Western Washington University men’s and women’s basketball teams will return to the playoffs. Unique to this year, the road to the championship will take a detour through Seattle.
On Jan. 31, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference announced that this year’s basketball tournament would be expanded to all 10 members, including Western. This was in response to a wave of game postponements. Prior to this season, only the top six teams would advance to the playoffs.
In addition to more games, the tournament will now be spread out between two locations: Saint Martin's University in Lacey and Seattle Pacific University in Seattle. SPU and SMU will split the first two rounds of games. Then the remaining games will be played at SMU.
Blake Timm, an assistant commissioner with the GNAC, explained SPU offered to host it to help lessen the load of extra games on SMU.
“If we had been at just one site, the tournament would have required more days to play,” Timm said.
Northwest Nazarene Sophomore Nyalam Thabach (left) and Western Washington Senior Gracie Castaneda (right) at Sam Carver Gymnasium in Bellingham, Wash. on Jan. 27, 2022. Western Washington beat Northwest Nazarene 83-81. // Photo courtesy of Western Athletics
Timm said that by keeping the tournament to four days, student-athletes will miss less class time.
This season has been anything but ordinary. Western started their season by restricting fans over COVID-19 concerns. Fans were eventually allowed back in, but the pandemic continued to affect basketball in other ways.
Timm said a total of 54 games — 25 women’s and 29 men’s games — were postponed this season. Of those, 19 games were not rescheduled.
But the GNAC is not alone. The PacWest Conference also experienced significant challenges this season. Over 50 PacWest games were postponed.
The PacWest Conference is comprised of 11 Division II schools in California and Hawaii.
Jared Pine is the sports communication director for the PacWest and said the athletic conference is also expanding their tournament. However, only the top eight teams will make the playoffs, up from six teams previously.
PacWest considered expanding its tournament to include every team but ultimately decided against it.
“We would need our staff in two different sites, and it was just a logistical nightmare,” Pine said.
This year’s PacWest tournament will be held from March 2 to March 5 in Fresno, California.
The GNAC and PacWest’s expanded tournaments are expected to be in place this year only.
Western Oregon Junior Yosani Clay attempts to block Westen Washington Senior RJ Secrest at Sam Carver Gymnasium in Bellingham, Wash., on Feb. 10, 2022. Western Washington fell 73-71 against Western Oregon. // Photo courtesy of Western Athletics
The return of playoffs is personal for Western Senior Gracie Castaneda. It’s been two years since Castaneda and the women’s team made West Regional in Hawaii. The women’s team initially lost to the University of Alaska Anchorage for the GNAC title, but there was still hope. The Vikings were selected as the seventh seed in the West Regional where they were supposed to have a rematch against Alaska Anchorage.
Then the playoffs were canceled.
“Thinking back to two years ago when we were in Hawaii, it was devastating,” Castaneda said.
But now the tournament is back, and the women’s team is prepared to make every moment count.
“We’re really excited to end the season the right way,” Castaneda said.
Western women’s basketball head coach Carmen Dolfo said she’s excited for the postseason. But it’s been a long season for a women’s team plagued by injuries and postponed games.
“It has been a challenging season on many fronts, but our team has stuck together and battled through,” Dolfo said.
Senior basketball player RJ Secrest said the men’s team is feeling good heading into the GNAC tournament. Two years ago during the last tournament, the men’s team won the GNAC title and was scheduled to play against the University of San Diego in the West Regional. Like everyone else, their game was canceled over the emerging COVID-19 pandemic.
“We've proven we can beat any team when we’re having a good night,” Secrest said.
The men’s season has been filled with game postponements. Secrest said that meant playing up to five games in eight days.
“It’d been a rollercoaster,” Secrest said, describing this season.
The GNAC tournament begins with the first round on Wednesday, March 2, and ends with the championship game on Saturday, March 5. A more detailed schedule including where and when teams play will be released by Monday, Feb. 28, 2022.
