Lady Jackets Hold at No. 9 in Regional Poll (Jan. 26, 2005)

BILLINGS, MT – Winning two of three games last week was enough to keep the Montana State-Billings women’s basketball team in the ninth spot in this week’s NCAA West Region poll as announced by the NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball Committee on Wednesday.  The Yellowjackets defeated Western New Mexico twice before losing on the road to Central Washington last week.

At 13-4, MSU Billings has the fourth best winning percentage in the region, but all four of the Lady Jackets’ losses have been to West Region teams.  The Yellowjackets host Western Oregon Wednesday at 7:00 in a regional game.  They play at unbeaten North Dakota State on Saturday in a non-regional game.

Seattle Pacific, ranked second in the nation, maintained its hold on the No. 1 spot in this week’s regional poll.  Western Washington, whose only loss this season has been at MSU Billings, is in the No. 2 spot.  The top eight teams in the final poll of the season qualify for the NCAA Tournament.  The top seed in each of the eight regions will host the regional tournament.

NCAA West Region Women’s Basketball Poll
(Records through games of January 23, 2005.)

#  Team (overall record, regional record)
1. Seattle Pacific (15-1, 12-0)
2. Western Washington (15-1, 11-1)
3. Cal State-Bakersfield (12-3, 8-2)
4. Cal State-Dominguez Hills (9-5, 9-1)
5. Cal State-Chico (12-3, 11-3)
6. St. Martin’s (11-4, 6-2)
7. Cal Poly Pomona (11-4, 8-3)
8. Cal State-San Bernardino (10-5, 6-4)
9. Montana State-Billings (13-4, 7-4)
10. UC-San Diego (8-7, 6-4)