by Alan Babbitt

The Hope College women's basketball team is headed to Waverly, Iowa this weekend to make its 20th appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament.

The Flying Dutch received an at-large berth to postseason play and drew a first-round game against Wheaton College (Illinois) at Wartburg College. Tipoff is 5:30 p.m. Central on Friday.

NCAA Division III Interactive Bracket

d3hoops PDF bracket

Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for students & seniors. There will be no advance ticket sales. Doors will open 90 minutes prior to tipoff each day.

Hope has reached the postseason for seven consecutive seasons and 13 of the past 14 seasons. The Flying Dutch advanced to the national quarterfinals last season.

Hope is bidding for its third national championship. The Flying Dutch previously won national titles in 2006 and 1990.

Led by head coach Brian Morehouse, Hope enters postseason play with a 23-4 record. The Flying Dutch were runner-up in Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association regular-season and postseason play.

Hope faces a familiar opponent in Wheaton (22-5), the regular-season champion of the College Conference of Illinois-Wisconsin. This will be the school's 14th meeting. The last in postseason play came in 2013, when the Flying Dutch claimed a first-round, 64-37 victory against the Thunder.

The Hope-Wheaton winner faces either Wartburg or Bethany Lutheran College (Minnesota) on Saturday at 7 p.m. Central. Wartburg and Bethany Lutheran plays at 8 p.m. Central on Friday.

Wartburg (24-3) won the American Rivers Conference regular-season and tournament titles.

Bethany Lutheran (22-5) won the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference tournament to receive an automatic berth.