February GNAC games

[Goods]

CWU women have a huge game on Thursday, hosting Western Washington as both teams fight to keep pace with Anchorage and Billings. CWU men host Anchorage. Will the Wildcats strengthen their lead in the standings or will Anchorage get an upset to inch closer to top 6 needed in the standings to make the tournament?

Same can be said for MSUB and WWU. Both men's teams trying to stay in that top 6.

[49Mack]

CWU women exceed expectations often, considering their woeful lack of depth. And WWU women are likely somewhat healthy again, so it gets even tougher. The CWU men are amazing to watch. They have depth and play strongest with their two bigs on the bench down the stretch.

[D2Rover]

CWU women exceed expectations often, considering their woeful lack of depth. And WWU women are likely somewhat healthy again, so it gets even tougher. The CWU men are amazing to watch. They have depth and play strongest with their two bigs on the bench down the stretch.

There are 29 women in D2 shooting 40% or better from 3pt (I think there's a minimum attempts/game), three of them play for Central. Nobody else has two. So on your best nights you're just about unstoppable. Western women are finally getting healthy, definitely going to be dangerous for the rest of the season.

[northernGNAChoopfan]

This week, I think the most interesting games will be at WWU and SFU where up and coming WWU, SPU, and MSUB will be. I count SFU in there, not because they have a good record, but so many of their losses are so close, that they remain a really dangerous team most nights. It may be worth seeing if either Alaska school can muster keeping it close at NNU or CWU this week. If I am being optimistic, I say / think that there is a reason that the games are played > because they are not a foregone conclusion, but I'm not sure how optimistic I am about any Alaska school keeping it close enough to be in it at the end. Lot's of up and coming teams in the GNAC mean that you've got to play with some consistency to be in that group and that's not Fairbanks, nor Anchorage as of late (although historically, they are much more consistent than UAF). Meanwhile, CWU, and NNU are the most consistent at the top. SMU may be good, but they have not been consistent enough.

[Goods]

Nothing crazy on the men's side of the schedule last night. NNU, SPU, WWU and my CWU Wildcats all won. Maybe I'm too soon to stir this pot, but with Western and Seattle Pacific playing pretty well in January and February, St. Martin's better watch out for the standings.

Happy to see another Wildcat women's win over a big opponent, WWU last night at home. Thrilled with the Wildcats. MSUB on paper didn't look like they had an easy game 48-43, over what should have been an easier opponent in St. Martin's. And as bad as Western Oregon's women's team looks in the standings (and in the news) they beat SPU, who must be absolutely terrible at 0-11, 6-18.

[SGAstumpJ]

Not much to write home about down here in the PacWest. Point Loma has a 2 1/2 game lead atop the conference. Biola is in second, but playing three games against non-DII schools in December leaves them with little room for error. If we assume they go 4-1 the rest of the way, that should get them to 18-7 against DII opposition. Is a conference finals appearance (with a presumed third loss to Point Loma) enough to get them an at large bid? For everyone else down here, the only way in is to win the conference tourney.

[Goods]

Thursday's men's schedule is highlighted by NNU traveling to SPU for a 2nd vs 3rd place GNAC showdown. SPU then hosts GNAC #1 CWU on Saturday. Tough week for the Falcons. WWU takes on St. Martin's for a 4th vs 5th battle on Saturday too.

GNAC #1 UAA vs. GNAC #4 WWU women looks to be the marquee matchup for Thursday, although #2 MSUB hosting #3 CWU looks great too.

Too lazy to figure this out...........when do the first regional rankings come out?

[SGAstumpJ]

Too lazy to figure this out...........when do the first regional rankings come out?

I think next week

[tsull]

Crazy games tonight, somehow St Martin's loses at home to Simon Fraser. Central Washington loses to Billings on the road. Starting to think the league doesn't have a dominant team or the league top to bottom isn't very good. Western Oregon lost again, no surprise there.

[Goods]

The "anybody can beat anybody" vibe this league has all too often is tiring at times because what that means is never hosting a west region tourney. From what I can tell, the best this league is going to get is a 4 and 7 seed at this point.

[tsull]

The "anybody can beat anybody" vibe this league has all too often is tiring at times because what that means is never hosting a west region tourney. From what I can tell, the best this league is going to get is a 4 and 7 seed at this point.

Spot on. Canadians win over St Martin's in Lacey yesterday was a killer for the conference. I like and admire the Saints, but come on man.

[northernGNAChoopfan]

Yep... SFU swept Saint Martin's this year. CWU got beat by MSUB, and SPU beat NNU last night. Almost the entire conference is an "up an coming team". Exciting conference season, but it will likely lead to disappointment come regional time. It's been a while since the top teams in the GNAC have been able to put the finishing touches on their good teams and get to really consistently good. It doesn't mean much at this point if you beat one of our "top teams" because they get beaten a little too often for it to be exciting. All the same, I'll be rooting for the Nooks to try to turn the tide and finish strong.

[CWU Wildcat Nation]

Made it out to my first CWU game of the season as they played as SPU. Central often is cursed in that gym and the red hot Falcons put up a fight. They hit more shots while Central was cold for much of the game. But in the 2nd part of the 2nd half the SJSU transfer Garrett Anderson lit it up and took charge to lead Central to the big road win to snap SPU's 7 game winning streak. Maverick Sanders and Cavin Holden also had great games. CWU was without big man Mitch Brizee, maybe he was sick? So 7'2" Calvin Sisk got lots of extended minutes.

CWU vs. SMU next week should be a good one.

[tsull]

Interesting games tonight looks like Central Washington beat Seattle Pacific in Seattle by a couple points, clinch a playoff berth. Looks like they'll clinch the regular season title.

St Martin's loses again at home they're sliding fast. FFairbanksbeats Anchorage by just a few at home, sounds like an exciting game.

I actually went to the Western Oregon - Simon Fraser game because the Wolves beat SFU earlier in the year. Not this time Simon Fraser just lit it up from three point land, including their 7 ft Center and a really explosive guard. The Wolves have no identity they play hard for about 5 minutes and take some time off and then play hard again. They have some athletic talent but not a lot of good basketball players. Strange team.

[Goods]

Huge win for CWU over a very good SPU team. I saw a video and SPU missed the shot at the buzzer for the win (or if it wasn't a 3 pointer, then the tie to go into OT). Wildcats need to beat WOU good enough to give their starters some rest. SMU is falling, but that's still going to be a tough game as evidenced by CWU's loss to MSUB last Thursday. SMU at NNU on Thursday looks good too.

Huge game for the GNAC women on Thursday as UAA and MSUB meet in Anchorage. Billings got them good (by 15) in Montana last month. I'm thinking the CWU Wildcat women will go 2-0 against WOU/SMU to pretty much set that third place GNAC standing into stone.