INDIANAPOLIS – The Cal State San Marcos women’s basketball team is ranked No. 3 in the first official NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball West Region rankings released on Wednesday by the NCAA.
This marks CSUSM’s fourth consecutive appearance in the first NCAA West Region Poll as the Cougars made their program debut on Feb. 20, 2019 at No. 9.
At 24-1 overall, fellow CCAA member and 2022-23 CCAA Regular-Season Champion Cal State Dominguez Hills topped the West Region poll, followed by Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) member Western Washington (21-3) at No. 2. Rounding out the top five are GNAC’s Montana State Billings (20-5) and Central Washington (16-6). Also representing the CCAA in the poll are Cal State LA (17-7) at No. 6, Cal Poly Pomona (15-9) at No. 7 and Chico State (17-8) at No. 9. The PacWest member in the regional poll is Azusa Pacific (21-4) at No. 8. GNAC’s Seattle Pacific (12-11) snagged the final spot in the top 10 poll.
The announcement of the 2023 NCAA Division II Women’s’ Basketball Championship Tournament will come via a live selection show at NCAA.com on March 5 at 7:30 p.m. PST (10:30 p.m. EST). The NCAA will continue to release one more regional rankings at NCAA.com on Wednesday, March 1 leading up to the selection show in two weeks. The winners of the three conference tournaments (CCAA, PacWest, GNAC) will receive an automatic bid into the postseason with the last five spots being at-large selections.
Should the Cougars (20-4) maintain their ranking as one of the top eight teams in the West Region when the 64-team NCAA tournament field is announced on March 5, CSUSM will have qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history.
The Cougars will close out their regular season this week, hosting Cal Poly Humboldt on Thursday, Feb. 23 before celebrating Senior Day on Saturday, Feb. 25 against Sonoma State. Prior to Saturday’s game, CSUSM will honor Dynnah Buckner, Kate Carlson, Kelsey Forrester and Shasta Parker.
The Cougars have already locked up the No. 2 seed and a bye into the semifinals of the CCAA Tournament taking place March 2-4 at Stanislaus State in Turlock. CSUSM’s semifinal game on March 3 at 5:30 p.m. will feature the Cougars and the winner of the No. 3 seed and No. 6 seed quarterfinal game taking place the day before.
Rank School Overall DII Record In-Region Record
1 Cal State Dominguez Hills 24-1 24-1
2 Western Washington 21-3 19-3
3 Cal State San Marcos 20-4 20-4
4 Montana State Billings 20-5 17-4
5 Central Washington 16-6 16-6
6 Cal State LA 17-7 17-7
7 Cal Poly Pomona 15-9 15-9
8 Azusa Pacific 21-4 21-4
9 Chico State 17-8 17-8
10 Seattle Pacific 12-11 12-11
