Thursday's pivotal Pacific West Conference women's basketball game at Brougham Pavilion will feature a matchup of two top-20 teams. Seattle Pacific is ranked No. 16 in this week's NCAA Division II poll while, its opponent, Central Washington, is No. 20.

The Falcons and Wildcats own identical records of 6-2 in the PacWest and 11-2 overall and share first place in the conference, along with Northwest Nazarene and Western Washington.

SPU, which extended its home winning streak to 12 games, moved up three spots from last week. Western Washington is No. 22.

WBCA/USA Today Poll for Jan. 17:
1. North Dakota 15-0 599 2
2. Columbus State 13-0 552 4
3. Emporia State 13-0 549 3
4. Delta State 14-1 512 1
5. Northern Kentucky 12-1 505 5
6. Nebraska-Kearney 14-0 495 6
7. Bentley 14-2 434 7
8. Rollins 14-1 413 8
9. St. Rose 12-2 395 9
10. North Dakota State 15-3 393 10
11. Texas A & M Kingsville 15-2 342 11
12. Michigan Tech 12-2 322 12
13. Kennesaw State 12-2 291 13
14. Northern Michigan 10-2 283 15
15. Cal Poly Pomona 9-2 211 18
16. Seattle Pacific 11-2 203 19
17. Millersville 13-2 185 17
18. Southern Indiana 10-2 159 16
19. Bellarmine 12-1 154 23
20. Central Washington 11-2 134 22
21. Missouri Western 9-3 127 20
22. Western Washington 10-3 108 21
23. West Texas A & M 9-3 105 14
24. Central Missouri State 11-2 57 NR
25. Arkansas Tech 9-4 40 NR
Also receiving votes: Findlay (29); Winston Salem (28); Shippensburg (26); Pace (21); Florida Southern (19); West Chester (19); Minnesota-Duluth (17); St. Cloud State (16); Francis Marion (15); South Dakota State (10); Tampa (10); USC-Aiken (8); Central Arkansas (6); Augustana (3); Pittsburgh-Johnstown (2); Presbyterian (1); Fort Valley State (1); Henderson State (1).