January 2, 2025

This Week's Preview
MADISON, S.D. (Jan. 2, 2025)—The Dakota State University Trojan women's basketball team (10-3 overall record, 2-0 North Star Athletic Association record, ranked No. 6 in the NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 national poll) resumes to North Star Athletic Association action Saturday afternoon against their traveling partner. 

Dakota State hosts Bellevue (Neb.) (10-4 overall record, 2-0 NSAA conference record) in the first NSAA conference meeting this season.  Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. at DSU Fieldhouse.  Both teams will meet two more times later this season, both at Bellevue on Jan. 17 and Feb. 7.  

After falling to NCAA Division I South Dakota State in an exhibition contest on Dec. 17, the Trojans journeyed to Florida for the Warner (Fla.) Classic.  The Trojans opened the tournament with a 65-58 victory over Evangel (Mo.) on Dec. 20 and closed the 2024 calendar year with an 82-66 win over host-team Warner on Dec. 21.
 
Bellevue fell to NCAA Division I Omaha (Neb.) in an exhibition game on Dec. 18 and returned to regular season action in their home tournament to close out the 2024 calendar against a pair of Great Plains Athletic Conference foes.  BU defeated Midland (Neb.) 80-60 on the first day of the tournament on Dec. 29, and dropped a 76-75 contest to Doane (Neb.) on the second day of the tournament on Dec. 30.

The remaining basketball schedules are all North Star Athletic Association contests, with each team playing three rounds of round-robin play.  The Trojans begin the second round of the round robin against Bellevue on Jan. 17 in Bellevue, Neb.
 
Up Next:  Dakota State plays their first road NSAA conference contests, closing the first round of round robin play.  The Trojans visit Dickinson State (N.D.) next Friday and No. 24 ranked Jamestown (N.D.) next Saturday.

This Week's Quick Hits
+ Dakota State (S.D.) and Bellevue (Neb.) are 2-0 record in the North Star Athletic Association contests this season.  Both teams defeated No. 22 ranked Mayville State (N.D.) and Valley City State (N.D.). 
+ DSU and BU will be playing each other twice during the same month in January.  Both teams play their second North Star conference meeting in Bellevue, Neb., on Friday, Jan. 17.
+ Dakota State closed their non-conference schedule with an 8-3 record after their pair of victories in the Warner (Fla.) Classic on Dec. 20-21.
+ Dakota State plays four different teams during the month of January in the North Star Athletic Association, facing Bellevue, Dickinson State (N.D.), Jamestown (N.D.), and Mayville State (N.D.).
+ The Trojans are 4-1 record at home this season, despite a setback to No. 5 ranked Concordia (Neb .) in the season home opener last November.  The Bruins are playing their fourth road game this season Saturday, holding a 2-1 road record.
+ DSU leads the North Star conference in scoring offense per game during the league play, averaging 82.0 points per game.  The Trojans are third in the conference in scoring defense with 66.0 points per game. 
+ Dakota State had won 17 straight North Star Athletic Association regular-season conference home contests since Feb. 11, 2022.  The Trojans were 7-0 home record in NSAA contests in 2022-23 season and 6-0 home record in 2023-24 season.

Noteworthy...
DSU-BELLEVUE ALL-TIME SERIES:  Saturday will mark the 20th all-time series meeting between Dakota State and Bellevue (Neb.).  The all-time series began on Jan. 14, 2017, where the Bruins swept the season series in the North Star conference, the first year when Bruins started their women's basketball program.  The Trojans earned their first win over BU on Dec. 16, 2017, in Madison, while the Bruins went on to win the next six straight meetings.  DSU had won nine times in the last ten meetings with BU, including the recent meeting 81-32 victory at DSU Fieldhouse on Feb. 7, 2024.

TROJANS' NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE RECAP:  Dakota State closed their non-conference schedule with an 8-3 record after going 2-0 record in the Warner (Fla.) Classic in Lake Wales, Fla., on Dec. 20-21, 2024.  The Trojans faced three 'Top 10' teams in their first five games of the season, earning a 74-62 victory over then No. 9 ranked Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) on Nov. 6.  DSU also earned victories over then No. 21 Northwestern (Iowa) on Nov. 26 and (RV) Morningside (Iowa) on Nov. 30.  DSU also surpassed 100 points twice during the non-conference schedule, both against NCAA Division III schools at home.

DAKOTA STATE IN THE NSAA RANKS:  According to the NAIA-PrestoStats website as of Thursday, Dakota State's Tabor Teel leads the North Star Athletic Association with 8.8 rebounds per game (115 total rebounds).  She is also 10th in the North Star conference in field goal percentage of 45.7 percent (63-of-138 field goals) and ninth with 12.9 points per game.  Angela Slattery ranks eighth in the NSAA conference with 6.5 rebounds per game (81 rebounds) for the Trojans.  She also ranks 10th in the league with 12.5 points per game.  Dakota State leads the conference in 3-point field goals during league games, hitting 23 3-pointers.  The Trojans also lead the NSAA conference with 29 free throws made.

2024-25 DAKOTA STATE JUNIOR VARSITY TEAM UPDATES:  The 2024-25 Dakota State University Trojan women's basketball junior varsity team closed out their 2024 slate with a 3-2 record.  The Trojans return to action on Monday, Jan. 13, at DSU Fieldhouse versus Mount Marty (S.D.).  Dakota State had added another contest to their schedule on Wednesday, Jan. 15, as they host Minnesota West CC at DSU Fieldhouse with a 7 p.m. tip-off.

(6) Trojans' second half surge defeat Evangel (Mo.)
Lake Wales, Fla. (Dec. 20, 2024)—No. 6 ranked Dakota State (S.D.) used a 21-8 third quarter outburst to use a 37-24 second half surge to shake off their slow start on the first day of the Warner (Fla.) Classic.  The Trojans defeated Evangel (Mo.) 65-58 at Turner Athletic Center, extending the winning streak to seven games.

The Valors held a slim 14-13 lead after the first quarter and extended their lead to 34-28 by halftime.  DSU used a pair of scoring runs in the third quarter, including an 8-0 closing run to grab a 49-42 lead.  The Trojans stretched their scoring run to 13-0 in the early fourth quarter and never trailed for the rest of the game to secure the victory.

Angela Slattery led DSU with 17 points and  five rebounds.  Tabor Teel had a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds (5 offense).  Bria Wasmund had 13 points and a career-high eight rebounds.  Lilli Mackley had six points and six rebounds.

DSU shot 37.5 percent from the field (26-of-64) compared to EU 38.7 percent (24-of-62 field goals).

(6) DSU closes out 2024 slate with 10th victory
Lake Wales, Fla. (Dec. 21, 2024)—Dakota State (S.D.) closed the 2024 slate by going undefeated in the Warner (Fla.) tournament, defeating the host team by the score of 82-66.  It was the sixth straight season that DSU recorded at least 10 wins.

Dakota State raced to a 20-11 lead in the first quarter and held a 35-29 halftime lead.  The Trojans host a blazing 66.7 percent in the third quarter, using a 29-19 scoring run for a 64-48 lead after three quarters.  DSU led as many as 31 points and secured their eighth consecutive victory.

Bria Wasmund led DSU with 15 points, five rebounds, five assists, and four steals.  Hamtyn Heinz scored a season-high 14 points off the bench on her 5-of-5 field goals, including 4-of-4 from the 3-point line.  Kenzi Simmons tallied 10 points.  Angela Slattery and Tabor Teel each scored nine points.  Teel grabbed nine rebounds.  Lilli Mackley had eight points.  Angelina Chapple posted career-highs seven points and four rebounds.  Cierra Watkins had six points.

The Trojans hit a season-high 15 3-pointers in the game and shot 48.5 percent overall from the field.

Dakota State sweeps NSAA weekly honors
Madison, S.D. (Dec. 23, 2024)—NAIA's No. 6 nationally ranked Dakota State (S.D.) swept the eighth edition of the North Star Athletic Association Women's Basketball weekly honors.  Angela Slattery was selected as the Offense Player-of-the-Week, while Bria Wasmund was named as the Defense Player-of-the-Week. 

The Trojans went 2-0 record to close out the 2024 slate in Florida, defeating Evangel (Mo.) of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference on Dec. 20 and host-team Warner (Fla.) of The Sun Conference on Dec. 21.  DSU ballooned their winning streak to eight games, tied for 10th longest winning streak in the school record book.

Slattery averaged 13.0 points per game on her 9-of-18 field goals in the tournament for the Trojans.  She scored 17 points on her 6-of-11 field goals and 3-of-5 free throws against the Valors.  She followed up with nine points and two assists versus the Royals.

Slattery scored 26 total points for the week and hit five 3-pointers for DSU.  She also averaged 2.0 offensive rebounds per game (5.0 rebounds per game overall in the tournament). 

Wasmund averaged 6.5 defensive rebounds and 3.0 steals per game for Dakota State.  She grabbed a career-high eight rebounds, all defense rebounds, and stole the ball twice against Evangel.  She added five defensive rebounds and four steals against Warner.

2024-25 Dakota State Women's Basketball Team Leaders

• Points/Points Per Game:  Tabor Teel - 168 points (12.9 points per game)
• Field Goal Percentage:  Tia Murray - 63.5 percent (33-of-52 field goals)
• 3-point Field Goal Percentage:  Hamtyn Heinz - 77.8 percent (7-of-9 3-point field goals)
• Free-Throw Percentage:  Tia Murray - 88.9 percent (16-of-18 free-throws)
• Rebounds:  Tabor Teel - 115 rebounds (8.8 rebounds per game)
• Assists/Assists Per Game:  Bria Wasmund - 50 assists (3.8 assists per game)
• Steals/Steals Per Game:  Cierra Watkins - 25 steals (1.9 steals per game)
• Blocked Shots:  Tia Murray - 19 blocks (1.5 blocks per game)