For just the second time in school history, the Utah women’s basketball team will make an appearance in the NCAA tournament for a fourth straight season.
On Sunday, the Utes found out where they’ll start off that NCAA journey this time.
Utah earned a No. 8 seed and will play No. 9 seed Indiana Friday at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina, in the first round of Birmingham Regional as part of a subregional hosted by South Carolina.
The game will tip at 11:30 a.m. MDT and be televised on ESPN2.
The Utes (22-8) finished their first season in the Big 12 in sixth place in the league and beat Notre Dame in nonconference play.
At one point, Utah won seven straight games in conference play before going 2-3 over its last five contests, including a second-round loss to Texas Tech in its Big 12 tournament opener.
This will be Gavin Petersen’s first time leading Utah as head coach into the NCAAs after serving as Lynne Roberts’ assistant for over a decade.
The Utes have won their first-round game at the NCAA tournament each of the past three seasons and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen two years ago.
The Hoosiers are 19-12 and went 10-8 in the Big Ten Conference this season. That included a 1-1 performance at the Big Ten tournament last week.
Indiana is led by guard Yarden Garzon, who averages 14.1 points per game.
The Hoosiers are No. 35 in the NET rankings, nine spots behind Utah’s No. 26 ranking.
The winner of the Utah-Indiana game will take on the winner of No. 1 seed South Carolina and No. 16 seed Tennessee Tech in a second-round matchup.