Feb. 28, 2007

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - A post-season berth is on the line for the Western Washington University women's basketball team Saturday (7 p.m.) when it closes out the regular season against arch-rival Central Washington University in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest on Haggen Court at Sam Carver Gymnasium.

The Vikings, 17-9 overall and tied for third place in the league standings at 9-6, dropped four spots to No.9 in the latest NCAA Division II West Region rating released today. They have lost their last three games, the longest stretch since 1997-98.

Only the top eight teams, which will be announced Sunday (7:45 p.m.), make up the West Regional field. The tournament will be held March 9-10 and 12 at the site of the No.1 seed.

A win over Central is a must if Western is to entertain any hope of a 10th straight national tournament appearance, and ninth as a member of NCAA II.

Western is 10-1 at home this season and the Vikings have won 28 of their last 29 regular-season home games.

Central, which entertains Seattle U. on Thursday, is 17-8 overall and 7-7 in GNAC action, winning four of its last five games.

Western holds a 72-9 series advantage over the Wildcats, winning the last eight meetings. That includes a 75-61 decision at Ellensburg on Feb. 1 when guard Mollie Stelmack scored a career-high 30 points. Stelmack, Western's lone senior, enters the game with 1,280 career points, 567 of them in two seasons at Franklin Pierce College NH.

During its three-game losing streak, Western has averaged just 58.0 points per games on 31.9 percent (51-of-160) field goal shooting. Opponents are averaging 12.0 steals a contest during that stretch.

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Just two Great Northwest Athletic Conference teams are listed among the top eight in the final NCAA Division II West Regional women's basketball poll of the 2006-07 season.

Alaska Anchorage and Seattle Pacific switched places in the final poll with the Seawolves moving up to third and the Falcons falling to fourth despite winning two games last weekend.

CCAA teams occupy the other six positions in the top eight including UC San Diego, which is the top-ranked team and maintains the inside track for the right to host the playoffs, which begin next Friday.

Western Washington and Northwest Nazarene are also ranked this week at the No. 9 and No. 10 positions, but would have to move up into the top eight to qualify for the playoffs. The Vikings tumbled four spots from No. 5 after losing to Seattle and Seattle Pacific last weekend.

On Saturday night, the NCAA regional selection committee will select which six at-large teams join the CCAA and GNAC regular-season champions in the playoffs. Seattle Pacific currently leads Alaska Anchorage by one game in the race for the conference's automatic berth.

The field will be unveiled Sunday during a broadband broadcast at www.ncaasports.com/dii. The show will start at 7:30 p.m. with the announcement of the men's pairings. The women's pairings will follow after a brief intermission.

NCAA West Regional - 1. UC San Diego (20-3), 2. Chico State (19-3); 3. Alaska Anchorage (17-4); 4. Seattle Pacific (14-6); 5. Cal State Dominguez Hills (14-7); 6. Sonoma State (13-9); 7. Cal State San Bernardino (15-8); 8. Humboldt State (15-7); 9. Western Washington (14-8); 10. Northwest Nazarene (13-9). Note: Records listed are versus Division II opponents.