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WHEN: Saturday, March 20, 8 p.m., WHERE: Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif, TV: ESPN2, RADIO: WCTC 1450 AM, 88.7 FM

NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND: Rutgers women's basketball, seeded ninth, will face No. 8 seed Iowa in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Saturday, March 20, at the Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif. Game time is set for 8:16 p.m. ET and will be nationally televised on ESPN2.

THE GAME: Rutgers (19-14) — one of seven teams from the Big East to earn a bid — is seeded ninth in the Stanford Regional, the lowest in the C. Vivian Stringer era. Iowa (19-13) earned an at-large bid from the Big Ten after falling just short (66-64) in the championship match-up against Ohio State. The two teams are meeting for the third time in program history, as RU boasts a 2-0 advantage over UI.

IOWA CONNECTIONS: Despite playing just twice, there is a strong connection between the Scarlet Knights and Hawkeyes. Coach Stringer coached at Iowa from 1983-95, posting a 269-84 record and winning two outright Big Ten titles. Stringer took the Hawkeyes to nine-straight NCAA's, including the Final Four in 1993 and is the program's all-time winningest coach. Rutgers Director of Basketball Operations Michelle Edwards starred at Iowa under Stringer from 84-88 and was the squad's first-ever Big Ten Player of the Year, leading the Hawkeyes to a No. 1 ranking for the first time in program history. She is the only women's basketball number to have had her number retired in Iowa history (No. 30).

RUTGERS NOTES: The Scarlet Knights have appeared in 21 of 29 NCAA Women's Basketball Championships. This will be the eighth-straight trip to the dance for Rutgers and the 12th under CoachStringer in her 15 seasons at the helm. Rutgers owns the second-longest streak of Sweet Sixteen appearances (five) and reached the National Championship in 2007.

Rutgers is 34-20 all-time in tournament action, with a 13-4 record in the first round. Last season, the Scarlet Knights made a run to the Sweet Sixteen as the No. 7 seed, besting tenth-seeded VCU, 57-51, and No. 2 seed Auburn, 80-52. Rutgers fell to the No. 6 seed Purdue, 67-61, in the Oklahoma City Regional Semifinals.

Rutgers went 2-1 in the Big East Championship, defeating Cincinnati (70-44) and No. 12 Georgetown in double overtime (63-56), before falling to No. 9 West Virginia (56-49) in the semifinals. Khadijah Rushdan led the Scarlet Knights, averaging 13.3 points and 4.7 assists over the tournament.

Senior guard Brittany Ray paces Rutgers with 14.2 points per game, ranking seventh in the Big East. Ray's 63 treys are more than the rest of the Scarlet Knights combined (49) and ranks third all-time on the Rutgers single season list. The guard is also fifth in the conference with a .382 three point field goal percentage (sixth on Rutgers' single season ledger). She is ranked second all-time in total three-pointers (186).

IOW NOTES: Iowa is paced by junior Kachine Alexander - one of only two guards in the country to average a double-double with 15.5 points and 10.7 rebounds. Named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-Region team and All-Big Ten First Team, Alexander has posted 15 double-doubles on the season. The Hawkeyes are also led by freshman Jaime Printy (14.9 ppg) and sophomore Kamille Wahlin (14.5 ppg).

As a team, Iowa nets 7.9 treys per game, which ranks 12th in the NCAA. Iowa is efficient beyond the arc, ranking 22nd in the nation with a 36.9 completion percentage. Starting off its conference season 1-6, the Hawkeyes reeled off 11 wins in their final 14 games to advance to the Big Dance for the third-consecutive season.

Leading Iowa is head coach Lisa Bluder in her 10th season with the Hawkeyes, 26th overall. Bluder has piloted Iowa to nine post-season appearances (seven NCAA and two WNIT). Stringer and Bluder, the second-winningest coach in Iowa history, have faced off five previous times with Stringer having won each of those meetings.

SOURCE: RUTGERS