NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - George Mason will host eight Atlantic 10 Conference opponents in the Patriot Center in the upcoming season as the conference office released on Thursday the 2013-14 women's basketball schedule pairings. Mason officially joins the Atlantic 10 Conference on July 1. The league's 13 members will play a 16-game conference schedule, allowing teams to face each opponent once and four teams twice.

The pairings feature home-and-home series for Mason with Dayton, La Salle and local rivals George Washington and Richmond. Additionally, the Patriots will welcome Duquesne, Saint Joseph's, Saint Louis and Massachusetts to Fairfax during the season.

The road portion of the schedule includes trips to Fordham (Bronx, N.Y.), Rhode Island (Kingston, R.I.), VCU (Richmond, Va.) and St. Bonaventure (St. Bonaventure, N.Y.) in addition to Dayton (Dayton, Ohio), La Salle (Philadelphia, Pa.), George Washington (Washington, D.C.) and Richmond (Richmond, Va.) based on the home-and-home series.

Mason's non-conference schedule will be released later this summer, while the complete schedule with dates and times will be announced at a later time.

2013-14 ATLANTIC 10 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CONFERENCE PAIRINGS FOR GEORGE MASON
Home-and-Home: Dayton, La Salle, George Washington, Richmond
Home Games: Duquesne, Saint Joseph's, Saint Louis, Massachusetts
Away Games: Fordham, Rhode Island, VCU, St. Bonaventure