The news actually leaked out in the middle of the afternoon, but that didn’t dampen the excitement for the Iowa women’s basketball team when it was officially revealed that they would be hosting NCAA Tournament games later this week.

As expected, the Big Ten Tournament Champion Hawkeyes were highly seeded and ended up being placed in the East Region. Iowa is a #2 seed in their region thanks to a sterling 26-6 record this season. The Hawkeyes will host Southern Conference champion Mercer on Friday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Bears are 25-7 this season and will come to Iowa City riding an impressive 17 game winning streak.

Friday’s game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena will being at 1 p.m.

If the Hawkeyes win their first contest, they would then face the winner of the contest between #7 seed Missouri and #10 seed Drake. Iowa faced the Bulldogs earlier this season, winning 91-82 at the Knapp Center in Des Moines.

The Missouri Tigers were 23-10 this season and 10-6 in Southeastern Conference play.

The intriguing storyline of the Missouri/Drake match-up and a potential game against the Hawkeyes on Sunday is the background of both head coaches. Missouri head coach Robin Pingeton and Drake head coach Jennie Baranczyk were recruited by and played for Lisa Bluder. Pingeton was with Bluder at St. Ambrose early in her coaching career and Baranczyk played at Iowa.

Tickets are on sale now at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena box office.

https://ev9.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetEventList?groupCode=WNCAA&linkID=uiowa&shopperContext=&caller=&appCode=&RSRC=HSweb&RDAT=wbb-rls

NCAA Ticket Prices: All-Session Ticket Prices:

Adult: $30Senior: $15 (50 & above)Youth: $15 (18 & under)

Single-Session Ticket Prices:

Adult: $16Senior: $10 (50 & above)Youth: $10 (18 & under)