POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The Marist women's basketball team (27-6) received an 11 seed and will be facing off against No. 6 Iowa (26-8) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, announced tonight during the ESPN Selection Show. The Red Foxes will play on Sunday, March 23 at 8 p.m. (EST) in Iowa City, Iowa. The matchup will be aired on ESPN2.
An 11 seed is the third best seed the Red Foxes have received in the past decade. In 2008 Marist was a number seven seed and in 2011 the Red Foxes were a 10 seed. This is Marist's ninth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament following its ninth straight and 10th overall Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship title.
The Red Foxes have won four first round games in tournament history and five games overall. This is the third time and the second straight year that Marist has played a team from the Big 10 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. We lost to Michigan State last year but beat Ohio State in 2007.
This will be the first meeting in program history between Iowa and Marist. Iowa is ranked 25th in the most recent USA Today Coaches' Poll and 19th in the Associated Press poll that was released on Mar. 17. Five Hawkeyes average in double-figures per game, led by Bethany Doolittle with 14.2 points per game. Iowa finished the year 26-8 overall and 11-5 in the Big Ten, finishing the year tied for fourth in the conference.