January 14, 2026
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Dakota State (S.D.) remained inside the Top 25 national poll, ranking at No. 7 in the fourth edition of the NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 national poll announced Wednesday morning. The Trojans scored 405 points in the national poll.
Dakota State is enjoying a strong season with a 14-3 overall record and a 9-2 mark in the Frontier Conference play. The Trojans have been perfect at home (7-0 home record) and competitive on the road (6-3 road record).
Senior forward
Tabor Teel leads the team with 270 points on 51.7 percent field goal shooting, while
Caitlin Dyer adds 206 points and a team-best 78.9 percent from the free-throw line.
Cierra Watkins has been a force inside, scoring 192 points on 58.1 percent field goal shooting, and
Hamtyn Heinz and
Bria Wasmund provides perimeter scoring with 62 combined made threes.
The latest NAIA Women's Basketball Top 25 poll sees Dordt (Iowa) retake the No. 1 spot after another dominant eight-game win streak, edging out Bethel (Tenn.), which slips to No. 2 by just three points after a recent loss at (RV) Tennessee Southern.
Four other Frontier Conference teams are listed in the Top 25 national poll. Montana Tech ranks No. 12 with an overall record of 14-1 and 306 points. Dakota State is set to host the Orediggers in the NAIA's Top 15 battle Friday evening in the 7
th annual Ag Bowl contest at DSU Fieldhouse at 5 p.m.
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) fell one spot from No. 17 to No. 18 with 160 points and an overall record of 12-5. Carroll (Mont.) dropped out of the NAIA's Top 25, sitting in the No. 26 spot with 92 points and overall record of 11-6. MSU-Northern also received votes with eight points with an overall record of 12-4.
The fifth edition of the NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 national poll is set to be released on Jan. 28.
Dakota State begins their three-game home stand in Frontier Conference play Friday evening versus Montana Tech, followed by another league contest Saturday against Montana Western. Both games are set for 5 p.m. at DSU Fieldhouse.
Below is the complete list of the 2025-26 NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 national poll No. 4 edition:
| RANK |
LAST TIME |
SCHOOL [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] |
RECORD |
POINTS |
| 1 |
2 |
Dordt (Iowa) [9] |
16-1 |
522 |
| 2 |
1 |
Bethel (Tenn.) [6] |
17-1 |
519 |
| 3 |
3 |
Campbellsville (Ky.) [1] |
16-1 |
481 |
| 4 |
5 |
Marian (Ind.) [1] |
16-1 |
479 |
| 5 |
6 |
Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) [2] |
17-0 |
477 |
| 6 |
7 |
Saint Francis (Ind.) |
16-1 |
413 |
| 7 |
4 |
Dakota State (S.D.) |
14-3 |
405 |
| 8 |
8 |
Rio Grande (Ohio) |
16-1 |
384 |
| 9 |
10 |
Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) |
13-4 |
359 |
| 10 |
9 |
Concordia (Neb.) |
14-3 |
335 |
| 11 |
11 |
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
12-3 |
329 |
| 12 |
14 |
Montana Tech (Mont.) |
14-1 |
306 |
| 13 |
15 |
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
12-4 |
279 |
| 14 |
12 |
Cumberlands (Ky.) |
15-3 |
273 |
| 15 |
16 |
St. Francis (Ill.) |
16-1 |
198 |
| 16 |
13 |
Briar Cliff (Iowa) |
13-4 |
197 |
| 17 |
RV |
Eastern Oregon |
15-1 |
188 |
| 18 |
17 |
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) |
12-5 |
160 |
| 19 |
RV |
William Carey (Miss.) |
14-0 |
155 |
| 20 |
18 |
Corban (Ore.) |
13-3 |
151 |
| 21 |
NR |
Spring Arbor (Mich.) |
15-2 |
129 |
| 22 |
RV |
Evangel (Mo.) |
13-1 |
122 |
| 23 |
RV |
Friends (Kan.) |
15-1 |
105 |
| 24 |
22 |
Indiana Tech |
12-4 |
101 |
| 25 |
RV |
Southeastern (Fla.) |
15-3 |
99 |
Dropped from Top 25: Oregon Tech, Carroll (Mont.), Langston (Okla.), Huntington (Ind.), Georgetown (Ky.), Mid-America Christian (Okla.)
Receiving Votes: Carroll (Mont.) 92, Langston (Okla.) 90, Huntington (Ind.) 72, Georgetown (Ky.) 66, Columbia (Mo.) 59, Science and Arts (Okla.) 57, Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 54, Loyola (La.) 47, Taylor (Ind.) 47, Hastings (Neb.) 23, LSU Shreveport (La.) 22, Shawnee State (Ohio) 18, Southern Oregon (Ore.) 17, Tennessee Southern 14, Cumberland (Tenn.) 10, Montana State-Northern 8, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 7, Grand View (Iowa) 7, College of Idaho 6, Faulkner (Ala.) 4
