With their opening games of the 2020-21 season coming up this weekend, Northwest Nazarene women's basketball has been selected 24th in the country by D2SIDA in their latest national poll.

The Nighthawks are also third in the West Region poll, slotting behind Hawaii Pacific and Alaska Anchorage. HPU and UAA are 4th and 11th, respectively, in the national poll. Fellow West Region foe Azusa Pacific is also receiving votes nationally.

NNU is one of just three programs in the top-25 that have yet to play a game this year, showing that last years' finish and what the Nighthawks have coming back has translated into respect in the eyes of the voters.

That respect has definitely been earned, as NNU has now won at least 22 games and reached the NCAA Tournament in each of the last three campaigns. Just before the pandemic put an abrupt end to the season last year, the Nighthawks were preparing to face UC San Diego in the opening round of the NCAA postseason after going 22-7 on the year and finishing second in the GNAC with a 17-3 conference record.

Starting on Thursday, Jan. 14, NNU is set to open their season with a great test as they will play four games in five days. The Nighthawks will head down to California to face Concordia Irvine on Thursday, Point Loma on Friday, Biola on Saturday, and Fresno Pacific on Monday.

For the current full women's basketball schedule, click here.

The D2SIDA poll is in its seventh year of existence. The regional poll is released on Mondays, followed by the national poll on Tuesdays. Each region has six representatives that comprise the regional poll, while the national poll has 16 voters  with two from each region.  

NATIONAL POLL

Rank	School (First-Place Votes)	W-L	Pts.	Prev.	Last Week's Results
1	Drury (15)	8-0	399	1	DNP
2	Ashland	2-0	376	2	WH Ferris State 79-55, WH Ferris State 60-45
3	Lubbock Christian	4-0	359	3	DNP
4	Hawaii Pacific	1-0	342	6	12/13 WA Hawaii 82-74
5	Nebraska-Kearney (1)	8-0	319	RV	WA Lincoln (Mo.) 68-53, WA Central Missouri 68-56
6	Lander	4-0	297	13	WA Georgia Southwestern 57-50, WH Clayton State 85-50
7	Grand Valley State	2-0	290	T11	WA Saginaw Valley State 66-51, WA Saginaw Valley State 50-49
8	Valdosta State	7-0	277	NR	WH West Georgia 82-69; WA Montevallo 62-61; WH Lee 80-76 OT; WH Auburn-Montgomery 72-55, WH Auburn-Montgomery 66-47; WA Shorter 79-57; WA Shorter 68-48
9	Minnesota-Duluth	3-0	241	18	WH Minot State 83-65, WH Minot State 72-57
10	Tusculum	7-0	235	NR	WA Anderson (S.C.) 65-61
11	Alaska Anchorage	0-0	227	5	DNP
12	Charleston (W.Va.)	2-0	214	NR	WH Concord 69-56, WA Glenville State 91-86
13	Western Colorado	6-1	194	RV	WH South Dakota Mines 79-72, LH South Dakota Mines 72-68, WH Colorado Christian 72-42
14	Central Missouri	7-1	178	T21	WH Fort Hays State 79-72, LH Nebraska-Kearney 68-56
15	North Georgia	3-0	165	16	DNP
16	Lee	4-1	157	T21	WH West Florida 80-58; WA Shorter 72-53; LA Vadosta State 80-76 OT; WH West Georgia 74-57; WH West Georgia 68-62
17	Texas A&M-Commerce	4-1	130	9	LA Midwestern State 85-82
18	Southern Indiana	6-1	125	NR	DNP
19	Glenville State	1-1	97	17	WA West Virginia State 126-82, LH Charleston 91-86
20	Daemen	0-0	88	NR	DNP
21	Southwestern Oklahoma State	2-0	76	NR	WA East Central 92-77, WH Southeastern Oklahoma State 101-64
22	West Texas A&M	3-1	68	19	WH Midwestern State 78-60
23	Carson-Newman	3-0	60	NR	DNP
24	Northwest Nazarene	0-0	55	RV	DNP
25	Notre Dame (Ohio)	2-0	47	NR	WA West Liberty 83-71, WH Wheeling 76-65
RV:	Cedarville 35, Mississippi College 30, Concordia-St. Paul 29, St. Thomas Aquinas 16, Azusa Pacific 14, Colorado Mesa 14, Gannon 13, Belmont Abbey 10, Mercyhurst 8, West Alabama 8, Emporia State 4, Molloy 2, Truman 1

Regional Poll

WEST
1	Hawaii Pacific (4)	1-0	33	2	12/13 WA Hawaii 82-74
2	Alaska Anchorage (2)	0-0	26	1
3	Northwest Nazarene	0-0	17	4
4	Azusa Pacific	0-0	9	5
5	Cal State San Marcos	0-0	8	3
6	Western Washington	0-0	7	T6
RV:	Concordia-Irvine 5, Biola 3, Cal Poly Pomona 1, Fresno Pacific 1, Point Loma Nazarene 1, Seattle Pacific 1