AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State women’s basketball team has been selected to play in its 18th NCAA Tournament, and 11th appearance in the last 13 years. The 3rd-seeded Cyclones will face 14th-seeded New Mexico State in the first round, Saturday, March 23rd in Ames, Iowa. As one of the top-16 teams selected in the field, Iowa State earned the right to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament, the Cyclones’ first time under the new selection format allowing the top-16 the right to host.

The Cyclones game against New Mexico State will tipoff at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN2. The winning team will advance to play the winner of the other game, (#6) DePaul vs. (#11) Missouri State, on Monday March 20.

Iowa State (25-8, 13-5 Big 12) is one of just 15 teams nationally to earn NCAA Tournament berths 11 of the last 13 years. All 17 of the Cyclones’ tournament bids have come under the direction of Bill Fennelly.  Iowa State’s selection as a No. 3 seed is the highest for the Cyclones since earning a three-seed in 2002.

New Mexico State (26-6, 15-1 WAC) was the regular season and tournament champion of the WAC this season. The Aggies are led by a guard tandem of two-time WAC Player of the Year Brooke Salas and fellow First Team All-WAC member Gia Pack. Salas is averaging a double-double, tallying 19.1 points per game and 11 boards. Pak is scoring 17 points per game and is churning out 3.5 assists per game.