By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications
PORTLAND, Ore. – Tabbed to win its second consecutive Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season title, Western Washington was picked as the favorite in the 2026-27 women’s basketball preseason coaches poll announced on Friday.
The Vikings accumulated 93 points thanks in large part to four first-place votes, earning a five-point margin ahead of second-place Central Washington which also received four first-place votes in the coaches poll.
| 2026-27 GNAC Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll |
| Rank |
Team (1st Place Votes) |
Points |
2025-26 Record |
2025-26 GNAC Record (Finish) |
| 1 |
Western Washington (4) |
93 |
25-8 |
15-3 (1st) |
| 2 |
Central Washington (4) |
88 |
25-7 |
14-4 (T2nd) |
| 3 |
Saint Martin's |
73 |
18-10 |
14-4 (T2nd) |
| 4 |
Montana State Billings |
68 |
20-15 |
9-9 (T5th) |
| 5 |
Northwest Nazarene (1) |
63 |
17-10 |
12-6 (4th) |
| 6 |
Alaska Anchorage (1) |
61 |
16-11 |
8-10 (7th) |
| 7 |
Western Oregon |
44 |
15-13 |
9-9 (T5th) |
| 8 |
Simon Fraser |
31 |
10-19 |
5-13 (8th) |
| 9 |
Seattle Pacific |
28 |
7-20 |
4-14 (9th) |
| 10 |
Alaska |
10 |
0-26 |
0-18 (10th) |
| Points awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. |
Western Washington emerged on top amid a tight GNAC title race last season, posting a 15-3 conference record to edge second-place Central Washington and Saint Martin’s by a single game. The Vikings reached the GNAC Championships title game where they fell 66-61 to Montana State Billings. They went on to defeat Point Loma 74-50 in the opening round of the NCAA West Region Championships before a 57-54 defeat against Cal Poly Pomona brought the campaign to a close. WWU went 25-8 overall in yet another highlight year, as the regular-season title was the program’s seventh and third in the last five seasons.
Carmen Dolfo has produced one of the most impressive coaching ledgers in the history of Division II women’s basketball, upping her record to 734-281 (.723) since taking the helm ahead of the 1990-91 season. Since the GNAC was founded in 2001, Dolfo is 502-187 (.729) overall and 313-101 (.756) with her win totals being more than 100 higher than the next-closest GNAC women’s basketball coach. She was in charge for all seven of WWU’s regular-season crowns and for all four of its conference tournament titles, the most recent of which came in the form of back-to-back tournament wins in 2023 and 2024. WWU will be on the hunt for its 22nd NCAA berth under Dolfo, who led the team to a Division II national runner-up finish in the 2021-22 season.
Central Washington totaled 88 points in the preseason poll, slotting in just below the Vikings among the rankings. The Wildcats came up just short of their first-ever GNAC regular-season title last year, going 25-7 overall including a mark of 14-4 in conference contests. After being upset 79-74 by MSU Billings in the semifinal round of the conference tournament, CWU went on to reach the Sweet 16 for the second year in-a-row by defeating MSUB 63-36 and Vanguard 81-73 at the regional championships which they hosted at Nicholson Pavilion. A 57-51 loss to Cal Poly Pomona ended another successful season for the Wildcats.
Set to begin her 10th season in charge,
Randi Richardson is on the cusp of becoming the ninth coach in conference history to reach the century mark in league victories. She enters the season at 164-82 (.666) overall and has gone 99-51 (.660) in conference contests since taking charge in 2017-18. CWU projects as a frontrunner to capture its first GNAC regular-season trophy and its second conference tournament crown, with the first coming in 2021-22.
The 2025-26 season was another promising one for Saint Martin’s, which used a GNAC Championships title-game defeat the previous year as fuel for a regular-season runner-up finish just behind the Vikings at 14-4 in conference contests. The coaches projected more of the same from the Saints in 2026-27, as they earned 73 points to claim the No. 3 spot in the preseason poll. SMU went 18-10 overall last season, narrowly missing out on an NCAA tournament berth after a 69-61 loss to the Yellowjackets in the quarterfinals of the GNAC Championships.
It hasn’t taken long for
Natalie Marlowe to build a winning program in Lacey, Wash., as the team produced 18 wins in each of the last two seasons. Only the 2004-05 season in which SMU went 22-7 and reached its lone NCAA West Region Championships tournament was more successful than each of the last two seasons. Since taking charge in 2023-24, Marlowe has gone 44-38 (.537) overall and is 29-25 (.537) in conference contests, as SMU enters the season as a notable contender for its first-ever GNAC trophy. With the new season comes a brand-new gym floor at Marcus Pavilion, as the SMU athletic department recently completed a full resurfacing project in time for 2026-27 tipoff.
Montana State Billings made history last March, becoming the first-ever No. 6 seed to win the GNAC Championships tournament. The Yellowjackets upset their way to their second conference tournament trophy, defeating each of the three teams ranked ahead of them in this year’s preseason poll. The season culminated with the program’s 18th NCAA regional championship appearance, an overall record of 20-15 and a tie for fifth in the GNAC standings at 9-9 in conference play. MSUB received 68 points in the preseason poll to appear fourth.
Since taking over as head coach at MSUB in 2004,
Kevin Woodin has amassed a record of 389-250 (.609) and is the winningest coach of any sport in the school’s history. Since joining the GNAC in 2007-08, Woodin has posted records of 328-225 (.593) overall and 185-142 (.566) in GNAC games. Both win totals are third-most all-time among GNAC women’s basketball coaches, as he preps for his 23rd season leading the team. In addition to its two conference tournament titles, the Yellowjackets won GNAC regular-season crowns in 2013-14 and 2023-24.
It was a productive season for Northwest Nazarene in 2025-26, as it contended among the conference leaders and finished fourth at 12-6 in league contests. The Nighthawks fell by the narrowest of margins at the conference tournament, with a 68-67 loss to Western Oregon marking the end of a campaign that saw them go 17-10 overall. NNU was slated fifth in the preseason poll with 63 points and received one first-place vote. The Nighthawks are led by
Steve Steele who will begin the 11th season of what has been a successful tenure. NNU has gone 163-99 (.622) overall and 111-59 (.653) in conference play under Steele’s guidance and he led the team to its only two GNAC trophies with a regular-season co-crown in 2017-18 and a GNAC Championships tournament win in the spring of 2019.
Projected sixth in the preseason poll was Alaska Anchorage, which racked up 61 points and the final first-place vote. The Seawolves are coming off a 16-11 season in 2025-26 and narrowly missed a conference tournament spot going 8-10 in league play for seventh place.
Matt Thune will begin his second season as head coach for the most decorated women’s basketball program in conference history, with UAA’s nine regular-season trophies and seven GNAC Championships tournament wins being the most of any team in the conference.
Western Oregon made history last season, securing its first-ever GNAC Championships victory by knocking off the Nighthawks 68-67 in the quarterfinals. That marked the highlight of a 15-13 overall campaign as the Wolves earned just their third all-time conference tournament berth by tying for fifth place at 9-9 in GNAC competition. WOU picked up 44 points and was projected for a seventh-place finish in the preseason poll.
Jessica Peatross will begin her fourth season leading the team holding records of 34-43 (.442) overall and 17-37 (.315) in conference contests.
Filling the eighth spot in the preseason rankings was Simon Fraser, which received 31 points in the voting. The Red Leafs went 5-13 in conference contests for eighth place, while amassing a 10-19 overall record in Bruce Langford’s final season in charge. A 30-plus year coaching veteran at SFU, Langford retired with his records standing at 238-188 (.559) overall and 153-125 (.550) in conference play since the Red Leafs joined the conference in 2010-11.
Shae Dheensaw will begin her first campaign as SFU’s head coach this season.
Checking in ninth in the preseason poll was Seattle Pacific, which claimed 28 points. The Falcons went 7-20 overall last spring and finished ninth in the conference standings at 4-14 in league play.
Karen Byers will start her third season with the Falcons holding records of 15-43 (.259) overall and 6-30 (.167) in GNAC games.
The only direction is up for an Alaska Nanooks program that endured a winless 2025-26 season, as the team looks to build momentum with a fresh start this fall. With one season under his belt in Fairbanks,
Michael Ricks will look to put forth an improved squad in 2026-27 after records of 0-26 overall and 0-18 in GNAC games last year.
The 2026-27 women’s basketball season officially kicks off on Oct. 30 with the D2CCA Tip-Off Classic in Ellensburg, Wash. The first round of GNAC contests runs Dec. 3-5 with the remaining 16 games following after the new year. The top-six teams in the regular-season standings will earn spots in the
2027 GNAC Basketball Championships, which run March 4-6 at Johnson Sports Center on the campus of Northwest Nazarene. The winner of the conference tournament will earn the GNAC’s automatic berth into the NCAA West Region Championships, which follow March. 11-15 at the site of the top seed in the region.