Hallie Christofferson has seen Iowa State’s name called three times before on Selection Monday, always with a certain level of anticipation.

But as a senior, waiting to hear if her team earned a bid to the NCAA women’s basketball tournament was still just as nerve-wracking as the first time she experienced it in 2011.

“My hands were getting sweaty and I just kept wiping them of, because I didn’t know when we were going to be called and there’s always that anticipation,” Christofferson said with smile.

The ISU women’s basketball team finally saw its name flash up on the screen at Johnny’s in Hilton Coliseum on Monday, confirming an eighth-straight bid into the NCAA tournament. The No. 7 seeded Cyclones will take on No. 10 Florida State at 3 p.m. Saturday at Hilton Coliseum with the game slated to be televised on ESPN2.

Iowa State is one of 13 Division I schools in the country to have earned an NCAA tournament bid in the last three seasons. The Cyclones have also earned a bid 15 times under the direction of coach Bill Fennelly, and he said it never gets old to see his team’s name come up in the bracket.

“It says a lot about the players, the coaches, the commitment the university [makes],” Fennelly said. “When you think about the accomplishment and you really take a step back and think about, we’re on a list with UCONN and Tennessee and Baylor and Oklahoma and Stanford. That’s a pretty exclusive club to be in and that speaks to the commitment of your players, the hard work that everyone does every single year.”

The road to Selection Monday wasn’t always an easy one this season, though. After a 14-0 start, the Cyclones (20-10) dropped seven of their next nine games, including four games within the friendly confines of Hilton.

Iowa State went on to win four of its final six games of the regular season — two of those wins were on the road — before an exit in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championship. The team is ready to put the highs and lows of the regular season behind them now that they are in the field of 64.

“I feel like we have a bigger reason to play. Everyone counted us out at a certain part of the year and then when you lose games, people look down on you,” said junior guard Nikki Moody. “It gives us that motivation to want to fight harder and get to the tournament.”

While nerves weren’t so much on the mind of guard Nicole “Kidd” Blaskowsky, it was a somewhat surreal experience for the sophomore to be going to another NCAA tournament.

“When you’re younger and you think about these things and how you want to grow up and play basketball and then you’re like, ‘Wow, I’m here,’” Blaskowsky said. “It’s just an awesome feeling and the fact that we get to play at home is going to be even better.”

Should Iowa State win against Florida State, it will play the winner of the game between No. 2 Stanford and No. 15 South Dakota. For Fennelly — who said he doesn’t pay much attention to where teams are seeded in the tournament — all that matters is getting a seed in the big dance.

“When you think about what this team has accomplished and the seven teams before it, it will be an honor to hang another banner at the practice facility and hopefully our kids will embrace it, be excited about it and look forward to playing Florida State on Saturday,” Fennelly said.