By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications
PORTLAND, Ore. – The 2025-26 regular-season title in Great Northwest Athletic Conference women’s basketball belongs to Western Washington, and soon the 2026 GNAC Women’s Basketball Championships will be headed to their home gym as the tournament field was finalized on Saturday night.
The Vikings won eight consecutive games to edge second-place Central Washington and Saint Martin’s by a single game in the final GNAC standings, as WWU claimed the No. 1 overall seed and a first-round bye into next week’s conference tournament. Western Washington went 23-6 in the regular season and posted the top conference record at 15-3 in league action.
This marks the third time that the GNAC Women’s Basketball Championships will be played within WWU’s Sam Carver Gym, with the Vikings also hosting the event in 2023 and 2019. The winner of the GNAC Championships earns the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA West Region Championships, which run March 13-16 at the site of the top overall regional seed. Selections for the regional championship tournament will be made on Sunday, March 8.
All relevant tournament information, including how to purchase tickets,
can be found online here.
2026 GNAC Women’s Basketball Championships
March 5-7 at Bellingham, Wash. – Hosted by Western Washington University
All times listed are Pacific.
Thursday, March 5
Quarterfinal 1: Noon – No. 6 seed Montana State Billings vs. No. 3 seed Saint Martin’s
Quarterfinal 2: 2:15 p.m. – No. 5 seed Western Oregon vs. No. 4 seed Northwest Nazarene
Friday, March 6
Semifinal 1: Noon – Winner Quarterfinal 1 vs. No. 2 seed Central Washington
Semifinal 2: 2:15 p.m. – Winner Quarterfinal 2 vs. No. 1 seed Western Washington
Saturday, March 7
Championship: 5 p.m. – Winner Semifinal 1 vs. Winner Semifinal 2
The Vikings defeated Montana State Billings 78-55 on Saturday evening on their home court, improving to a perfect 11-0 inside Carver Gym in 2025-26. WWU claimed its third GNAC regular-season title in the last five years and its seventh in program history, breaking a tie with Seattle Pacific for the second-most crowns of any GNAC team. WWU’s other regular-season trophies were won in 2023, 2022, 2013, 2011, 2006 and 2002. WWU will await the winner of a quarterfinal matchup between No. 4 seed Northwest Nazarene and No. 5 seed Western Oregon, with its semifinal game scheduled for 2:15 p.m. (Pacific) on Thursday afternoon. The Vikings will be in pursuit of their fifth GNAC Championships tournament title, winning back-to-back crowns in both 2023-24 and 2013-14.
Wrapping up the regular season in second place was Central Washington, which went 23-5 overall and 14-4 in conference play to earn the other first-round bye. The Wildcats will face the winner of No. 3 seed Saint Martin’s and No. 6 seed Montana State Billings in their Friday semifinal contest, set for noon (Pacific). CWU won the conference tournament in 2022 and will be making its 11th straight appearance at the event.
Saint Martin’s capped off a stellar regular season with a strong 66-51 triumph over Alaska Anchorage on Saturday, as the Saints tied CWU at 14-4 in league play and posted an overall record of 18-9. SMU will square off against sixth-seeded Montana State Billings in Thursday’s quarterfinals, having won each of the regular-season contests between the teams. After reaching last year’s conference tournament title game, the Saints will gear up for another run towards their first-ever GNAC Championships tournament crown. It will be the sixth overall conference tournament appearance for the Saints.
Fourth-seeded Northwest Nazarene completed its regular season at 17-9 overall and went 12-6 in conference games. The Nighthawks will face fifth-seeded Western Oregon in the opening round, having split the two regular-season contests against the Wolves this winter. Northwest Nazarene has one GNAC Championships title to its name, claiming the 2019 crown the first time the event was held at Sam Carver Gym. This will mark the Nighthawks’ 10th trip to the conference tournament.
Western Oregon meanwhile will celebrate its third GNAC Championships appearance and its first since 2011 not counting the 2022 event which all 10 teams qualified for due to the COVID-19 pandemic. WOU posted a record of 14-12 overall and went 9-9 in league play to tie the Yellowjackets for fifth place in the standings. The Wolves will look to last Saturday’s 68-58 triumph over first-round opponent Northwest Nazarene as motivation, but they were also held to a season-low point total in a 65-33 loss to the Nighthawks on Jan. 22 in Nampa, Idaho. WOU will be in pursuit of its first-ever GNAC Championships tournament title.
A perennial contender for the conference tournament title, Montana State Billings will be making its sixth-consecutive appearance and 12th in program history. The Yellowjackets finished the regular season at 17-14 overall, and matched WOU with a conference record of 9-9. MSUB will embody the ‘third time’s the charm’ mantra in Thursday’s quarterfinal game against Saint Martin’s, after falling to the Saints 63-57 on Jan. 10 in Lacey, Wash., and 68-47 on Feb. 5 in Billings, Mont. The ‘Jackets will be on the hunt for their second conference tournament title, as they swept three games at the Alaska Airlines Center in 2018 on the way to their second NCAA Elite Eight appearance in program history.