WAVERLY, Iowa-- The No. 11/15 Wartburg women's basketball team (24-3 overall) was selected to host NCAA First and Second Round games this weekend. The Knights will host Bethany Lutheran (22-5) Friday at 8 p.m. and No. 9/10 Hope (23-4) and No. 21 Wheaton (Ill.) (22-5) will play in the other First round game at 5:30 p.m. Friday's winners will advance to Saturday's Second Round game at 7 p.m.

This marks the second time and second-straight year Wartburg has hosted NCAA games for women's basketball since 2001. This will be the second time Levick Arena hosts an NCAA Tournament, as the games in 2001 were in the old Knights Gym, which was torn down for the W to be built.

Click here for the complete bracket.
Click here for the digital program.

Live links
Click here for the live video and live audio of the Hope vs. Wheaton game, provided by Knight Vision.
Click here for the live stats of the Hope vs. Wheaton game.
Click here for the live video and live audio of the Wartburg vs. Bethany Lutheran game, provided by Knight Vision.
Click here for the live stats of Wartburg's game.
Click here for the live audio of Wartburg's game, provided by KWAY.
 
Tournament Schedule
Friday, March 1
5:30 p.m.   No. 9/10 Hope vs. No 21 Wheaton (Ill.)
8 p.m.       No. 13/15 Wartburg vs. Bethany Lutheran

Saturday, March 2
7 p.m.  Second Round game

Ticket Prices
$8 adults
$5 students & seniors
*no passes accepted
Doors will open 90 minutes prior to the game

The Series
Wartburg is 8-0 against Bethany Lutheran, though the programs have not met since 2016.
 
Wartburg
This marks the fourth-straight and 13^th overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament for the program. The Knights are 17-12 in the Big Dance and have advanced to two Final Fours.

Senior Adrienne Boettger (Cedar Falls) leads the team with 12.8 PPG and junior Emma Gerdes (Cedar Falls) follows at 11.8 PPG. Gerdes has a team-best 5.7 rebounds/game and 127 assists.

Boettger has a team-best .691 field goal percentage, while junior Amanda Brainerd (DeWitt) leads the team from beyond the arc (.444) and from the free throw line (.860).

Single Season Record Watch
Boettger's field goal percentage stands third on the single season leader list. Gerdes' assist total ranks fourth.

Career Record Watch
Gerdes has 264 assists, which ranks seventh on the career leader list.

National Stat Rankings
Wartburg ranks in the top 100 of 21 statistical categories, which the NCAA released Monday.
 
The Knights rank 2^nd in assists (530), 2^nd in assists per game (19.6), 4^th in field-goal percentage (47.7), 7^th in free-throw percentage (76), 13^th in scoring margin (19.4), 13^th in won-lost percentage (88.9), 14^th in three-point field-goal percentage (36.7), 16^th in three-point field goals per game (8.1), 16^th in three-point field goals made (220), 17^th in free throws made (409), 18^th in scoring offense (76.6), 19^th in final points (2,067), 22^nd in rebound margin (10), 24^th in assist turnover margin (1.1), 26^th in personal fouls per game (13.9), 32^nd in three-point field goal defense (25.6), 51^st in free throw attempts (538), 55^th in three-point field goals attempted (599), 60^th in fewest fouls (374), 87^th in defensive rebounds per game (29), and 91^st in scoring defense (57.1).
 
Individually, one Knight ranks in the top 100 of five statistical categories: Gerdes ranks 38^th in assists (129), 43^rd in assists per game (4.8), 63^rd in steals (73), 68^th in free-throw percentage (82.1), and 75^th in steals per game (2.7).

Bethany Lutheran
The Vikings earned the automatic bid as they won the UMAC (Upper Midwest Athletic Conference) Tournament Championship over top-seed UW-Superior, 55-54, Saturday. Hannah Geistfeld made the game-winning free throw with five seconds left. 

This marks the first trip to the NCAA Tournament for the program.

Three players average in double figures as Abby Olson leads the team at 18.8 PPG. Haley Sandin follows at 15.9 and Geistfeld completes the trio with 14.7. Geistfeld is the leading rebounder with 6.9/game.
 
Wartburg in the NCAA Tournament: (17-12)
Wartburg vs. Augustana, 1989, First-round, L 74-93
Wartburg vs. Milliken, 1989, Regional Third Place, W 97-75
Wartburg vs. Augustana, 1990, First-round, W 72-57
Wartburg vs. Buena Vista, 1990, Regional Finals, L 63-78
Wartburg vs. Luther, 1991, Regionals, L 54-78
Wartburg vs. Wis.-Stout, 1992, Regionals, W 90-72
Wartburg vs. St. Benedict, 1992, Sectional Semifinals, W 74-64
Wartburg vs. Luther, 1992, Sectional Finals, L 61-70
Wartburg vs. Washington-St. Louis, 1993, Regionals, W 75-60
Wartburg vs. Wis.-Whitewater, 1993, Sectional Semifinals, W 83-77
Wartburg vs. Central, 1993, Sectional Finals, L 60-62
Wartburg vs. Aurora, 1994, First-round, L 57-61
Wartburg vs. St. Thomas, 1999, First-round, L 41-67
Wartburg vs. Chapman, 2001, First-round, W 86-78
Wartburg vs. Neb. Wesleyan, 2001, Second-round, W 85-71
Wartburg vs. Fontbonne, 2001, Sectional Semifinals, W 82-78
Wartburg vs. Washington-St. Louis, 2001, Sectional Finals, L 71-83
Wartburg vs. Carleton, 2002, First-round, L 61-71
Wartburg vs. Wisconsin Lutheran, 2016, First-round, W, 65-49
Wartburg vs. #11/16 UW-Oshkosh, 2016, Second-round, W 66-56
Wartburg vs. #8/9 St. Thomas, 2016, Sweet Sixteen, W 70-66
Wartburg vs. #5/6 UT-Tyler, 2016, Elite Eight, W 80-74
Wartburg vs. #7/7 Tufts, 2016 Final Four, L 50-63
Wartburg vs. Chicago, 2017 First-round, L 63-67
Wartburg vs. Webster, 2018 First-round, W 86-45
Wartburg vs. #12/13 George Fox, 2018, Second-round, W 82-58
Wartburg vs. #7/11 Trine, 2018, Sweet Sixteen, W, 78-54
Wartburg vs. East Texas Baptist, 2018, Elite Eight, W 65-61
Wartburg vs. No. 5/5 Bowdoin, 2018, Final Four, L 62-90