November 26, 2025
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The second NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 poll showed some movement across the board with only four teams remaining at the same rank. Dakota State (S.D.) returned to the preseason ranking at No. 4, despite being ranked No. 5 in the first edition of the NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 regular season poll on Nov. 12.
After their fourth straight win with a 94-67 home victory over Northwestern (Iowa) Tuesday evening, the Trojans are 7-1 overall record and 3-0 record in Frontier Conference play. DSU edged Marian (Ind.) by one point (468-467) in the national poll.
DSU's only setback of the season came in a hard-fought 86-82 loss versus current NAIA's top-ranked and two-time defending national champion Dordt (Iowa) at the Sanford Sports Complex at the Pentagon on Nov. 11.
Dakota State's 7-1 start is the best since the 1983-84 squad where they finished that year with an overall record of 20-3. The Trojans are 4-0 record at home this season (3-0 record at DSU Fieldhouse and 1-0 record at the Madison High School).
Five other Frontier Conference schools are also listed on the NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 national poll – No. 15 Rocky Mountain (Mont.) (3-1 overall record), No. 16 Carroll (Mont.) (3-2 overall record), No. 25 Montana Tech (5-1 overall record), RV Montana State University-Northern (3-2 overall record), and RV Providence (Mont.) (4-2 overall record).
DSU continues their action after Thanksgiving break as they host No. 14 ranked Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) in the Battle of the Blues Tuesday evening in the non-conference finale. The Trojans return to Frontier Conference action next weekend, hosting Mayville State (N.D.) next Friday and Valley City State (N.D.) next Saturday. All three games are set to tip off at 5 p.m.
Below is the complete ranking of the 2025-26 NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 poll No. 2 edition:
| RANK |
LAST TIME |
INSTITUTION [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] |
RECORD |
POINTS |
| 1 |
1 |
Dordt (Iowa) [20] |
7-0 |
540 |
| 2 |
2 |
Bethel (Tenn.) |
11-0 |
520 |
| 3 |
3 |
Campbellsville (Ky.) |
10-0 |
503 |
| 4 |
5 |
Dakota State (S.D.) |
7-1 |
468 |
| 5 |
4 |
Marian (Ind.) |
7-0 |
467 |
| 6 |
7 |
Saint Francis (Ind.) |
9-0 |
442 |
| 7 |
6 |
Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) |
10-0 |
439 |
| 8 |
9 |
Briar Cliff (Iowa) |
9-1 |
413 |
| 9 |
11 |
Concordia (Neb.) |
8-0 |
370 |
| 10 |
7 |
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
5-1 |
358 |
| 11 |
10 |
Langston (Okla.) |
6-0 |
352 |
| 12 |
12 |
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
7-1 |
350 |
| 13 |
20 |
Rio Grande (Ohio) |
6-0 |
299 |
| 14 |
16 |
Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) |
5-2 |
292 |
| 15 |
17 |
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) |
3-1 |
259 |
| 16 |
14 |
Carroll (Mont.) |
3-2 |
249 |
| 17 |
18 |
St. Francis (Ill.) |
7-0 |
246 |
| 18 |
19 |
Cumberlands (Ky.) |
9-1 |
243 |
| 19 |
13 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
5-4 |
239 |
| 20 |
23 |
Indiana Tech |
5-2 |
190 |
| 21 |
15 |
Oregon Tech |
3-3 |
122 |
| 22 |
RV |
Corban (Ore.) |
7-0 |
120 |
| T-23 |
RV |
Southeastern (Fla.) |
8-0 |
110 |
| T-23 |
RV |
Georgetown (Ky.) |
10-0 |
110 |
| 25 |
21 |
Montana Tech |
5-1 |
82 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Hastings (Neb.), Loyola (La.), Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)
Receiving Votes: William Carey (Miss.) 77, Hastings (Neb.) 66, Loyola (La.) 66, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 51, Columbia (Mo.) 39, Evangel (Mo.) 24, Huntington (Ind.) 22, Shawnee State (Ohio) 16, Friends (Kan.) 15, Governors State (Ill.) 14, Northwestern (Iowa) 13, Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 11, Southern Oregon (Ore.) 9, Grand View (Iowa) 8, Taylor (Ind.) 7, Montana State-Northern (Mont.) 7, Eastern Oregon 6, LSU Shreveport (La.) 6, Providence (Mont.) 6, Saint Xavier (Ill.) 5, Spring Arbor (Mich.) 4, Faulkner (Ala.) 4, College of Idaho (Idaho) 2
Key: RV - Receiving Votes, NR - Not Ranked
