Iowa Wesleyan women earn No. 1 seed

MT. PLEASANT — Things are about to get real at Ruble Arena in Mt. Pleasant.

The Continental Athletic Conference men’s and women’s basketball tournaments begin on Friday as eight men’s and women’s basketball teams meet up to battle for conference supremacy.

A stellar regular season has put the hosting Tiger women’s basketball team on top. Iowa Wesleyan is 16-5 overall this year and 7-0 against CAC opponents, and they will be the No. 1 seed in the tournament, which begins Friday.

Iowa Wesleyan will face eight-seeded Fisher College in the quarterfinals. The winner will face either Washington Adventist or Northern New Mexico College in the semifinals.

That game against Fisher will take place at 8:15 p.m.

The Tiger men will have to be up bright an early for their first round matchup. Fifth-seeded Iowa Wesleyan hosts fourth-seeded Wilberforce University at 8 a.m. in the tipoff game on the men’s side.

The Tigers come into the CAC tournament at 11-18 overall and 6-3 in conference play. If they can knock off Wilberforce, they will earn the right to take on either top-seeded Florida College or eighth-seeded Lincoln Christian University in the semis.

Iowa Wesleyan has faced Wilberforce once this year. The Tigers dropped a CAC Classic game 72-60 to the Bulldogs on Jan. 21.

The entire tournament will be played out at Ruble Arena with the finals happening on Sunday. The winner, of course will earn spots in the NAIA national tournament.