HONOLULU – Despite a No. 2 or No. 4 national ranking and an undefeated record, Hawai'i Pacific University was handed a fifth seed in the six-team NCAA Division II Women's West Regional when the brackets were announced this evening by the Division II Women's Basketball Committee.
The Sharks (13-0, 12-0), the automatic qualifier of the PacWest and holders of the longest women's winning streak in the country at 38 games, were placed against the only other PacWest team to gain entry into the event – Azusa Pacific (10-4) who was seeded by the committee at number four, ahead of HPU. The tournament will be played at Colorado Mesa University's Brownson Arena in Grand Junction, Colo.
It's the fifth straight season for HPU to advance to the NCAA regionals, including the 2020 season where they were selected and scheduled to host the regional before the pandemic canceled the NCAA Tournament. It's the sixth time HPU has been selected for the regionals, all under head coach
Reid Takatsuka.
The Sharks and Cougars will play on Friday, March 12 in the first of two quarterfinal contests at 2 p.m. HST (5 p.m. MST). The other quarterfinal has No. 3 seed Westminster (11-5) against No. 6 seed Black Hills State (S.D.) (14-8) at 4:45 p.m. HST (7:45 p.m. MST).
Top seeded Colorado School of Mines (17-3) and second seeded Western Colorado (14-5) received quarterfinal byes.
The semifinals have the HPU-APU winner meeting Colorado Mines on Saturday, March 13 at 2 p.m. HST (5 p.m. MST) and the Westminster-BHSU winner facing Western Colorado at 4:45 p.m. HST (7:45 MST).
The semifinal winners meet in the West Region Championship game on Monday, March 15 at 2 p.m. HST (6 p.m. MDT), with the victor headed to the NCAA Division II Women's Elite Eight in Columbus, Ohio March 23-26.
Additional information about the regional will be available starting on Monday.
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2021 NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN'S WEST REGIONAL TOURNAMENT
March 12-15, Brownson Arena, Grand Junction, Colo.
Friday, March 12
Regional Quarterfinals
2 p.m. HST/5 p.m. MST No. 5 Hawai'i Pacific (13-0) vs. No. 4 Azusa Pacific (10-4)
4:45 p.m. HST/7:45 p.m. MST No. 3 Westminster (Utah) (11-5) vs. No. 6 Black Hills State (S.D.) (14-8)
Saturday, March 13
Regional Semifinals
2 p.m. HST/5 p.m. MST HPU-APU winner vs. No. 1 Colorado School of Mines (17-3)
4:45 p.m. HST/7:45 p.m. MST Westminster-BHSU winner vs. No. 2 Western Colorado (14-5)
Monday, March 15
Regional Championship
2 p.m. HST/6 p.m. MDT Semifinal winners
