State College, Pa.: The 2003 Big Ten Field Hockey Tournament is slated to begin action with tomorrow's 10:00 a.m. game between No. 2 seed Michigan State and No. 7 seed Indiana. The Spartans, this season's Big Ten regular season co-champions and last season's Tournament Champions, finished the season with a 5-1 conference mark and an overall record of 13-4. All four Spartan losses came at the hands of teams ranked in the top five in the country. The Hoosiers of Indiana, in just its fourth season of field hockey, posted a 1-5 conference mark to go along with its 8-9 overall record this season. In four Big Ten Tournament appearances, Indiana has yet to notch a victory.

The second game of Tournament action, scheduled to kick off at 12:30 p.m., will see the No. 4 seed Nittany Lions take on the fifth-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes. Iowa, who was on the better end of a 1-0 decision in the schools' meeting this season, is 10-8 all-time in Big Ten Tournament contests, including a 1994 title. Penn State has captured four Tournament titles, the last of which coming in 1998. The Nittany Lions have posted a 12-8 mark all-time in Tournament contests and hold a 4-2 advantage over Iowa in Conference Tournament match-ups.

The Nittany Lions will be without head coach Charlene Morett for their Friday match-up against Iowa due to a death in the family. Assistant Coach Lisa Bervinchak-Love will take over coaching duties in the interim.

The third and final game on Friday's schedule, a match-up between No. 3 seed Ohio State and No. 6 seed Northwestern, is scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. start. Ohio State enters the contest with a 12-6 record in 2003, while finishing third in the conference with a 4-2 record. In last season's Tournament, Ohio State defeated Iowa 3-2 in the opening round before dropping a 3-2 contest to Tournament runner-up Michigan in the semi-finals. Northwestern finished its 2003 regular season with an overall mark of 9-8, and a conference record of 1-5. The Wildcats are 3-9 all-time in Big Ten Tournament games, but have not posted a win since 1995. In the schools' meeting this season, Ohio State defeated Northwestern in a 1-0 overtime contest.

In semi-final action, the No. 1 seed Michigan Wolverines await the winner of the Penn State/Northwestern match-up, while the winners of the Michigan State/Indiana and Ohio State/Northwestern will play for a spot in the championship game. The championship will be played on Sunday, November 9th at 1:00 p.m.

Single-session tickets will be available on each day of Tournament play. Prices are $4 for adults and $2 for students, youth and senior citizens.