The South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC) men's and women's basketball teams have qualified for the 2026 NWAC Basketball Championships, set to take place from March 4 to March 8 at Columbia Basin College in Pasco.
The men's team will face Southwestern Oregon in the Sweet 16 on Wednesday, March 4 at 6 p.m., and the women's team will take on Umpqua on Saturday, March 7 at 10 a.m. in the Sweet 16.
"The culture we are trying to build at SPSCC is a culture of championship experiences for all students," SPSCC Athletic Director Vernell Willingham said in a news release. "We have student-athletes competing at a high level, both on and off the court. The qualification of both teams is extremely exciting for the athletic department, the campus, and the community."
The Clippers men's team finished the regular season with a 21-8 overall record and a 10-4 mark in the West Region, good enough for the No. 3 seed in the region. Now, the Clippers look for payback as they take on the team that eliminated them from the tournament last year in the No. 2 seed from the South Region: the Southwestern Oregon Lakers.
In his fourth year at the helm of the men's team, head coach Zach Smith has qualified for the NWAC Basketball Championships every single year.
"I say it every year, but it really is a testament to SPSCC as a whole and the support that we have," Smith said in a news release. "The support we have here makes the success feel worth it because we get to go out there and represent South Puget Sound and all the people that support us throughout the year."
The women's team has qualified for the NWAC Championships for the second year in a row as it ended the regular season with a 19-7 overall record and a 10-2 West Region, finishing as the No. 2 seed in the region. The Clippers now face a rematch against an opponent they faced in the NWAC crossover last December in the South Region No. 3 seed Umpqua Riverhawks.
"I'm really excited for this group. To only have one returner in a completely new team, going to the tournament is such a fun experience," head coach Darah Vining said. "It's a testament to how hard they have worked all year and just how much they pour into each other and into this program."
Both squads look to surpass last year's results in the tournament as the women's team qualified for the Elite Eight for the first time in program history, and the men had their best-ever finish in school history with their qualification to the Final Four.
