelle McMahon will discuss Big Ten matchups and breakout performances.

In addition to White, returning analysts include LaChina Robinson, Mary Murphy and Debbie Antonelli. Returning play-by-play announcers include Byington, Kevin Kugler and Eric Collins.

Up to 100 additional games also will be streamed on the Big Ten Digital Network (BTDN), and many of those will air on delay on BTN as part of the Student U initiative.

About BTN: A joint venture between the Big Ten Conference and Fox Networks, BTN is the first internationally distributed network dedicated to covering one of the premier collegiate conferences in the country. With more than 800 events, all in HD, the 24/7 network is the ultimate destination for Big Ten fans and alumni across the country, allowing them to see their favorite teams, regardless of where they live. BTN2Go is the 24/7 simulcast of BTN that delivers live and on-demand programming via the internet, smartphones and tablets to customers of participating video providers. Events include football, men?s and women?s basketball games; dozens of Big Ten Olympic sports and championship events; studio shows; and classic games. The network televises and streams more Olympic sporting events and women?s sports than has ever been aired on any other network. Original programming highlights activities and accomplishments of some of the nation?s finest universities. The groundbreaking Student U initiative provides real-world experience for students interested in careers in sports television. The network is in more than 52 million homes across the United States and Canada, including carriage by all the major video distributors, such as DIRECTV, DISH, Verizon FiOS, AT&T U-Verse, Charter Communications, Comcast Xfinity, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, Cox Communications, Mediacom, RCN, WOW!, Rogers Cable, Shaw and Shaw Direct (Canada) and approximately 300 additional video providers across North America. For additional information, go to www.BTN.com.