INDIANAPOLIS – The final NCAA women's basketball regional poll is out and now the contenders now have an idea on what is at stake as conference championship week begins.
Before Chico State hops on the plane to San Bernardino for the CCAA Tournament Wednesday, the Wildcats got positive news in the latest regional poll as they moved up two spots to No. 6 in the West.
The Wildcats, who enter postseason play with a 19-8 in-region record, will have one less game to worry about as they enter the CCAA Tournament the No. 2 seed, which is awarded a bye, and will take on the winner of Cal Poly Pomona and Sonoma State in the semifinal Friday at noon. The Seawolves and Broncos tipoff at Coussoulis Arena in the quarterfinal round Thursday at noon. Both games can be seen on the CCAA Network. The Wildcats can also be heard on KPAY 1290 AM, FM 102.9 and the KPAY Sports app with Mike Baca on the call.
The three conference champions enter championship week as the top three in the West Region. PacWest champions Azusa Pacific continues to lead the West Region with a 26-2 in-region record, GNAC champions Montana State Billings, despite an overtime road loss to Alaska Anchorage, remains at No. 2 with a 21-3 record and CCAA champions Cal State San Marcos holds No. 3 at 21-6.
San Marcos swapped with Western Washington, which is now No. 4 after the Vikings took a one-point defeat to Simon Fraser in Canada last week. Cal Poly Pomona stood pat at No. 5 after taking care of business with Cal State San Bernardino at home last week. The Broncos are 18-8 in the region.
Behind the Wildcats are Point Loma at No. 7 and Alaska Anchorage at No. 8. Cal State LA, which was at No. 6 in last week's poll, is now on the bubble after the Golden Eagles were defeated by Cal State Dominguez Hills at home in the regular season finale. Point Loma also took a loss to Dominican last week but did beat Academy of Art to close out the regular season. The Seawolves made the leap over the Golden Eagles after upsetting Montana State Billings.
The NCAA will take the top eight teams into the regional playoffs. All three conferences will be awarding automatic berths to the winner of their respective tournaments on Saturday. The remaining five spots will be determined and selected by the NCAA Championship Committee.
NCAA West Regional Poll (March 6)
1. Azusa Pacific (26-2)
2. Montana State Billings (21-3)
3. Cal State San Marcos (21-6)
4. Western Washington (20-6)
5. Cal Poly Pomona (18-8)
6. Chico State (19-8)
7. Point Loma (16-11)
8. Alaska Anchorage (16-7)
9. Cal State LA (16-11)
10. Dominican (19-9)
Note: Records are in-region
