Hawkeye women to face former coach Stringer, Rutgers in opening round

IOWA CITY (U of I) — The University of Iowa women’s basketball team has received an at-large berth into the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championships. The Hawkeyes (19-13) are a No. 8 seed and will play No. 9 seed Rutgers (19-14) in Stanford, Calif. 

First-round action will begin Saturday at 7:16 p.m. The game will be televised live on ESPN2 and also can be found on ESPN360.com. 

This marks Iowa’s 19th trip to the NCAA Tournament.  Head Coach Lisa Bluder has led the Hawkeyes to seven NCAA Tournament appearances in her 10 years at Iowa, including each of the last three years.

Iowa and Rutgers have met twice, with Rutgers winning both meetings. Rutgers won 57-51 on Dec. 4, 2005, in the KCRG-TV9 Hawkeye Challenge and 70-53 on Dec. 12, 2006 at Rutgers.

The Scarlet Knights are coached by former Iowa Coach C. Vivian Stringer. Stringer was Iowa’s head coach from 1983-95, posting a 269-84 overall record and a 169-45 Big Ten mark. Stringer led Iowa to two outright Big Ten titles and Iowa shared the Big Ten title on four occasions under her direction. She led Iowa to nine-straight NCAA Tournament appearances and a Final Four berth in 1993. 

Stringer is a member of the U of I Varsity Club Hall of Fame, the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Rutgers assistant Michelle Edwards played at Iowa under Stringer from 1984-88.  She was a consensus all-American and is the only women’s basketball player to have her number retired at Iowa.

Iowa is a No. 8 seed for the second year in a row. Last year marked the first time Iowa garnered a No. 8 seed, falling to No. 9 Georgia Tech in Iowa City in first-round action. 

Fans interested in purchasing first- and second-round tickets can call the Stanford ticket office at 1-800-STANFORD.