INDIANAPOLIS ? Though ranked No. 5 nationally, the Alaska Anchorage women's basketball team will have to hit the road for the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships, as the entire 64-team national field was announced Sunday evening.
The Great Northwest Athletic Conference co-champion Seawolves (27-3) are seeded No. 2 in the West and will play 7th-seeded and league foe Northwest Nazarene (18-9) in the first round, Friday, Mar. 13 at Seattle Pacific's Royal Brougham Pavilion.
California Collegiate Athletic Conference teams UC San Diego ? No. 8 nationally ? and Cal State Dominguez Hills will meet in the 3-vs-6 matchup, with that winner playing the UAA-NNU winner on Saturday.
Top-seeded and nationally 7th-ranked Seattle Pacific will take on Pacific West Conference champion in the other half of the bracket, while 4th-seeded Humboldt State will meet 5th-seeded Western Washington in the lone CCAA-GNAC first-round clash.
The Seawolves and Crusaders ? who split their regular-season series ? will tip off at 1:30 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time on Friday.
The West Regional champion advances, along with the winners of the other seven regions, to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight, set for Mar. 24, 25 and 27 in San Antonio.
This marks UAA's ninth-ever NCAA berth and the first time the Seawolves have made it three consecutive years. UAA is the defending West Region champion, having advanced to the national semifinals last March.
The full 2009 national bracket is available at NCAA.com.
2008 NCAA Division II West Regional
Women's Basketball Championships
Mar. 13, 14 & 16 ? Seattle, Wash. (Royal Brougham Pavilion)
All times ADT
First Round ? Friday, Mar. 13
#3 UC San Diego (26-4) vs. #6 Cal State Dominguez Hills (21-9), 11:30 am
#2 Alaska Anchorage (27-3) vs. #7 Northwest Nazarene (18-9), 1:30 pm
#4 Humboldt State (23-7) vs. #5 Western Washington (19-8), 4:30 pm
#1 Seattle Pacific (21-4) vs. #8 Grand Canyon (16-11), 6:30 pm
Semifinals ? Saturday, Mar. 14
UAA/NNU winner vs. UCSD/CSUDH winner, 4 pm
HSU/WWU winner vs SPU/GCU winner, 6 pm
Finals ? Monday, Mar. 16
Semifinal winners, 6 pm
