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Iowa Women's Basketball headed to the Norman Regional

On3 imageby:Kyle Huesmann•03/16/25•

HuesmannKyle

The Hawkeyes are headed to the Norman Regional.
The Hawkeyes are headed to the Norman Regional.

A Selection Sunday tradition, the Iowa Women’s Basketball team gathered inside the Feller Club Room at Carver-Hawkeye Arena to see their name called in the field of 68. This year provided a bit more intrigue, as the Hawkeyes, for the first time since 2018, will not host an NCAA Tournament game. There were more questions this time around. What seed? What location? What opponent?

The Hawkeyes earned a 6 seed in the Norman Regional and will face the 11 seed Murray State in the opening round of the tournament to be played at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma.

Should the Hawkeyes advance to the second round, they would face the winner of the matchup between 3 seed Oklahoma and 14 seed Florida Gulf Coast. The winner of the second-round game would advance to play in the Sweet Sixteen in Spokane, Washington.

Taking a quick look at the rest of the Spokane 4 region, USC earned the 1 seed, while Connecticut (2), Kentucky (4), Kansas State (5), Oklahoma State (7) and California (8) round out the rest of the top seeds.

Going back to the Hawkeyes opening round matchup, Murray State earned the auto bid out of the Missouri Valley with a 25-7 overall record. The Racers defeated Belmont in the MVC championship game, led by First Team-All MVC forward Katelyn Young and Second Team All-MVC guard Halli Poock.

As for the regional hosts, Oklahoma earned an at-large bid out of the SEC with a 25-7 overall record. Under fourth-year head coach and former Hawkeye Jennie Baranczyk, Oklahoma is looking to make it to the Sweet Sixteen after three consecutive second round exits. They are led by First Team All-SEC center Reagan Beers and Second Team All-SEC guard Payton Verhulst.

The 14 seed Florida Gulf Coast earned the auto bid out of the Atlantic Sun with a 28-3 overall record. The Eagles defeated Central Arkansas in the Atlantic Sun championship game. FGCU is led by ASUN Player of the Year Emani Jefferson.

The Hawkeyes have now made the NCAA Tournament for the seventh straight season. Last year, Iowa earned the Big Ten’s auto bid for the third consecutive season after defeating Nebraska in overtime in the Big Ten Tournament Championship. They earned a one seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1992 and hosted a regional for the fifth time in ten seasons. The Hawkeyes defeated 16 seed Holy Cross and 8 seed West Virginia in the Iowa City Regional to earn a trip out east for the Sweet Sixteen. In Albany, Iowa defeated 5 seed Colorado and 3 seed LSU to advance back to the Final Four. The run continued with a win over one seed Connecticut in Cleveland, but they fell short in the national title game, losing to South Carolina 87-75.

Prior to being named head coach, as an assistant coach/associate head coach, Jan Jensen was part of an Iowa staff that appeared in the NCAA Tournament 18 times, including 12 times in the last 14 seasons that a tournament was held. The 2020 NCAA Tournament was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. At Iowa, Jensen helped the Hawkeyes to an 23-18 record in the NCAA Tournament and a 31-22 overall record in postseason tournaments. In her seven years as an assistant coach at Drake, Jensen helped the Bulldogs to four NCAA Tournament appearances, as well as a WNIT semifinal appearance.

Overall, this is the Hawkeyes 31st NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, which ranks 8th all-time. They have ten Sweet 16 appearances, six Elite Eight appearances, three Final Four appearances and two national title game appearances. The Hawkeyes have an all-time record of 37-30 in the tournament.

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