Feb. 12, 2008
IOWA CITY – The University of Iowa and Carver-Hawkeye Arena have been selected by the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee to serve as one of 16 first and second round hosts for the 2009 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship. Games will take place Saturday, March 21, and Monday, March 23 or Sunday, March 22 and Tuesday, March 24, 2009.
The Committee announced in the summer of 2007 that the championship would be expanding to 16 pre-determined first and second round sites beginning in 2009. Additional cities chosen to host first and second round games in 2009 include: Iowa City, IA; Bowling Green, KY; Chattanooga, TN; East Lansing, MI; Notre Dame, IN; San Diego, CA; Seattle, WA and Storrs, CT. A total of three Big Ten institutions will host first and second rounds in 2009 (Iowa, Michigan State and Ohio State).
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Championship in 2009,” said Iowa Head Coach Lisa Bluder. “This will give our Iowa fans a great opportunity to witness the national tournament first hand. It has been a long time since Iowa has hosted the NCAA Championship and we are excited to bring the competition and atmosphere back to Carver Hawkeye Arena!”
“The committee was pleased with the amount of interest generated when we announced that we were going to 16 pre-determined sites again in 2009 and 2010,” said Judy Southard, senior associate director of athletics at Louisiana State University and chair of the Division I Women’s Basketball Committee. “To be able to get a good blend of cities that have past-hosting experience in combination with a number of new cities and venues is good for the continued growth of the game of women’s basketball and our championship.”
The UI Department of Athletics first hosted a NCAA Championship site in 1986 when it served as one of four regional final sites. Carver-Hawkeye Arena has hosted NCAA Women’s Championship games 11 years (1986-90, 92-94, 96-98). The UI and Carver-Hawkeye Arena have entertained the regional finals four times and first and/or second rounds nine times. The NCAA Championship expanded to 64 teams in 1994.
The last time Iowa City hosted a first and second round site was in 1998. Iowa defeated Massachusetts in the first round, but lost to Kansas in the second round. The Hawkeyes boast a 9-4 record in NCAA Championship games at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
2009 First and Second Round Sites
*University of Iowa: Iowa City, IA (Carver-Hawkeye Arena)
*Western Kentucky University: Bowling Green, KY (E.A. Diddle Arena)
*University of Tennessee-Chattanooga: Chattanooga, TN (McKenzie Arena)
*Michigan State University: East Lansing, MI (Breslin Center)
*University of Notre Dame: Notre Dame, IN (Joyce Center)
*San Diego State University: San Diego, CA (Cox Arena)
*University of Washington: Seattle, WA (Bank of America Arena)
*University of Connecticut: Storrs, CT (Gampel Pavilion)
University of Mexico: Albuquerque, NM (The Pit/Bob King Court)
Louisiana State University: Baton Rouge, LA (Pete Maravich Assembly Center)
University of Maryland: College Park, MD (Comcast Center)
Ohio State University: Columbus, OH (Nationwide Arena)
University of Georgia: Duluth, GA (Arena at Gwinnett)
Texas Tech University: Lubbock, TX (United Spirit Center)
University of Southern California: Los Angeles, CA (Galen Center)
Rutgers University: Piscataway, NJ (Louis Brown Athletic Center)
* – additional sites added today