PacWest women’s basketball makes history as Grand Canyon, Dixie State earn NCAA II berths

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – For the first time in the short history of Pacific West Conference Women’s Basketball, two conference teams have claimed berths in the NCAA Division II National Championship Tournament.

PacWest Champion Grand Canyon (27-2/15-1 PacWest) and runner Dixie State (24-3/14-2) each earned spots in the NCAA II West Region Tournament that begins play this Friday, March 11, in Pomona, CA.

64-Team Bracket

Grand Canyon claimed the highest seed ever among PacWest teams after grabbing the #2 slot for the tournament. The Antelopes will face a familiar PacWest foe in the opening when they battle #7 Seattle Pacific (20-8) out of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

In 2009, Seattle Pacific knocked an injury-riddled Grand Canyon team out of the NCAA II Playoffs with a 77-48 opening round victory. Last season, Seattle Pacific beat Hawai‘i Pacific 65-52 in the first round.

If the Antelopes win, Grand Canyon would face the survivor of #6 Dixie State vs. #3 Cal State Monterey Bay (26-3) on Saturday, March 12. If both GCU and Dixie State win Friday, it would guarantee the PacWest a berth in the regional title game on Monday, March 14.

Top-seed Cal Poly Pomona (25-4) will host the eight-team regional and face #8 Cal State San Bernardino in the first round, while #4 Western Washington will battle #5 Alaska Anchorage in the other half of the bracket. The winners also will meet on March 12 in the semifinals.

For more information on the National Championship, check out the NCAA website at: http://www.ncaa.com/championships/basketball-women/d2

For more information on the NCAA II West Regional, check out the Cal Poly Pomona website at: http://www.broncoathletics.com/index.aspx?path=