PORTLAND, Ore. - The GNAC released the results of the 2025-26 Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll on Tuesday, with Northwest Nazarene picked fifth out of the 10 teams.
NNU earned 63 points in the poll, just a single point behind Montana State Billings' 64. Western Washington led with 90 points and five first-place votes, followed by Central Washington with 89 points and four first-place votes, and then Saint Martin's with 72 points. MSUB also received one first-place vote.
Alaska Anchorage was sixth, followed in order by Simon Fraser, Western Oregon, Seattle Pacific, and Alaska Fairbanks.
The Nighthawks were picked sixth a year ago and improved on that prediction, going 10-8 in GNAC play to grab the five-seed in the conference tournament where they suffered a narrow loss to four-seed WWU.
The Nighthawks will play a scrimmage at Treasure Valley CC on Oct. 22 before hosting College of Idaho in a home opening exhibition on Oct. 24. The regular season gets underway at Cal Poly Humboldt on Nov. 14, and GNAC play will begin on Dec. 6 with Central Washington coming to Nampa. The 2026 GNAC Basketball Championships are set to be held from March 5-7 in Bellingham, Washington.
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Rank |
Team (FPV) |
Points |
1 |
Western Washington (5) |
90 |
2 |
Central Washington (4) |
89 |
3 |
Saint Martin's |
72 |
4 |
Montana State Billings (1) |
64 |
5 |
Northwest Nazarene |
63 |
6 |
Alaska Anchorage |
62 |
7 |
Simon Fraser |
42 |
8 |
Western Oregon |
32 |
9 |
Seattle Pacific |
24 |
10 |
Alaska Fairbanks |
12 |