By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

PORTLAND, Ore. – Taking the top spot by the thinnest of margins, Western Washington emerged as the favorite in the 2025-26 Great Northwest Athletic Conference women’s basketball preseason coaches poll announced on Tuesday.
 
The Vikings received 5 of 10 first-place votes and totaled 90 points, edging No. 2 Central Washington by a single point in the polling. The Wildcats received four of the other five first-place votes on their way to 89 points while Montana State Billings, which was fourth in the polling, received the final first-place vote.
 

2025-26 GNAC Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
Rank	Team (1st Votes)	Points	2024-25	2024-25 GNAC	2025-26 Roster	2025-26 Schedule
1	Western Washington (5)	90	18-11	12-6 (4th)	WWU Roster	WWU Schedule
2	Central Washington (4)	89	23-8	14-4 (T2nd)	CWU Roster	CWU Schedule
3	Saint Martin's	72	18-11	9-9 (6th)	SMU Roster	SMU Schedule
4	Montana State Billings (1)	64	25-8	14-4 (T2nd)	MSUB Roster	MSUB Schedule
5	Northwest Nazarene	63	16-12	10-8 (5th)	NNU Roster	NNU Schedule
6	Alaska Anchorage	62	28-5	16-2 (1st)	UAA Roster	UAA Schedule
7	Simon Fraser	42	14-13	7-11 (7th)	SFU Roster	SFU Schedule
8	Western Oregon	32	9-17	5-13 (8th)	WOU Roster	WOU Schedule
9	Seattle Pacific	24	8-23	2-16 (9th)	SPU Roster	SPU Schedule
10	Alaska	12	6-20	1-17 (10th)	UAF Roster	UAF Schedule
Points awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.

The conference portion of the 2025-26 schedule gets off to an early start with an opening round of games Dec. 3-6. The rest of the 18-game league schedule will kick off on New Year’s Day with a full slate of games. The top-six teams in the GNAC regular-season standings will earn spots in the 2026 GNAC Women’s Basketball Championships, which run March 5-7 at Western Washington’s Carver Gym in Bellingham, Wash. The winner of the conference tournament will earn the GNAC’s automatic berth into the NCAA West Region Championships, which are scheduled for March 12-16 at campus sites. All regular-season games hosted by GNAC schools this season will feature a live video stream available for purchase on the new GNAC Network.
 

The Vikings are coming off an 18-11 record in 2024-25 and went 12-6 in conference play to finish in fourth place in the GNAC standings. WWU advanced to its sixth consecutive GNAC Championships tournament last spring, defeating Northwest Nazarene 82-70 in the quarterfinals before falling to eventual tournament champion Alaska Anchorage 67-38 in the semifinals. Among the Vikings’ key returners is junior Demi Dykstra (G, 5-9, Lynden Christian), who was third on the team last season with 11.6 points per game and second on the team with 2.96 assists per game. Aspen Garrison (F, 6-3, Saint Mary’s Coll.), who contributed 9.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in 2023-24, also returns after missing the 2024-25 campaign. Libby Stump (G, 5-8, Montana) who was limited to just 11 games in her first year after transferring from Division I Montana, figures to be a key piece of the Vikings this season. WWU’s lineup will be bolstered this winter by a breadth of high level transfers, including Vivienne Berrett (C, 6-4, Hawaii), Rakiyah Jackson (G, 5-10, Nevada), Joy Haltom (G, 5-11, Portland State) and Olivia Hodges (G, 5-10, Cal State LA).
 
That group will look to replace four seniors from the 2024-25 season who combined to start all but two games. Alyson Deaver was the team’s leading scorer at 13.5 points per game while Olivia Wikstrom led the squad with 7.0 rebounds and was second with 12.7 points. Maddy Grandbois started all 29 games and averaged 4.9 rebounds and 8.2 points, and Mason Oberg chipped in 10.3 points to go along with a team-best 3.89 assists. Carmen Dolfo, the winningest coach in GNAC history, begins her 35th season piloting the program. WWU projects to be a contender for its seventh GNAC title, with the last coming in the form of back-to-back crowns in 2021-22 and 2022-23. The Vikings are also four-time GNAC Championships tournament champions and were the 2022 NCAA Division II national runners up.
 
WWU opens its season at the DII Canadian Tip-Off Classic in Langley, B.C. on Oct. 31-Nov. 2. The Vikings will also play non-conference tournaments in Seattle (Nov. 14-15), Irvine, Calif. (Nov. 21-22), Las Vegas (Dec. 19-20) and at home in Bellingham, Wash. (Nov. 28-29).
 
Central Washington has been knocking on the door of its first-ever GNAC regular-season title in the recent past, finishing no worse than fourth in the GNAC standings in each of the last six campaigns. The Wildcats tied for second a season ago, going 23-8 overall, 14-4 in league play and advancing to the Sweet 16 where they fell 70-47 to Cal State Dominguez Hills. Replacing 2024-25 GNAC Player of the Year Sunny Huerta, who finished her career second on the GNAC all-time scoring list (1,960 points), will be no easy task. But the Wildcats have arguably the best returning player from a season ago back in their lineup in senior Asher Cai (G, 5-9, Colfax). Cai ranked third in the conference with 16.8 points per game last winter and enters her final campaign with the Wildcats at No. 16 on the conference’s all-time points list with 1,547. Junior Capri Sims (F, 6-0, Post Falls), who led the GNAC with 8.7 rebounds per game, also returns as a two-time all-conference selection. Junior Annalee Coronado (G, 5-0, Othello) proved a capable point guard last year with 2.58 assists and 7.2 points per game.
 
Look for Laramie County CC transfer Lylah Spring (C, 6-1) – the NJCAA Region IX Player of the Year – to make a major impact after she broke school records for points, rebounds and blocks upon the conclusion of her sophomore campaign in 2023-24. Spring spent last season within the Wildcats’ program as a redshirt. CWU also landed a pair of Division II transfers in Fiona Snashall (F, 6-2, Regis) and Nicole Wertenberger (G, 5-9, Hawaii Pacific). Randi Richardson begins her ninth season in charge at CWU and has quickly ascended the GNAC coaching wins charts to ninth in conference history throughout her successful tenure. In addition to last year’s deep NCAA playoff run, the Wildcats’ 2022 GNAC Championships tournament crown stands out as her team’s top moments.
 
CWU kicks off its campaign with trips to Arcata, Calif. (Nov. 14-15), Nampa, Idaho (Nov. 21-22) and Bellingham, Wash. (Nov. 28-29). Its final non-conference trip of the season will be a three-game stretch in Southern California (Dec. 13-16) to close out the first half of the 2025-26 campaign.
 
Of notable mention in third place in the preseason poll with 72 points was an up-and-coming Saint Martin’s program that made a lasting impression at last year’s conference tournament. Playing on their home court at Marcus Pavilion, the sixth-seeded Saints stunned Central Washington 60-52 and Montana State Billings 50-48 before falling in the title game 75-59 at the hands of Alaska Anchorage. Jada Travis (G, 5-5, Bellarmine Prep) made an unforgettable mark on her way to GNAC Freshman of the Year honors, leading the team in scoring (14.0 ppg) and assists (4.17 apg), and ranking second with 6.0 rebounds per game. She and teammate senior Kiana Rios (G, 5-9, Warden), who had a team-best 6.1 rebounds and was second in scoring at 13.7 points per game, both earned second-team all-conference and will be the glue of the 2025-26 unit. Senior Madelyn Brown (G, 5-8, Auburn) is the other Saints returner who started every game last year, averaging 3.9 points and 2.9 rebounds in 2024-25.
 
Hartnell College (Calif.) transfer Daeja Hollands (G, 5-6) averaged 17.7 points per game in her two seasons at the junior college ranks, a figure that should nicely bolster the Saints’ offense. Fellow transfer Jaylah Brown (G, 5-8) was an NWAC first-teamer after averaging 12.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game at Green River College in her collegiate debut. The Saints’ biggest losses from last year’s roster were center Sarah Lamet (6.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg) and guard Keeli Jade Smith (6.2 ppg). Natalie Marlowe led her squad to a record of 18-11 overall and 9-9 in conference play in her second season in charge, as SMU qualified for its first GNAC tournament since 2015 (excluding the auto-qualification at the COVID-impacted 2022 event).
 
The Saints will also begin their season across the border at the Canadian Tip Off Classic in Langley, B.C., and also have trips to Hawaii (Nov. 14-15) and California (Dec. 12-15) on the schedule during non-conference play.
 
Two years removed from their second GNAC title in program history, the Yellowjackets of Montana State Billings earned 64 points to check in at No. 4 in the preseason rankings. The ‘Jackets will need to replace three all-conference players including All-American Dyauni Boyce, who led the squad with 15.7 points per game while adding 6.5 rebounds per game. Second-team guard Aspen Giese made the second-most 3-pointers in GNAC single-season history – an NCAA-leading 101 – and was second on the squad with 13.7 points per game while point guard Kortney Nelson was second in the conference with 4.4 assists per game.
 
Senior Kaitlin Grossman (F, 5-11, Billings West) and junior Layla Baumann (G, 5-8, Billings West) are the top returners to the MSUB lineup. Grossman chipped in 6.6 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game while starting all 33 contests last winter, while Baumann was fifth on the team with 7.0 points per game. Junior transfer Allison Kunze (F, 5-10) is an intriguing addition to the lineup, after earning NJCAA All-American with 17.8 points and 8.9 rebounds per game last year at Williston State College (N.D.). Seven freshmen and four sophomores make up the majority of what will be a youthful roster for the Yellowjackets.
 
One of the most successful coaches in GNAC history, Kevin Woodin begins his 22nd season piloting the program in 2025-26. Since the Yellowjackets joined the GNAC in 2007, Woodin’s 176 wins in conference play are third-most in league history and overall in his MSUB career he is 369-235 (.611). The ‘Jackets won GNAC regular-season titles in 2013-14 and 2023-24, and were the 2017-18 GNAC Championships tournament winners on their way to the NCAA DII Elite Eight. A jam-packed 2025-26 schedule kicks off with the D2CCA Tipoff Classic at the Trailhead on Nov. 7-9 at Alterowitz Gym. Eleven of the Yellowjackets’ 17 non-conference and exhibition games will be played within their home state, with trips to California (Nov. 14-15) and Las Vegas (Dec. 20-21) also on the docket.
 
One of the conference’s top returning players is back in the Northwest Nazarene lineup as junior Kendall Clark (F, 5-10, Melba) headlines the fifth-place team in the preseason poll. NNU garnered 63 points after going 16-12 overall and placing fifth in the GNAC standings at 10-8 in league play last winter. Clark, the 2023-24 GNAC Freshman of the Year and a first-team pick last season, was fifth in the conference with 15.7 points per game and fourth with 7.2 rebounds per game during her sophomore season. She helped lead the Nighthawks to their first GNAC Championships berth since 2022, where her team fell 82-70 to Western Washington in the quarterfinals. Across the first 52 games of her collegiate career, Clark has scored 728 points (14.0 ppg) and totaled 323 rebounds (6.2 rpg).
 
The other returning starter for NNU is sophomore Chloe Deharo (G, 5-9, West Valley) who led the team with 2.46 assists per game while turning in 8.4 points per game. The Nighthawks said goodbye to starters Madeline Gebers (11.5 ppg/4.3 rpg), Kate Clark (8.6 ppg) and Loy Waid (6.3 ppg), as they’ll look to replace a large portion of their scoring and rebounding from last year. A pair of veteran new faces includes seniors Allie Hueckman (G, 5-10, Boise State) and Trinidie Nichols (G, 5-5, Montana Western), who both figure to have an impact this year. Hueckman brings 51 games of Division I experience across three seasons to NNU, while Nichols averaged 10.4 points per game at Montana Western last season.
 
Steve Steele begins his 10th season in charge at NNU having amassed a career record of 146-89 (.621) including 99-53 (.651) in league play. The Nighthawks were the 2018 GNAC co-regular season champions and took home their lone conference tournament trophy in 2019 – both under Steele’s leadership. The Nighthawks open their season in Ellensburg, Wash., (Nov. 14-15) before hosting the GNAC-PacWest Crossover (Nov. 21-22) and the GNAC-RMAC Crossover (Dec. 19-20). In between is a trip to San Diego (Nov. 28-29) to round out the non-conference portion of the schedule.
 
Despite winning its conference-record ninth GNAC regular-season title last year, Alaska Anchorage slipped down to No. 6 in the preseason poll, just behind NNU with 62 points. The most plausible explanation is the departure of six-time GNAC Coach of the Year Ryan McCarthy, who ended his unprecedented tenure in Anchorage upon accepting the head position at Fresno State over the summer. In addition to the nine regular-season titles, UAA won the GNAC Championships a record seven times including a season ago. The Seawolves have been a perennial power in the NCAA tournament, advancing all the way to the Division II national title game in 2016. First-year head coach Matt Thune is ready for a new chapter in UAA basketball, arriving from Division I Utah Tech.
 
McCarthy’s departure doesn’t tell the entire story for UAA’s move down the preseason rankings, as the Seawolves lost some of the top talent in Division II basketball. GNAC Defensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year Emilia Long broke the conference record for steals (135), leading NCAA Division II with 4.1 per game in her lone season at UAA in 2024-25. Center Tori Hollingshead, the GNAC Championships MVP, meanwhile was second in the conference with 8.0 rebounds per game and seventh in scoring at 14.5 points per game. Jazzpher Evans was another key senior last year who was fourth on the team with 11.5 points per game. Ashlyn Rean (11.3 ppg, 32 starts) and Jaisa Gamble (5.8 ppg, 29 starts) are two other departures who started primarily last year.
 
The Seawolves will look to lone returner and senior Elaina Mack (G, 5-8, King Cove) who projects as one of the conference’s top players in her fourth season in the green and gold. Mack started 32 games last winter, ranking third on the team with 11.5 points per game. Seven transfers and four true freshmen make up the rest of the new-look UAA roster. The Seawolves open the season at home against Northwest University (Nov. 7-8) and are set to make trips to Hawaii on Nov. 14-15 and Dec. 18-20 for more non-conference play. The Alaska Airlines Center will once again play host to the ASRC/ConocoPhillips Great Alaska Shootout, featuring Bowling Green, UC Irvine and St. Thomas on Nov. 21-22.
 
Checking in seventh in the preseason rankings with 42 points was Simon Fraser. The Red Leafs went 14-13 overall and finished seventh in the GNAC standings at 7-11, narrowly missing out on the conference tournament for the first time since the event was founded in 2011. SFU will have to replace 2024-25 first-team senior Sophia Wisotzki, who broke the GNAC single-season record with 24.67 points per game to rank third nationally. Myrlaine Shelvey (11.5 ppg) and Makenna Gardner (10.0 ppg) are two other starters from last year who will need to be replaced.
 
The lone returning starter to SFU’s lineup is junior Rilyn Quirke (F, 6-1, Sam Barlow), who contributed 3.4 points per game and 2.9 rebounds per game in 16.4 minutes on the floor. Junior Rachel Loukes (G, 5-10, College Heights) is another key returner, after seeing minutes in all 27 games and ranking fourth on the team with 8.2 points per game. Cal State East Bay transfer Gwen Aasland (C, 6-3) should give SFU a boost in the paint, after leading the Pioneers with 7.3 rebounds per game and adding 7.8 points per game as a junior last year in the CCAA.
 
Head man Bruce Langford begins his 25th season leading SFU, having compiled a record of 514-205 (.715) overall and 148-112 (.569) in conference games since the Red Leafs joined the GNAC in 2010-11. SFU will host the Canadian Tip-Off Classic Oct. 31-Nov. 2 to open the 2025-26 campaign. The team has trips to Santa Barbara, Calif. (Nov. 14-15), Billings, Mont. (Nov.21-22), Grand Junction, Colo. (Nov. 28-29) and Las

Vegas (Dec. 19-20) on the non-conference calendar.
 
Western Oregon was selected eighth in the preseason coaches poll, collecting 32 points. The Wolves went 9-17 last year and were 5-13 in conference play to finish eighth in the GNAC standings. Key returners to the WOU lineup include sophomore Ciona Wells (G, 5-7, Lincoln), who was third on the team in scoring at 8.5 points per game last season. One of the league’s top rebounders in senior Natalie Brown (F, 6-0, Edmonds CC) is back after ranking third in the league with 7.9 boards per game last winter. Enid Vaifanua (G, 5-6, Snow CC) is back for her senior campaign after ranking second on the team with 9.2 points per game and 5.9 rebounds per game.
 
Leading scorer Bella Pedrojetti, who was sixth in the GNAC with 15.2 points per game, leaves the biggest void in the offense. WOU brought in North Idaho transfer Kylani Rookstool (F, 5-9), who averaged 14.9 points per game and shot 45.5% from the floor. Jessica Peatross is in her third season leading the Wolves, who open their campaign on their home floor Nov. 15 against Corban. The highlight of WOU’s non-conference schedule will be a trip to San Diego over Thanksgiving (Nov. 28-29) as well as a Dec. 13 road game against Cal Poly Humboldt.
 
Picking up 24 points and landing ninth in the preseason poll was Seattle Pacific. The Falcons went 8-23 in 2024-25 and finished ninth in the conference standings at 2-16 in league play. The Falcons said goodbye to GNAC second-teamer Hunter Beirne, who led the team last year with 14.4 points per game, as well as Lolo Weatherspoon who was third on the team with 9.3 points per game.
 
Layne Kearns (G, 5-7, Hamilton) is back for her junior season, after starting all 31 games, ranking second on the team with 10.6 points per game and leading the squad with 5.0 rebounds per game. Junior Grace Leasure (W, 6-0, Oregon City) and senior Madison Rubino (F, 6-1, Cal Poly Humboldt) are two other Falcon returners who started the majority of last year’s games. Transfer Naomi Hotchkiss (C, 6-4, Vanguard) gives the Falcons one of the tallest paint players in the conference, as the Puyallup, Wash., native returns to her home state after playing 24 games in two seasons in Southern California.
 
Karen Byers begins her second season leading the SPU program, which will open up the season at home Nov. 14-15 at Royal Brougham Pavilion in the Emerald City. SPU has trips to California (Nov. 20-22), Florida (Nov. 28-29) and Idaho (Dec. 19-20) on tap during non-conference play.
   

Completing the preseason poll was Alaska, which posted 12 points for the 10th-place spot. The Nanooks went 6-20 last year and were 1-17 in league play to finish in 10th. The team is under new leadership, with Michael Ricks beginning his first season in charge this winter. Senior Emily Freeman (G, 5-6, San Juan Hills) and junior Amelia Brady (C, 6-4, Copper Hills) are the two most experienced returners, starting 24 and 17 games, respectively, last season. A dozen of the 17 players on the roster are upperclassmen as Alaska will rely on experience on the road to improvement this campaign. Leading scorer and rebounder Destiny Reimers (14.0 ppg/6.4 rpg) and point guard Taylor Pilot (3.48 apg) were the biggest departures from the lineup.
 
The Nanooks host the North Star Invitational Nov. 14-16 in Fairbanks to open their season. Trips to Salt Lake City (Nov. 21-22), Minnesota (Nov. 28-29) and California (Dec. 18-20) are also on the calendar during non-conference play.