Rewards sometimes come with an additional challenge. Just ask the UC Irvine women’s basketball team.

The Anteaters are in the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in program history and the first time since 1995, and their reward is a matchup against one of the top seeds in the 68-team tournament.

UCI (23-8) received a No. 13 seed in Regional 4 and will face No. 4 seed Gonzaga (30-3) in a first-round game on Friday or Saturday on the Bulldogs’ home court in Spokane, Washington.

The Anteaters, who defeated UC Davis to win the Big West Tournament title on Saturday in Henderson, Nevada, are on a six-game winning streak, while Gonzaga was beaten by Portland, 67-66, in the West Coast Conference Tournament title game last week.

The winner of the UCI-Gonzaga game would face either No. 5 seed Utah (22-10) or No. 12 South Dakota State (27-5) in a second-round game on Sunday or Monday, also in Spokane.

Texas (30-4) and Stanford (28-5) are the top two seeds in UCI’s regional, respectively.

The Region 4 semifinals and final will be played the following week in Portland, Oregon.

Much more to come on this story.

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