Wednesday, February 19, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. – Capturing the No. 1 spot in the first NCAA West Region rankings, Montana State Billings was the highest of four Great Northwest Athletic Conference women’s basketball teams appearing in the poll released Wednesday.

The Yellowjackets have won 10 games in a row and became the first GNAC team to appear in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association top-25 since Northwest Nazarene was ranked No. 18 during Week 8, checking in at No. 25 in the latest poll released Tuesday.

Checking in directly behind MSUB in the NCAA regional rankings was Simon Fraser, earning the No. 2 spot in the first poll. SFU is 16-5 overall and currently sits tied with Western Washington for second place in the GNAC standings with a conference record of 11-4.

Landing at No. 4 on the list was Seattle Pacific, which is currently tied for fifth place in the conference standings at 8-6 (15-7 overall).

WWU was the final GNAC team ranked in the top-10 in the West Region, grabbing the No. 9 slot in the poll.

The regional rankings will eventually determine the eight-team field for the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs. Two more regional rankings will be released – on Feb. 26 and March 5 – before the final selections are made on March 9.

West Region - 1. Montana State Billings (16-5); 2. Simon Fraser (16-6); 3. Cal Poly Pomona (18-4); 4. Seattle Pacific (14-7); 5. Chico State (16-6); 6. Cal State Dominguez Hills (15-6); 7. Cal State L.A. (14-7); 8. UC San Diego (13-9); 9. Western Washington (13-8); 10. Academy of Art (18-6).

To view the complete rankings for all eight regions, check out the "related links" section of this article.