Gonzaga will play Stanford in first round of NCAA women’s tournament

The NCAA selection committee awarded the Gonzaga Bulldogs a No. 13 seed in the women’s 2018 NCAA Tournament on Monday. The Zags will play No. 4-seeded Stanford in the Lexington Regional.

Game time at Stanford is Saturday at 3 p.m. The other game at Stanford is No. 5 Missouri vs. No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast.

Louisville was awarded the top seed in Gonzaga’s bracket.

This is the 10th time Gonzaga has appeared in the NCAA Tournament and the third time under fourth-year head coach Lisa Fortier.

The furthest the Zags have advanced in the tournament is to the Elite Eight in 2011 under former head coach Kelly Graves. Gonzaga fell to Stanford 83-60 in Spokane. Graves is now the coach of the Oregon Ducks, who were awarded the No. 2 seed in the Spokane Regional. Games at the Arena will take place on March 24 and 26. Notre Dame is the No. 1 seed for Spokane.

The Zags have made an appearance in the Sweet Sixteen four times, including in 2015 when the Zags were under new leadership with Fortier. That year, Gonzaga fell to Tennessee 73-69 in overtime in Spokane.

Gonzaga’s run in the tournament started in 2007 when the Zags were given a 12th seed. They were throttled in the first round by fifth-seeded Middle Tennessee 85-46.

The Zags missed the tournament the following year. But for the next seven seasons, the Zags made an appearance. They made it as far as the second round in 2009 and reached the Sweet Sixteen three years in a row, from 2010 to 2012.

Last season, Gonzaga reached the NCAA Tournament after falling short of a bid in 2016 when the Zags struggled with a long list of injuries. The team fell in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament to Oklahoma.

Last year’s disappointing run was the fourth time the Zags lost in the first round of the tournament.