Viking women announced as no. 6 seed for GNAC Championships

News

Photo: WWU Athletics

PORTLAND, Ore. – The Western Washington University women’s basketball team has been announced as the No. 6 seed for the upcoming Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships that will be held March 7-9 in Carver Gymnasium on the WWU campus.

The Vikings finished the regular season with a 11-9 league record to tie for 5th place and were 16-12 overall.

WWU will match up against No. 3 seed Simon Fraser (17-10, 13-7) in the 2:15 pm game on Thursday, March 7. The Vikings were 2-0 against the Clan this season, defeating SFU 70-62 on the road on Nov. 27 and 67-49 earlier this week in Carver Gym.

Alaska Anchorage clinched its ninth conference tournament appearance as the No. 1 seed after winning the regular-season title with a 19-1 league mark. UAA enters the postseason with a 27-1 overall record and a current 20-game winning streak.

Northwest Nazarene (26-2, 18-2) will be the No. 2 seed and joins UAA as teams that will receive a first-round bye.

Simon Fraser is the No. 3 seed with a 13-7 GNAC record. The Clan have qualified for the postseason event in each of their nine years in the conference. They have already proven to be a dangerous and worthy opponent this season, knocking off NNU when it was ranked No. 1 in the nation back in January.

Central Washington is the No. 4 seed after clinching its trip to Bellingham in the penultimate week of the regular season. The Wildcats will take on No. 5 Concordia, which is making its first-ever GNAC Championships appearance after joining the league in 2015. That contest will tip-off the event at 12 p.m. on Thursday afternoon.

The semifinals will be played on Friday with Alaska Anchorage taking on the winner of Central Washington and Concordia at Noon. Northwest Nazarene will then take on the winner of Simon Fraser and Western Washington at 2:15 p.m.

The championship game is scheduled for 5:20 p.m. on Saturday with the winner receiving an automatic bid into the NCAA Division II Championships. The tournament is being held in conjunction with the GNAC Men’s Basketball Championships and tickets can be purchased at gnachooptickets.com.

Recent Headlines

9 hours ago in Sports

Bam! Heat’s Adebayo scores 83 points, 2nd only to Wilt Chamberlain in NBA history

Bam Adebayo had a night for all time on Tuesday, with a point total second to only Wilt Chamberlain in the NBA record books. Adebayo scored 83 points, setting league marks for free throws made and attempted in a game for the Miami Heat in a 150-129 win over the Washington Wizards.

10 hours ago in Sports

Italy stuns the US 8-6 in World Baseball Classic, leaving the Americans needing help to advance

Kyle Teel, Sam Antonacci and Jac Caglianone homered as Italy built a big lead and held on to stun the United States 8-6 Tuesday night in the World Baseball Classic.

10 hours ago in Sports

MLB report settles World Series Game 7 plate drama: IKF was out by feet, not inches

It was the most debated play of the year in Major League Baseball, perhaps the most dissected and discussed sequence in World Series history. Should Isiah Kiner-Falefa have taken a bigger lead? Why did the third base coach draw a line in the dirt right there? What if IKF sprinted to the plate instead of sliding?

1 day ago in Sports

Inside the numbers: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ties Wilt Chamberlain’s 20-point streak record

Wilt Chamberlain has some NBA records that might never get touched, like the 100-point game, 4,000 points in a season and a 50-point-per-game scoring average. And that means that when he does get caught — in any category — it's a big deal.

2 days ago in Sports

Tatis’ grand slam, 6 RBIs leads Dominican Republic over Israel 10-and into WBC quarterfinals

Fernando Tatis hit a grand slam and drove in six runs, and the Dominican Republic clinched a spot in the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals with a 10-1 win over Israel on Monday in Miami.