INDIANAPOLIS – The Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team has officially claimed its seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, earning the No. 2 seed for the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships as the NCAA unveiled the 64-team national field and regional host sites Sunday.
The Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament champion Seawolves (31-2) will face No. 7 seed and GNAC rival Western Washington (22-9) in Friday's first round in Honolulu at 4:30 p.m. ADT. The Seawolves and Vikings split their regular-season meetings – with each winning by seven points on their home courts – before UAA earned an 89-68 win over WWU in Saturday's GNAC Tournament title game in Seattle.
The winner of the UAA/WWU game will face the winner of No. 6 seed Northwest Nazarene (22-7) and No. 3 seed UC San Diego (25-5) in Saturday's semifinals.
The other side of the bracket has No. 5 Azusa Pacific (25-5) vs. No. 4 Cal State San Marcos (25-5) and No. 8 Cal Poly Pomona (19-10) against host and No. 1 seed Hawaii Pacific (29-1).
Monday's title game will determine the West Region champion, who will advance to the NCAA Div. II Elite Eight in Birmingham, Alabama, Mar. 24-27.
This marks UAA's 19th NCAA Tournament appearance overall and its 13th in the last 14 seasons. The Seawolves won West Region titles in 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2016, advancing all the way to the national title game in 2016.
2020 NCAA Div. II Women's Basketball
West Regional Championships
Mar. 13, 14 & 16 – Honolulu, Hawaii
(All times listed as Alaska Daylight Time)
Friday, Mar. 13 (Quarterfinals)
#3 UC San Diego (25-5) vs #6 Northwest Nazarene (22-7), 2 pm
#2 Alaska Anchorage (31-2) vs #7 Western Washington (22-9), 4:30 pm
#4 Cal State San Marcos (25-5) vs #5 Azusa Pacific (25-5), 7 pm
#1 Hawaii Pacific (29-1) vs #8 Cal Poly Pomona, 9:30 pm
Saturday, Mar. 14 (Semifinals)
UCSD/NNU winner vs UAA/WWU winner, 7 pm
CSUSM/APU winner vs HPU/CPP winner, 9:30 pm
Monday, Mar. 16
Championship Game, 9 pm (winner advances to Elite Eight in Birmingham, Ala., Mar. 24-27)
