Damage from a late-season swoon again smacked the UAA women's basketball team, which on Wednesday dropped two spots to No. 3 in the NCAA Division II West Region rankings.
Two consecutive road losses had already dropped the previously top-ranked Seawolves (24-3, 11-2 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference) to No. 6 nationally. UAA lost to Seattle Pacific on Thursday, snapping a 22-game winning streak, and was blown out two days later by Northwest Nazarene.
The regional rankings --compiled by the NCAA for all eight Division II regions -- are the lone determining factor for NCAA tournament qualification, including the opportunity to host all or part of a regional tournament.
While UAA is a shoo-in to make the tournament, its bid to host is in jeopardy with just two weeks remaining in the regular season.
Seattle Pacific (18-2) is now the region's No. 1 team and would host the tournament if the rankings don't change between now and the end of the regular season. UC-San Diego (23-3) is ranked second.
Five at-large teams will join the GNAC, CCAA and PacWest conference champions, which receive automatic berths, in the eight-team West Region playoffs.
The CCAA champion is determined with a postseason tournament, and the GNAC and PacWest award their automatic berths to their regular-season champions. UAA and Seattle Pacific share first place in the GNAC with 11-2 records; Western Washington and Northwest Nazarene share third place with 8-4 records.
The UAA men and women both return to action today in a doubleheader at Central Washington in Ellensburg, Wash. The women play at 4:15 p.m. and the men play at 6:30.
Anchorage Daily News