AZUSA, CA (March 7, 2013) – The Hawai'i Pacific Women's Basketball Team enters the first Pacific West Conference Tournament as the top seed thanks to five consecutive victories to close the season including wins against conference heavyweights Grand Canyon, Dixie State, and Azusa Pacific. HPU now waits to find out its next foe.

The PacWest Women's Tournament opens today with two matchups: sixth seeded BYU-Hawaii vs. third seeded Academy of Art and forth seeded Dixie State against fifth seeded UH-Hilo. The second matchup is of particular interest to the Sea Warriors faithful as HPU will meet the winner tomorrow at 3:00 PM PST.

HPU played Dixie State once this year and won in St. George, Utah for the first time in program history. It was Susannah Walmsley that led the charge with 21 points, Melody Ladrido wasn't far behind with 18 and Skye Savini had 16. The 79-72 win in late February was a key for the regional rankings and helped HPU capture the number one seed in the PacWest.

Dixie State comes into the tourney winners in six of its last eight games and 14-12 overall. It is led by power forward Johnna Brown who averages and double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds per contest.

The Sea Warriors and the Vulcans know each other quite well, having played three times already this season. HPU took all three meetings, one was an HPU romp, but the other two were close games. HPU hosted UHH in late November in a non-conference matchup and won 61-59. The Vulcans returned to Honolulu on February 2nd and lost 88-54. On the road, HPU pulled out a 62-61 win after leading by as many as 20 points. Walmsley score 20 plus points in the first two contests and Mikela Thoemmes set HPU's single-game rebounding record with 20 rebounds in the last matchup on February 18th.

UHH has won its last two games and sports a 13-10 overall record. The Vulcans are led by the sister act of Kamie and Kristy Imai who both average double figures in scoring. Kamie also lead the team in assists and rebounds.

Catch all the action by logging onto goseawarriors.com for a live blog during the game.

No Respect
Looking back on the PacWest Preseason Predicted Order of Finish, HPU was selected sixth by the PacWest coaches. HPU ended up second in the regular season and has earned the top seed for the PacWest Tournament.

Heartless
HPU has spoiled three consecutive senior nights by dumping Grand Canyon, Dixie State and Chaminade in its final home game. HPU now looks to keep it up by ending the season of Dixie State or UH-Hilo as neither club is regionally ranked.

Win and In (Maybe)
A member of the West Region Voting Committee told goseawarriors.com that HPU was a “strong seventh seed” in the West Region and that some members of the committee had HPU slotted in the sixth spot. With a first round win in the PacWest Tournament the source said HPU would be in the regional even if HPU stumbles in the final.