2025 NCAA women’s basketball tournament: Look who’s heading to Norman

IOWA CITY — If the Iowa Hawkeyes are going to make it out of Norman and advance to Spokane, they’ll need to diffuse two of the nation’s most explosive attacks.

First up is Murray State, the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season co-champion, and MVC tournament champ.

There’s nothing mid-major about the Racers’ offense, which ranks No. 1 among NCAA women’s basketball at 87.8 points per game.

If the Hawkeyes advance, they are likely to run into host Oklahoma, which is fourth offensively at 85.2 ppg.

The NCAA runner-up in 2023 and 2024, Iowa (22-10) drew a 6-seed for the Norman subregional of the Spokane-4 Region. The Hawkeyes and 11-seed Murray State (25-7) collide at 11 a.m. Saturday at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla.

ESPN will televise.

Three-seed Oklahoma (25-7) and 14-seed Florida Gulf Coast (30-3) follow at 1:30 p.m. (ESPNU), with winners advancing to play Monday.

Of course, one prevailing storyline is the potential matchup with the Hawkeyes and Oklahoma Coach Jennie Baranczyk, a West Des Moines native, Iowa alum and former coach at Drake.

Two players from Oklahoma and one from Murray State have Iowa ties.

Aubrey Joens played at Iowa City High, then at Iowa State before transferring to Oklahoma. The Sooners’ Sahara Williams (10.8 points per game) played at Waterloo West.

So did Halli Poock of Murray State. Poock is the second-leading scorer for the prolific Racers, scoring at a 17.1-point clip.

Murray State earned an automatic NCAA bid Sunday by beating Belmont, 83-62, in the MVC championship game in Evansville, Ind.

Also Sunday, Murray State’s Katelyn Young became the 14th player in Division-I history to reach the 3,000-point mark for her career. She scored 34 points in the title game.

2025 NCAA women’s basketball: Norman subregion capsules

Oklahoma

Coach: Jennie Baranczyk (4th year at Oklahoma, 99-33; 13th year overall, 291-129)

Final AP ranking: No. 11

Spokane-4 Region seed: No. 3

Record: 25-7

Conference: Southeastern (11-5, T-4th; tournament semifinalist)

Leading scorers: Raegan Beers (6-4, jr.), 17.5 ppg; Payton Verhulst (6-1, sr.), 14.9 ppg; Sahara Williams (5-11, soph.), 10.8 ppg

Scoring averages: Offense 85.2. Defense 69.0.

Tournament history: 25th appearance, fourth consecutive. NCAA runner-up in 2002, also reached the Final Four in 2009 and 2010.

Florida Gulf Coast

Coach: Chelsea Lyles (1st year, 30-3)

Final AP ranking: Unranked

Spokane-4 Region seed: No. 14

Record: 30-3

Conference: American Sun (18-0, 1st; tournament champion)

Leading scorers: Emani Jefferson (5-6, sr.), 14.4 ppg; Maddie Antenucci (5-10, sr.), 10.8 ppg; Lauryn Taylor (5-11, sr.), 10.1 ppg.

Scoring averages: Offense 75.9. Defense 54.6.

Tournament history: 11th appearance, all since 2012. Reached the second round on four occasions, most recently in 2023.

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Iowa

Coach: Jan Jensen (1st year, 22-10)

Final AP ranking: Unranked

Spokane-4 Region seed: No. 6

Record: 22-10

Conference: Big Ten (10-8, T-8th, tournament quarterfinalist)

Leading scorers: Lucy Olsen (5-10, sr.), 18.0 ppg; Hannah Stuelke (6-2, jr.), 12.8 ppg; Addison O’Grady (6-4, sr.), 9.7 ppg

Scoring averages: Offense 74.3. Defense 65.1.

Tournament history: 31st appearance. Three Final Fours (1993, 2023, 2024); six Elite Eights, 10 Sweet 16s. National runner-up in 2023 and 2024.

Murray State

Coach: Rechelle Turner (8th year, 136-108)

Final AP ranking: Unranked

Spokane-4 Region seed: No. 14

Record: 25-7

Conference: Missouri Valley (16-4, T-1st; tournament champion)

Leading scorers: Katelyn Young (6-1, sr.), 22.2 ppg; Halli Poock (5-6, soph.), 17.1 ppg; Haven Ford (5-6, soph.), 15.2 ppg; Ava Learn (6-1, sr.), 13.9 ppg

Scoring averages: Offense 87.8. Defense 72.1.

Tournament history: 2nd appearance. Other was in 2008.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com