Iowa, Iowa State, UNI earn NCAA bids

Iowa women's basketball video coordinators will assemble offensive highlights by the Gonzaga Bulldogs - and those will be plentiful.

They'll also undoubtedly queue up Doris Burke, an ESPN analyst.

Burke projected a Gonzaga-UCLA second-round matchup, leaving the Hawkeyes saying, “Wait, what about us?” during the NCAA women's basketball selection show Monday night at Kinnick Stadium.

“They're already counting us out,” said guard Jaime Printy. “We'll get some motivation from that.”

The Hawkeyes (22-8) drew a No. 6 seed in the Spokane Regional. Their reward: a hot, high-scoring team on its home floor.

No. 11 seed Gonzaga (28-4) is the champion of the West Coast Conference. The Bulldogs have won 18 straight games, are averaging 86.1 points per game and have eclipsed the 100-point mark on eight occasions.

“I really don't know much about them,” Iowa Coach Lisa Bluder said. “I'm anxious to watch film later tonight.”

Tipoff will be 3 p.m. (Iowa time) Saturday at the McCarthey Athletic Center. The winner advances to face No. 3 seed UCLA (27-4) or No. 14 seed Montana (18-14) on Monday.

Iowa was selected for the fourth straight year and improved upon its 8 seed from a year ago, when it advanced out of the first round by defeating Rutgers, then was blasted by eventual national runner-up Stanford, 96-67, in Round 2.

“I am happy with our seed, but we're facing a very formidable opponent,” said Bluder, who addressed her team about taking “swagger and emotion” to eastern Washington.

As for Burke's comments?

“I'm sure (the selection show) was taped, and we'll definitely talk about it,” Bluder said. “We'll talk about how we're the underdog.

“We've got to have a little chip on our shoulders.”

Burke isn't the only member of the national media that likes Gonzaga. Said Mechelle Voepel of ESPN.com in a live chat after the selection show:

“Iowa has some very good guards such as Kachine Alexander and Jaime Printy, who are good at penetrating and hitting 3-pointers. That said, I like Gonzaga's chances in that game and even possibly upsetting UCLA in the second round. Gonzaga did it to Texas A&M last year, of course.”

Gonzaga is a mid-major, but all four of the Bulldogs' losses have come against major-conference teams. Stanford was the only team to beat the Bulldogs at Spokane, where Gonzaga is 13-1.

The other defeats were at USC and against Mississippi and Notre Dame at neutral sites. Gonzaga has an RPI of 43, compared to 18 for the Hawkeyes.

Iowa finished in a third-place tie in the Big Ten, a league that earned five NCAA bids (Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Purdue were the others). The Hawkeyes were ousted in the first round of the Big Ten tournament by Ohio State on March 4 and haven't played since.

Point guard Kamille Wahlin knows that Gonzaga “has a very high-powered offense and likes to get up and down the floor.”

Wahlin will be matched up with Courtney Vandersloot, a 5-foot-8 senior who averages 18.6 points and 10.2 assists per game.

Katelan Redmon (6-1, junior wing) and Kayla Standish (6-2, junior forward) add 17.3 and 16.6 points per game, respectively.

The Hawkeyes have four double-digit scorers of the own, led by Printy, a sophomore from Marion who averages 16.5 points per game.

“We need to play defense the way we know how to play it,” Printy said. “We don't press much, so they won't get a lot of fast breaks. If we play team defense, we'll be just fine.”

Iowa State earned a No. 7 seed with an at-large bid. The Cyclones will play 10th-seeded Marist (30-2), which has won its last 26 games, in Durham, N.C. on Saturday.

The Cyclones (22-10) reached the NCAA tournament for the fifth straight year. But Iowa State likely would face second-seeded Duke in the second round, with the Blue Devils playing on their home court.

"What an exciting time for so many reasons!! So happy for our kids and so proud of what they have accomplished! TIME TO GET TO WORK!!!," Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly tweeted shortly after the field was announced.

Northern Iowa (27-5) received a No. 13 seed after winning its second straight Missouri Valley tournament title. The Panthers will face fourth-seeded Michigan State in Wichita, Kan. on Sunday night.

The Panthers, who have won 19 straight games, will be making their second consecutive NCAA appearance. They were beaten by top-seeded Nebraska a year ago.

The Spartans (26-5) have advanced out of the first round in each of their last seven NCAA tournament appearances. They won the Big Ten's regular season title but lost to Ohio State in the conference tournament.