Lady Yellowjackets Slip to No. 10 in Regional Poll (Mar. 3, 2004)

BILLINGS, MT – The Montana State-Billings women’s basketball team was bumped from No. 9 to No. 10 in the final regular season NCAA West Region poll released on Wednesday.  Central Washington leapfrogged the Yellowjackets, moving from unranked to No. 9 after winning their sixth and seventh straight games last week.  Last week’s No. 10 team, St. Martin’s, fell out of the poll.

The regional poll that determines NCAA Tournament seeding will be released at 8:45 p.m. on Sunday, March 7.  The top eight teams in the poll will qualify for the tournament. 

The Yellowjackets have completed their regular season with a 16-11 record.  Most other teams in the region will wrap up their seasons with conference games on March 5 and 6.  The top four teams in this week’s poll have most likely locked up tournament positions, while teams ranked 5-10 are battling for the final four spots. 

No. 5 Sonoma State finishes with road games at Cal State-Dominguez Hills and at Cal State-Los Angeles.  No. 6 Grand Canyon plays at No. 3 Cal Poly Pomona and at Cal State-San Bernardino.  No. 7 Cal State-Chico is at Cal State-Stanislaus and at No. 2 Cal State-Bakersfield.  No. 8 UC-San Diego plays at Cal State-San Bernardino and at No. 3 Cal Poly Pomona.  No. 9 Central Washington hosts No. 1 Seattle Pacific.

NCAA West Region Women’s Basketball Poll (through games of February 29, 2004)
1. Seattle Pacific (26-0); 2. Cal State-Bakersfield (20-5); 3. Cal Poly Pomona; 4. Western Washington (19-6); 5. Sonoma State (16-9); 6. Grand Canyon (16-9); 7. Cal State-Chico (16-9); 8. UC-San Diego (14-11); 9. Central Washington (17-9); 10. Montana State-Billings (16-11).