Hawkeyes host, draw American U.

IOWA CITY - NCAA appearances, yeah, they're a rite of spring here.

But not with this kind of opportunity attached.

No. 15 Iowa was tabbed as a No. 3 seed for the NCAA women's basketball tournament during Monday's selection show, its highest seeding in 19 years. The Hawkeyes (24-7) will face tournament rookie American (24-8) in the first round at 1:30 Friday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

American is a No. 14 seed.

'We're set up for a great ride,” said senior center Bethany Doolittle. 'We have a great opportunity to get to the Sweet 16, and possibly beyond.”

Sixth-seeded Washington (23-9) meets 11th-seeded Miami of Florida (19-12) at 11 a.m. Friday.

Friday's winners play Sunday for the right to advance to the Oklahoma City regional. Iowa's last Sweet 16 appearance was 1996, and that's been mentioned as a goal for this team repeatedly, since media day in October and throughout the season.

'We're very happy,” said Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder. 'We got a great seed. We get to host. Now it's time to get to work and make it happen.”

Iowa is making its 24th NCAA trip, its eighth in a row, its 12th in 15 seasons under Bluder. This is the Hawkeyes' highest seed under Bluder, and their best opportunity to survive the first weekend.

Carver-Hawkeye was assigned as a first- and second-round site in 2013 and 2014. Both times, the Hawkeyes won their first-round game before getting beaten soundly in Round 2.

The NCAA awards home court to top-four seeds this season, and the Hawkeyes earned one of 16 sites. And this year, there's not a roadblock like Notre Dame or Louisville waiting in Round 2.

'Our seniors deserved the chance to play in front of our fans,” Bluder said. 'It feels good to see this actually come to fruition.”

The Hawkeyes are 16-0 at home this season.

'We're so excited to be playing here,” said senior guard Melissa Dixon, one of the nation's top 3-point shooters. 'We're very confident to be playing here.”

Iowa is one of seven Big Ten teams to receive bids, led by Maryland, the top seed in the Spokane region. The Terrapins went 18-0 in league play and also won the conference tournament.

Located in Washington, D.C., American nailed down its first NCAA bid by capturing the Patriot League tournament championship. The Eagles, who also won the regular-season title at 16-2, defeated Lehigh in the tournament final.

'I know a couple of the Lehigh girls, so I watched a little of (the Patriot League final),” said Iowa's Samantha Logic. 'But that's about all I know.

'Obviously, we have to play really good basketball. We can't take anybody lightly. Our attention to detail has to be there, and we have to embrace all the information we get on them.”

American owns an 11-game winning streak. The Eagles and the Hawkeyes have two common opponents.

Both teams defeated Gonzaga, and both lost to Maryland, but in far different fashion - Iowa lost a 93-88 heartbreaker while American was beaten, 94-50.

THE OPPONENT: AMERICAN (24-8)

* Game time: 1:30 p.m. Friday, Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City

* Nickname: Eagles

* Coach: Megan Gebbia

* Conference: Patriot League (16-2, 1st, tournament champion)

* Tournament record: 1st appearance

* Scoring: Team (63.3 ppg); senior guard Jen Dumiak 16.9, junior forward Michelle Holmes 11.0.

* The skinny: Defeated Lehigh to win the conference tournament for the first time and earn the program's first NCAA tournament bid. ... Dumiak, a 5-foot-10 guard was tournament MVP, with 24 points and six assists in the title game. ... Coach came to American two years ago after 10 seasons at Marist. Won 22, then 24 games first two years. ... Lost at Maryland 94-50 in December, but beat both Gonzaga (59-56) and Oregon (72-64) in Thanksgiving Shootout in Las Vegas.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com