Indiana Women’s Basketball Will Play Utah in NCAA Tournament At South Carolina

For the sixth straight time the NCAA Tournament has been played, Indiana was selected for the field. The Hoosiers earned a No. 9 seed and will play Utah in Columbia, S.C.

Indiana Hoosiers guard Chloe Moore-McNeil (22) celebrates with Indiana Hoosiers forward Faith Wiseman (31) on Thursday, March 6, 2025, during the Big Ten women's tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Indiana Hoosiers defeated the Oregon Ducks, 78-62. / Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana’s women’s basketball team continued its historic run of consecutive seasons in the NCAA Tournament as the Hoosiers were selected to be in the field during Sunday’s selection show.

Indiana was given a No. 9 seed and will play No. 8 seed Utah in the Columbia Sub-Regional. That regional begins play on Friday.

The Columbia Sub-Regional is hosted by South Carolina. The host Gamecocks – the No. 1 seed and overall No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament field – will play No. 16 seed Tennessee Tech in the other game on Friday.

The winner of that Sub-Regional will advance to the Birmingham 2 Regional in the Sweet 16 round.

Utah finished 22-8 and finished in fourth place in the Big 12 Conference. The Utes are led by guard Gianna Kneepkens (19.2 ppg) and forward Maya Toure (13 ppg).

If it can get past the Utes, Indiana (19-12) could meet South Carolina for the second straight season. On their way to the NCAA championship in 2024, the Gamecocks held off a furious Indiana second-half rally to earn a 79-75 victory. Indiana came closest to defeating South Carolina in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

For Indiana, it was their sixth straight tournament bid. The 2020 Tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Hoosiers have been chosen for every available field since 2019.

It is Indiana’s lowest seed in the tournament since the Hoosiers were a No. 10 seed in the 2019 Tournament. Indiana was never in danger of missing the field entirely, though some inconsistency and some late-season losses had the Hoosiers more uncomfortably close to the bubble than usual.

However, Indiana also had quality wins against Baylor, Nebraska, Ohio State and Oregon. The Hoosiers were also competitive in two games against Big Ten champion Southern California and had a close loss against UCLA. The Bruins and Trojans both received No. 1 seeds.

It will be coach Teri Moren’s seventh NCAA Tournament as Indiana’s coach. Before Moren’s arrival, Indiana had made a total of four NCAA Tournament appearances in their history.

The tournament bid extends the careers of Chloe Moore-McNeil, Sydney Parrish and Karoline Striplin. Moore-McNeil began her Indiana career in 2020, Parrish in 2022 and Striplin in 2024, respectively.

Game times and network assignments will be announced at a later date.

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INDIANA HAS PROVEN ITSELF WORTHY OF NCAA TOURNAMENT SELECTION: Indiana lost to USC in the Big Ten Tournament, but the Hoosiers demonstrated their NCAA Tournament worthiness. CLICK HERE.

• INDIANA FALLS TO NO. 2 USC: Indiana never trailed by more than nine points and chased the second-ranked Trojans to the end, but couldn't catch them. CLICK HERE.

• WHAT MOREN SAID: Teri Moren's postgame comments after the loss to USC in the Big Ten Tournament. CLICK HERE.