Basketball players from all over the Midwest are arriving in the Quad Cities for the Missouri Valley Conference Women's Basketball Tournament. Hoops in the Heartland begins Thursday at the TaxSlayer Center in Moline.
Drake Head Coach, Jennie Baranczyk, says her team knows the competition will be tough, and the games will be exciting. The Bulldogs are the top seed going into the MVC tournament and just won their third, straight conference title.
Tanya Warren is the Head Coach of the Northern Iowa Panthers.
She says sophomore Guard, Karli Rucker from Eldridge, has helped the team succeed despite losing two players to injuries. Rucker played for North Scott and was named to this year's MVC All-Conference First Team and Scholar-Athlete Second Team.
The tournament starts on Thursday at 4:00 P.M. with Indiana State versus Valparaiso, followed at 7:00 P.M. by a matchup between Loyola and Evansville.
This will be the fourth year the Missouri Valley Conference has held its women's basketball tournament in the Quad Cities. Last fall, it announced it'll be held at the TaxSlayer Center through 2021.
Last year, tournament attendance totaled 8,400, the second highest since 2006.
