Wednesday, March 4, 2015

PORTLAND, Ore. – The wait is over. The 2015 GNAC women's basketball tournament is just hours away and the top six teams in the conference are ready to see who can come away with the hardware.

The first game of the single-elimination tournament features one of the best, and oldest, rivalries in the GNAC. The sixth-seed, Central Washington, takes on three-seed, Western Washington, Wednesday at 5:15 p.m.

The Wildcats snapped a five-game slide last week with their victory over Western Oregon, which also proved to be the game-clinching win for the final seed.

Western Washington comes in as one of the more dangerous teams in the tournament, winning 13 of its last 16 while averaging over 76 points per game in that span. The two-time defending champions have reached the finals of the GNAC tournament each year it has participated.

The winner of this game will face the No. 2 seed, Seattle Pacific, Friday at noon.

The Falcons beat Alaska Saturday to clinch one of the two first-round bye's. SPU, which has been ranked as high as eighth this season, swept the season-series against both the Vikings and the Wildcats.

The second quarterfinal matchup Wednesday is against the No. 4 seed, Simon Fraser, and the No. 5 seed, Saint Martin’s.

The Clan boast the two-time conference Player of the Year and second leading scorer in the country in Erin Chambers. The Saint’s counter with the current GNAC co-Player of the Week, Megan Wiedeman. The 6-foot junior leads the conference in rebounding and blocked shots while also putting up 9.2 points each game.

The winner of the 4/5 game will face the nation’s No. 1 team, Alaska Anchorage, Friday at 2:15 p.m.

The Seawolves, which have won 15 straight games since its Jan. 1 loss to NNU, are one of the most balanced teams in the nation. Five players are averaging double-digit scoring figures while the team leads the nation in steals and is fourth in turnover margin.

The winner of the two semifinal games will play in the championship Saturday where the winner earns an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament starting March 13.

Live video and stats of all 10 men's and women's GNAC tournament games can be found on GNAC.TV and game tickets can be purchased at the door.

The NCAA tournament selections will be announced Sunday, March 8, at 7:00 p.m. Pacific. A webcast of this announcement will be shown live on NCAA.com.
 

GNAC Women’s Basketball Tournament
No. 1 – Alaska Anchorage (27-1, 17-1 GNAC)
No. 2 – Seattle Pacific (21-5, 13-5 GNAC)
No. 3 – Western Washington (19-8, 13-5 GNAC)
No. 4 – Simon Fraser (14-12, 10-8 GNAC)
No. 5 – Saint Martin's (11-15, 8-10 GNAC)
No. 6 – Central Washington (12-14, 7-11 GNAC)

Schedule
Quarterfinals - Wednesday, March 4 at 5:15 & 7:30
#3 Western Washington vs #6 Central Washington, 5:15 p.m.
#4 Simon Fraser vs #5 Saint Martin's, 7:30 p.m.

Semifinals – Friday, March 6 at 12:00 & 2:30
#2 Seattle Pacific vs SFU-SMU Winner, 12:00 p.m.
#1 Alaska Anchorage vs WWU-CWU Winner, 2:15 p.m.

Championship – Saturday, March 7 at 5:15
Winner of semifinal 1 vs Winner of semifinal 2, 5:15 p.m.