Feb. 26, 2012
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2012 Big Ten Tournament Bracket
IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa women’s basketball team finished the 2011-12 season in a four-way tie for second place and will be the No. 3 seed in next week’s Big Ten Tournament. The Hawkeyes will face the winner of No. 6 seed Nebraska vs. No. 11 seed Northwestern Friday at approximately 1 p.m. (CT) live on BTN.
Ohio State, Iowa, Purdue and Michigan State all finished with 11-5 conference records to tie for second place. The Buckeyes claimed the No. 2 seed after the tiebreaker, which is winning percentage in games played against the teams that are tied. Ohio State was 3-0 (1.000) against the other three opponents. Iowa was next at 2-2 (.500), followed by Purdue at 2-3 (.400). Michigan State finished fifth after the tiebreaker at 1-3 (.250).
This is only the second time in the 17-year history of the Big Ten Tournament that Iowa has been a No. 3 seed. The Hawkeyes advanced to the championship game as the No. 3 seed in 2010, falling to No. 1 seed Ohio State in the title game by two points. Iowa is 16-15 in Big Ten Tournament games.
Iowa closed the regular season on an eight-game winning streak, which is the longest streak to end the regular season since the 1989-90 team closed on a nine-game winning streak. The only other Iowa team to win eight or more games to end the regular season was in 1986-87 (11-straight wins).
In addition, Iowa’s eight-straight conference wins are the most consecutive Big Ten wins for Iowa since the 2007-08 season, when the Hawkeyes won eight-straight from Jan. 13-Feb. 10.
Penn State won the Big Ten regular season championship and is the No. 1 seed. The Lady Lions, along with Ohio State, Iowa and Purdue all receive first round byes. This is the fifth-straight year that Iowa has received a top-four seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
Iowa defeated Northwestern twice during the regular season. Nebraska knocked off the Hawkeyes in both matchups during the conference schedule.
Iowa finished the regular season at 19-10 overall and 11-5 in Big Ten play. Iowa’s 11 conference wins are the most for an Iowa team since 2000-01 (12 wins) and the fourth-most in school history (during a 16-game conference schedule).
Head Coach Lisa Bluder has now guided Iowa to 11 winning seasons in her 12 years at Iowa. This is also the ninth time, under Bluder, the Hawkeyes have finished in the upper division of the Big Ten Conference. Iowa’s tie for second place is the highest finish since winning the Big Ten regular season title in 2008-09.