Monday's NCAA Selection Show revealed Gonzaga's fate as the Bulldogs prepare for their fifth consecutive tournament appearance. GU was given a 12th seed and will open at 1:15 p.m. Saturday on its home court at McCarthey Athletic Center against fifth-seeded Iowa State. The teams have never met. Fourth-seeded Georgia and No. 13 Montana will play after the Gonzaga-Iowa State game. Saturday's winner will play at 6:30 p.m. Monday at GU for a berth in the Sweet 16 at the Arena. Gonzaga's route to its first Final Four appearance would feature four consecutive games in Spokane. Read story

Graves wasn't surprised by the Bulldogs' 12th seed, and didn't think it would matter much.

"The last couple of years we’ve beaten a 2, two 3s, a 5 and two 6s," he said. "We’ve had some success, so where you’re seeded I don’t think is as important as who you’re playing and where you’re playing."

"We would rather stay here, be a lower seed and stay here and play in front of our home crowd than go anywhere else and be a higher seed," Karr agreed. "Some people don’t understand that, but I think it’s because they’ve never played in tournament. With fans like we have in Spokane, there’s nothing better than staying here and having a packed house in the kennel and having them behind us."

Gonzaga hasn't played since the WCC tournament championship on March 11. Palmer said not knowing the next rival turned out to be a good thing.

"We got to kind of go back to the basics and work on our own team defense and offense, and now we can use these next few days to focus on Iowa State," she said.

Karr said the time off has helped her rehabilitate her back, which she injured during the WCC tournament semifinals.

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