SOUTH BEND (AP) — Notre Dame knows a lot more about where it is going in the first round of the NCAA tournament than who it is playing.

The fifth-seeded Fighting Irish (23-8) will play No. 12 seed Southern Methodist University (24-8) on Sunday at Purdue in West Lafayette, where the Irish won for the first time in 10 tries this season.

"We won our last game there, so we're one-in-a-row, undefeated this season and that's the way we're going to approach it," Irish coach Muffet McGraw said moments after the brackets were announced.

In addition to eight losses to Purdue, the Irish also lost 78-61 to Boston College in the first round of the 2006 tournament — the only time in their last 12 NCAA appearances the Irish lost in the first round.

So Mackey Arena hasn't been good for the Irish. But McGraw said that Notre Dame's 61-48 victory over Purdue in early December should help her team's confidence.

"At least we won there this year, so that feels good," guard Charel Allen said.

Purdue (18-14), seeded ninth in the same regional, will play eighth-seeded Utah (27-4) on Sunday night.

Notre Dame players said they're happy to be playing several hours away from South Bend so friends and family can get there easily. Guard Ashley Barlow, who scored 19 of her 22 points after halftime in the win over Purdue, said she got four phone calls from family members within 5 minutes of the brackets being announced.

"They will all be there," Barlow said.

Barlow wasn't able to tell the callers much about Notre Dame's opponent, however. When SMU flashed up on the screen, she asked a teammate: "Where is that?"

Even McGraw conceded she didn't know much about the team from Dallas.

"I don't know much about them right now, but I'm sure by tomorrow morning we'll be very well versed in what they're going to do," she said.

The Mustangs earned the Conference USA's automatic berth by beating Texas-El Paso in the tournament final. SMU coach Rhonda Rompola said she didn't think the Mustangs would have received a berth if it didn't win the tournament.

The Irish, who are making their 13th straight NCAA appearance, have played SMU twice, winning at South Bend in 1982 and losing at Dallas in 1984. It is SMU's first tournament appearance since 2000.

Purdue's coach, meanwhile, looked forward to facing Utah.

"We don't know a lot about Utah, but we do know that they are great shooters," said coach Sharon Versyp.

"I've seen them a little bit. They are similar to an Iowa team; they shoot the 3 really well, they move the ball and have a good motion offense. Having Iowa in the Big Ten I think will help prepare us for that," she said.