ELLENSBURG (Apr. 18) -- Six candidates, including three with current or previous ties to schools in the state of Washington, have emerged as the finalists to become the next head women's basketball coach at Central Washington University, CWU director of athletics Jack Bishop announced.

Emerging as finalists for the head coaching position are Michelle Bento-Jackson, Cody Butler, Stacy Clinesmith, Ken Crawford, Ardie McInelly, and Shawn Nelson.

Bento-Jackson spent six seasons as the head women's basketball coach at Santa Clara University, guiding the Broncos from 2002-08. She posted a 98-85 record at SCU, leading the program to the post-season three times including two trips to the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) and one to the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship. Bento-Jackson was the 2005-06 West Coast Conference Coach of the Year after leading Santa Clara to the WCC regular-season title.

Butler just completed his eighth season as the head women's basketball coach at nearby Yakima Valley Community College. He has led the Yaks to at least 23 wins in each of his eight seasons, with 202 overall victories and a .795 winning percentage during that span. Butler guided YVCC to the 2011 Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC) championship, and his teams have won five NWAACC East Region titles. He has also been an assistant athletic director at the school for the past six years.

Clinesmith is currently the interim head coach of the CWU women's program, a post to which she was named in March upon the dismissal of previous head coach Jeff Whitney. She spent the 2010-11 season as the Wildcats' assistant coach, and the Spokane native had an illustrious playing career -- both at the collegiate level at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and in professional basketball with three seasons in the Women's National Basketball Association. She was also previously the assistant director of basketball operations at Oregon State University.

Crawford has been the head women's basketball coach at Biola University in La Mirada, Calif., for the past six years, leading the Eagles to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Division I National Tournament each of the past three winters. Crawford, who was the 2010-11 Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) Coach of the Year, has a 94-91 record during his tenure at Biola. He previously coached at both Whatcom Community College and Bellingham High School, building the WCC men's basketball program from scratch while also spending 15 seasons as the head boys' coach at BHS.

McInelly is the most experienced collegiate head coach of the finalists, having spent 14 seasons as a head coach at the NCAA Division I level. Most recently, she was the head coach for nine years at Air Force, where she had a 100-percent graduation rate for her four-year Falcon players. McInelly also spent five seasons as the head coach at Idaho State University, where she compiled a 77-65 record, was a two-time Big Sky Coach of the Year, and guided the Bengals to their first-ever NCAA tournament appearance in 2000-01. She also spent a total of five seasons as a Division I assistant, and played collegiately at Boise State University.

Nelson has guided the women's basketball program at Carroll College in Helena, Mont., for the past eight years. He has won 201 games (201-70 record), taking the Saints to the NAIA Division I National Tournament in five consecutive seasons from 2004-08. Nelson became the youngest coach in Frontier Conference history to reach both the 100- and 200-win plateaus. Prior to his time as the head women's coach, he spent seven years as an assistant with the men's basketball program at Carroll, where he played for four seasons from 1991-95.

All six finalists will have on-campus interviews before a final decision is made. That decision is expected to be announced the first week in May.