COMMUNITY COLLEGE BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : Golden West Women’s Roll Continues With Top Seeding

HUNTINGTON BEACH — Golden West College, the defending state women’s basketball champion, is the top-seeded team in the Southern California Regional playoffs, which begin Wednesday.

The teams were selected and seeded Sunday by coaches representing each of the region’s five conferences in a meeting at Golden West.

Fullerton (23-6) and Riverside (23-8) also made it from the Orange Empire Conference, but Saddleback (18-9), the conference’s fourth-place team, didn’t.

Golden West (30-1), which has won 22 in a row, plays host to College of the Desert (13-14), the 16th-seeded team, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. If Golden West wins, the Rustlers would play the winner of No. 9 Chaffey (22-5) vs. No. 8 Ventura (18-10) in a second-round game Saturday.

Fullerton, the No. 3-seeded team, plays host to No. 9 Los Angeles Pierce (20-9). Riverside, the No. 5-seeded team, plays host to No. 12 Cuesta (17-12). Both games are at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

In Wednesday’s other games: No. 15 Southwestern (16-10) is at No. 2 Los Angeles Valley (28-4); No. 10 Santa Monica (16-11) at No. 7 Cerritos (24-6); No. 11 Mt. San Antonio (21-9) at No. 6 Bakersfield (20-10), and No. 13 San Diego Mesa at No. 4 Moorpark (27-4).

The final four teams from the Southern and Northern California regionals advance to the state tournament, Feb. 28, March 1-2, at Los Angeles Valley College.