View the complete 2023-24 GNAC women’s basketball schedule online here.

The 2023-24 GNAC Women’s Basketball Championships will be held March 7-9 at Nicholson Pavilion on the campus of Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Wash. The top-six teams in the final GNAC regular-season standings will advance to the single-elimination tournament. The winner of the event will earn the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA West Region Championships.

HOMETOWN COOKING: Western Washington (16-3, 8-1 GNAC) owns the longest win streak in the conference with seven consecutive victories after a 73-61 decision over Seattle Pacific last Thursday and a statement 76-68 win over then No. 9 Montana State Billings last Saturday. The wins earned WWU selection as the GNAC Team of the Week and improved the Vikings’ perfect home record to 10-0

Western Washington will have the luxury of a second straight week at home as it closes out a season-long four-game homestand against the Alaska schools. Reigning GNAC Player of the Week Stephanie Peterson and her teammates will look to maintain their form against the Nanooks on Thursday and the Seawolves on Saturday. Last week, Peterson led the GANC with 5.5 steals per game and was third in the league with 9.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and two blocks per contest. On the season, Peterson leads the conference in both assists (4.3 apg) and steals (2.6 spg).

Senior forward Brooke Walling continued her campaign as one of the best overall players in the conference and enters the week fourth in the GNAC in scoring (16.8 ppg), second in rebounding (9.3 rpg) and sixth in assists (3.4 apg). Walling has also been one of the most efficient shooters in the nation, leading the GNAC and ranking second in Division II with a .634 field goal percentage.

NOT THE END OF THE WORLD: Montana State Billings (17-4, 8-1) might not be undefeated in conference play after falling to Western Washington last Saturday, but the Yellowjackets still sit in a tie for first in the standings and are receiving attention in national and regional polls across the board. This week sees MSUB looking to get back to its winning ways as it hosts Northwest Nazarene on Thursday and Central Washington on Saturday.

The ‘Jackets will look to leading scorer Kola Bad Bear to keep her offense rolling as the team begins the second half of the conference slate. The senior forward continues to pace the team with 16.3 points per game while shooting 55% from the field to rank 27th in the nation. Junior guard Kortney Nelson will also be a big part of picking up the offense as she leads the team and ranks ninth in the league with three assists per contest. Nelson is also one of the most responsible players in the GNAC with the ball and owns a 2.1 assist to turnover ratio that’s fourth-best in the conference.

OUT OF THE COLD AND INTO THE HOT?: Alaska (4-15, 2-7) may be at the bottom of the GNAC standings at the halfway point, but showed clear signs of heating up as the team took their first two conference wins of the season back-to-back last week. The Nanooks picked up their first GNAC victory with a 71-62 win over Saint Martin’s just a week after SMU pushed WWU to the limit. They followed that up with a 77-73 overtime win over Western Oregon to make it two in a row and match the Saints’ GNAC record.

The Nanooks will have a big test on the road this week if they want to keep the momentum rolling as they take on No. 13 Western Washington on Thursday and Simon Fraser on Saturday. Senior forward Emma Wass moved back to the top of the charts when it comes to GNAC rebounding after helping UAF to its first two wins of the conference slate. Wass is averaging 9.8 rebounds per game to go along with 8.4 points per contest. The two wins also aligned with the return of the Nanooks’ leading scorer Destiny Reimers for her third and fourth games back after injury. Reimers is averaging 10.9 points per contest across 11 games this season.

ALL TIED UP: Only six teams are guaranteed a place in the GNAC Championships and at the halfway point of the conference slate, three teams are tied for sixth in the standings with 3-6 records. If the season were to end today, Simon Fraser (11-11) and Western Oregon (10-10) sit at the top of that trio with .500 overall records while Seattle Pacific (6-13) keep the two company with three wins of its own.

The Red Leafs will be at home this week to host the Seawolves on Thursday and the Nanooks on Saturday as they look to break free of their competition. Simon Fraser continues to be led in scoring by senior Jessica Wisotzki with 17.8 points per game to rank third in the league while junior Gemma Cutler leads the team and is seventh in the conference with 7.3 rebounds per contest. Defensively, junior Makenna Gardner has also been a solid presence for SFU, averaging 1.5 steals per game to rank ninth in the GNAC.

The Wolves will play just one game this week as they travel to Lacey to face Saint Martin’s on Saturday. Western Oregon remains one of the best passing teams in all of Division II coming into the week, checking in at No. 3 in the conference and No. 21 in the division with 16.5 assists per game. That effort it led by junior Triniti Youngblood with an average of four helpers per game to rank third in the GNAC. Meanwhile, WOU’s offense is spearheaded by a trio of double-digit scorers in Cali McClave (16.7 ppg), Bella Pedrojetti (11 ppg) and Kiylynn Dawkins (10 ppg).

The Falcons will be back in the Emerald City this week with an eye to move up the standings as they host Central Washington on Thursday and Northwest Nazarene on Saturday. Junior Olivia Mayer remains one of the most balanced players in the GNAC, ranking 10th in scoring (13.9 ppg) and sixth in rebounding (7.5 rpg). Defensively, the Falcons have been one of the most dangerous teams in the conference, ranking second in the league with 8.8 steals per game. They are also fifth in the league in terms of turnover margin. Mayer also leads the way with 1.5 steals per contest followed by junior Schuyler Berry with 1.8 per game.

TRAVELING THE SAME ROAD: Central Washington (14-7, 5-4) and Northwest Nazarene (8-8, 5-4) will both be on the road to face Seattle Pacific and No. 17 Montana State Billings this week as they look to break their tie for fourth place in the GNAC standings. The Wildcats will start the week against SPU on Thursday while the Nighthawks begin theirs at MSUB.

Nobody in Division II has taken as many shots as junior guard Sunny Huerta has for Central Washington. The Whittier, Calif., native has put up 363 field goal attempts to lead the division and has converted on those almost 150 times to rank seventh in the division. Huerta averages 18.6 points per game to rank second in the conference and 26th in Division II. The only bigger offensive player for CWU has been sophomore guard Asher Cai with 20.1 points per game on average which sees her ranked fifth in the nation. Cai is averaging nearly a double-double per game with nine rebounds per contest as well.

The Nighthawks have their own national leader in Madeline Gebers with the junior guard/forward shooting a lights-out 53.7% from three-point range to lead Division II. Gebers also brings quantity along with that quality, knocking down an average of 2.75 three-pointers per game to lead the conference and rank 19th in the Division. Defensively, Northwest Nazarene is third in the league with 8.7 steals per game, an effort spearheaded by senior guard Cami Knishka with an average of 1.6 steals per contest to rank eighth in the GNAC.

SEAWOLVES IN THE HUNT: At the halfway mark of the GNAC schedule, Alaska Anchorage (12-6, 6-3) finds itself in a prime position to maintain its perfect record of attending every edition of the GNAC Championships since the tournament’s inception for the 2010-11 season. The Seawolves will kick off a three-game road trip this week as they face Simon Fraser on Thursday ahead of a matchup with No. 13 Western Washington on Saturday.

Bolstered by the recent return of 2023 GNAC Newcomer of the Year Vishe’ Rabb and the continued strong performance of players like Tori Hollingshead and Senya Rabouin, UAA stands as one of the best teams in the conference on both sides of the ball. The Seawolves check in with the No. 4 scoring offense at 71.4 points per game while holding opponents to an average of 58.7 points per contest to rank third in the league with a +12.7 scoring margin. Individually, Hollingshead (13 ppg), Rabouin (11.8 ppg) and junior guard Jazzpher Evans (10.7 ppg) all rank in the top 20 of the GNAC’s leading scorers.

HALFWAY HOME: Saint Martin’s (4-12, 2-7) will open the second half of the conference slate at home with one game this week against Western Oregon. The Saints will be looking to make moves up the standings down the stretch after picking up a pair of GANC wins in the first half of the conference season. They have excelled on the defensive end of the game this season, ranking third in the GNAC with 3.8 blocked shots per game and are fifth with 8.4 steals per contest. As a result, SMU owns the fourth-best turnover margin in the conference at +0.44.

Senior guard Anjel Galbraith has been the leading force behind the Saints’ stealing prowess with 2.3 steals per game to rank third in the conference. She also leads the team and ranks 18th in the league with 10.9 points per game. When it comes to blocked shots, sophomore forward Sarah Lamet is pacing the team with 1.1 blocks per game to rank seventh in the conference. Meanwhile on the boards, junior guard Lauryn Morris leads the way with 6.9 rebounds per contest.

The WBCA Division II rankings and the D2CSC rankings are released every Tuesday throughout the season and are the two leading polls nationally. The WBCA top-25 is voted on by a panel of coaches, while the D2CSC top-25 is a poll constructed by sports information directors at Division II schools.

Western Washington’s big win over Montana State Billings in one of the biggest games of the GNAC season spurred changes in all three polls this week. The Vikings leaped four places in the WBCA national rankings to No. 13 to match their highest mark of the season. They also rose four spots to No. 11 in the D2CSC national polls while taking over the No. 1 spot with all five first-place votes in the D2CSC regional ranking for the first time since Dec. 11, 2023. The west region ranking marks the 10th straight week for WWU in the top two of the poll.

The Yellowjackets, meanwhile, slipped to No. 17 in the WBCA national rankings and No. 19 in the D2CSC national rankings after going 1-1 last week. They also dropped two spots to No. 3 in the D2CSC west region rankings, their first time out of the top two since Nov. 14, 2023. Alaska Anchorage and Central Washington both maintained places in the top 10 of the D2CSC regional poll at No. 9 and No. 10, respectively.

2023 Mt. McKinley Bank North Star Invitational
Nov. 24-25 at Fairbanks, Alaska (Alaska, Host)
Alaska: Ellen Silva, F; Emma Wass, F

WEST REGION SUCCESS: With non-conference action in the rearview mirror, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference solidified its place in the region with strong showings against regional competition from the CCAA and PacWest. Among the conference’s 10 teams, the GNAC went 18-11 against CCAA opponents and 14-12 against opponents from the PacWest. Western Washington and Simon Fraser combined for 14 of those 32 wins, with each team going 7-2.

 Points awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.