Saturday, March 2, 2013

LACEY, Wash. - Montana State Billings, which is the No. 3 seed, will play sixth-seed Seattle Pacific in the opening game of the GNAC Women's Basketball Championships Wednesday at Marcus Pavilion on the campus of Saint Martin's University.  Tipoff is at 5:15 p.m.

The second game will match fourth-seed Alaska Anchorage versus fifth-seed Northwest Nazarene at 7:30 p.m.

The men's tournament will tip off Thursday at 5:15 p.m. and will match third-seed Alaska Anchorage against sixth-seed Central Washington at 5:15 p.m.  Fifth-seed Montana State Billings will play fourth-seed Alaska Fairbanks at 7:30 p.m.

The women's semifinals will be played Friday at noon and 2:15 p.m., while the men's semifinals are slated for 5:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

The championship games, which will be televised by ROOT Sports, are scheduled for Saturday.  The women will play at 5:15 p.m. and the men's game will tip off at 7:30 p.m.

The winners of the championship games earn automatic berths in the NCAA West Regionals, which begin Friday, March 15 at sites to be determined.

Western Washington is the top seed in both the men's and women's divisions.  Seattle Pacific is the men's No. 2 seed and Simon Fraser is the women's No. 2 seed.

The defending champions are Montana State Billings in the men's division and Alaska Anchorage in the women's division.

WOMEN (Mar. 6-9 at Lacey): Wednesday - #3 MSUB Billings (17-9) vs. #6 Seattle Pacific (16-10), 5:15 p.m.; #4 Alaska Anchorage (17-9) vs. #5 Northwest Nazarene (19-7), 7:30 p.m.  Friday – 3/6 winner vs. #2 Simon Fraser (22-4), noon; #4/5 winner vs. #1 Western Washington (23-3), 2:15 p.m.  Saturday – Championship game at 5:15 p.m. (ROOT Sports).

MEN (Mar. 7-9 at Lacey): Thursday - #6 Central Washington (14-12) vs. #3 Alaska Anchorage (18-8), 5:15 p.m.; #5 Montana State Billings (16-13) vs. #4 Alaska Fairbanks (15-11), 7:30 p.m.  Friday – 3/6 winner vs. Seattle Pacific (23-3), 5:15 p.m.; 4/5 winner vs. Western Washington (26-1), 7:30 p.m.  Saturday – Championship game at 7:30 p.m. (Root Sports).