Iona women's basketball headed to first NCAA Tournament since 2016 as 14-seed
For the first time in seven years, the Iona women's basketball team is going dancing.
The 2023 MAAC Tournament champions are headed to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history.
They will start their journey as the No. 14 seed in the Seattle Region and will play third-seeded Duke.
"It's been a surreal 24 hours," Iona coach Billi Chambers said. "I have an opportunity to celebrate this. This group has worked so hard to get here. It's been an amazing, amazing time. To see the name (on the bracket), it's exciting to get the matchup and get ready to go. We're ready to work."
Iona men's: Gaels, Pitino back in NCAA Tournament, will play UConn to start
The Lady Gaels are 26-6 this season. They won the MAAC regular season and tournament titles, sweeping both awards for the first time in program history. Iona hopes to take its banner year even further at the NCAA Tournament.
The Blue Devils 25-6 overall and went 14-4 in ACC play, before falling to Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament semifinals.
It was a bit of a wait for the Lady Gaels to learn their fate, as they were in the final region to be unveiled, but it was well worth the wait. They're no stranger to being the underdog.
"We've been doing it all season, people took us for granted at the beginning," Iona's MAAC player of the year Juana Camilion said of being able to defy the odds. "They put us fifth (in the MAAC preseason polls), and we showed that we can beat anybody, especially in our conference and everything. We can fight, and we're gonna go out there and try to take it."
Follow Eugene Rapay on Twitter at @erapay5 and on Instagram at @byeugenerapay.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Iona women's basketball in first NCAA Tournament since 2016 as 14-seed
