Murray State will play Iowa in NCAA Tournament
WBB: The Racers are making their second-ever trip to the Big Dance
It took until the last of the four brackets was released, but in their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2008, Murray State is the #11-seed, and will play #6-seed Iowa in Norman, Oklahoma. This is the first-ever meeting between Murray State and Iowa. With hundreds of Racer fans in attendance at the Selection Show Watch Party, the team is ecstatic to be dancing.
“The opportunity to play in this tournament is special,” Murray State Head Coach Rechelle Turner said. “You watch all these selection shows, and you dream of seeing your team's name come up. I’m just so excited for this group of young women. They're such great humans and they deserve this. I've watched Iowa a few times this year. I think it's actually a pretty good matchup for us.”
“You watch these as a kid, and you're like, ‘Oh my gosh, it would be so cool one day just to be there,’” Murray State junior guard Briley Pena said. “Just to be here and with this team, with these coaches, it's just a blessing.”
Halli Poock, the Waterloo, Iowa product, had her phone blow up when the Hawkeyes and Racers were paired up on the screen.
“Today's been very special in a lot of ways,” Poock said. “I feel like we haven't stopped moving since 8:00 this morning, but it's been a really fun day. All Iowa kids dream of playing against Iowa, or playing for them, and so I think it's really cool to get paired with them for the tournament. Everyone dreams of playing in a March Madness tournament. I know a lot of (the Iowa players), so it'll be cool.”
The game between the Racers and the Hawkeyes will be played on Saturday. The winner of the Murray State/Iowa game will play the winner of #3-seed Oklahoma and #14-seed Florida Gulf Coast on Monday.
The one thing about this Murray State team this season is they have embraced the motto: “Not done yet.” The Racers are not just happy to be in the NCAA Tournament — they plan to try to stick around for a while.
“We’ve still got stuff to prove,” Murray State sophomore guard Haven Ford said. “We're always trying to win, no matter who we're playing. We’ve got to be us, no matter what. So we're still going to go up there and make some noise and, fingers crossed, continue to put Murray State on the map.”
“We think we have a shot,” Pena added. “I feel like we're right where we need to be. God always places us where we need to be. I feel like we can go and get one from them, and keep going and see how far we can run into the tournament.”
The game time for Saturday has not been announced as of yet.
No Kaitlin Clarke shooting 3's from the parking lot for them this year, we got a good shot at this