January 29, 2026

THIS WEEK'S PREVIEW
MADISON, S.D. - The Dakota State University Trojan women's basketball team (17-3 overall record, 12-2 Frontier Conference, No. 7 ranking in the NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 poll) wraps up their month of January with a pair of conference games in North Dakota.  The Trojans visit Valley City State (N.D.) (6-12 overall record, 3-11 Frontier record) Friday evening at Clair T. Blikre Activities Center (800 6th Street N) in Wahpeton, N.D., on the campus of North Dakota State College of Science.

DSU travels to Lewy Lee Fieldhouse (330 NE 3rd Street) on Saturday evening for another Frontier Conference contest, taking on Mayville State (N.D.) (1-17 overall record, 0-14 Frontier record) in Mayville, N.D.

Both contests are set to tip off at 5 p.m.

QUICK HITS
*Dakota State closes the month of January as they make a trip to North Dakota for the last time this season.

*The Trojans were originally scheduled to play at W.E. Osmon Fieldhouse versus Valley City State (N.D.) on Friday.  The game was moved to Wahpeton, N.D., on the campus of North Dakota State School of Science due to water damage on VCSU's basketball court.

*DSU won the last three meetings with Valley City State, all at DSU Fieldhouse including the former North Star Athletic Association Postseason Tournament's semifinals last season.  DSU won the Frontier first meeting 70-59 on Dec. 6.

*Dakota State won the previous four meetings with Mayville State (N.D.), including the first Frontier Conference meeting earlier this season on Dec. 5.  The Trojans won by the score of 92-51.  

*The Trojans are in a three-way tie in the Frontier Conference lead.  No. 13 ranked Montana Tech and (RV) Carroll (Mont.), along with Dakota State are 12-2 record in the league prior to the conference's contests this weekend.
 

Scoring Offense	67.9	81.7	55.6
Scoring Defense	63.9	60.8	81.0
Scoring Margin	4.0	20.9	-25.4
Field Goal %	.363	.444	.331
Field Goal Def. %	.380	.355	.262
Free Throw %	.741	.630	.684
Rebounds Per Game	38.5	43.0	35.8
Rebounds Margin	-0.9	5.9	-4.0
3-point FGs Made Per Game	6.6	10.1	5.7
3-point FG %	.266	.328	.262
Assists Per Game	12.8	18.3	8.8
Blocks Per Game	2.7	4.5	1.8

SCOUTING THE VIKINGS
Vanessa Johnson is in her eighth season as the Valley City State (N.D.) women's basketball head coach.  The Vikings had to move their home games away from W.E. Osmon Fieldhouse from Jan. 17, due to water damage on the basketball coach.  The Vikings played a pair of games at Jamestown (N.D.) Civic Center on Jan. 17 and Jan. 20.

Most recently, VCSU hosted Mayville State (N.D.) at Concordia-Moorhead gymnasium on Jan. 24.  The Vikings had snapped their 10-game losing skid with a 100-57 rout over their traveling partner Mayville State (N.D.).  VCSU will also return to Concordia-Moorhead gymnasium on Saturday when they host Bellevue (Neb.).

Valley City State is 6-12 overall record this season, starting off with a three straight victories over Providence (Manitoba) twice and NCAA Division III Minnesota-Morris.  The Vikings opened their inaugural Frontier Conference play with a 74-59 road victory at Mayville State (N.D.) on Nov. 18.  

VCSU earned their 61-58 home upset victory over No. 21 Montana Tech on Nov. 22, followed by their 10-game losing skid in the Frontier Conference.  The Vikings' losing skid began at Bellevue on Dec. 5 through Jan. 20 with Bismarck State (N.D.) in Jamestown.

Valley City State is averaging 67.9 points per game this season, which is sixth in the Frontier Conference.  Ellie Braaten leads the team with 12.3 points per game this season, while the team is shooting 36.3 percent from the field.  

Dakota State had won the previous three meetings with Valley City State, all at DSU Fieldhouse.  The Trojans won the first Frontier Conference meeting on Dec. 6.

SCOUTING THE COMETS
Ryan Carpenter is in his second season as the Mayville State (N.D.) women's basketball head coach after guiding the Comets to an 18-10 overall record in the first season.  He was previously the head women's basketball coach at his alma mater, Lancaster Bible College (Pa.) before coming to Mayville State.

The Comets enter this weekend's Frontier Conference with an overall record of 1-17.  MSU is winless in 14 league contests this season, with the most recent loss to their traveling partner Valley City State (N.D.) in Moorhead, Minn., on Jan. 24.

Mayville State is currently on a 15-game winning streak, with their lone win of the season on Nov. 5 at Mount Mercy (Iowa) 72-65.    

Dakota State won the first Frontier Conference meeting on Dec. 5 over Mayville State, earning a 92-51 victory at DSU Fieldhouse.  The Trojans highlighted with a 33-13 third quarter outburst and never trailed for the rest of the game.

DSU and MSU met in the former North Star Athletic Association Postseason Tournament's championship two times in 2023 and 2024.

LAST TIME OUT
Seventh-ranked Dakota State (S.D.) used a balanced scoring with twelve (12) different players scored, rolling to an 89-41 victory over their traveling partner Bellevue (Neb.) on Jan. 23 at DSU Fieldhouse.  It was the fifth straight league victory for the Trojans, who stayed in a three-way tie in the Frontier Conference standings with Montana Tech and Carroll (Mont.) with 12-2 record each.  The Trojans remained undefeated at home with a 10-0 record after wrapping their three-game Frontier Conference home stand.  DSU is also 7-0 home record in Frontier Conference games.

Dakota State forced 26 Bellevue turnovers, scored 25 points off those miscues, and held the Bruins to 24.6 percent field goal shooting (15-of-61 field goals.  The Trojans built a lead that reached as many as 49 points late in the fourth quarter.

The Trojans never trailed and controlled the game from the opening tip.  The Trojans raced to a 7-0 lead in the first two minutes and held the Bruins without a field goal for nearly four minutes.  DSU took a 20-13 lead after the first quarter.

DSU's defense set the tone in the second period, forcing ten BU turnovers while limiting the Bruins to just six points.  Dakota State outscored Bellevue 21-6 in the second quarter and went into halftime with a commanding 41-19 advantage.

The Trojans shot 62.5 percent from the floor (10-of-16 field goals) and knocked down five three-pointers in the third quarter.  A 12-0 run midway through the third quarter stretched the lead beyond 30, and the Trojans took a 68-29 cushion into the final quarter, thanks to DSU's 27-10 third quarter outburst.  The Trojans outscored the Bruins 21-12 in the final quarter to secure the victory.

TEEL EARNS SECOND STRAIGHT CONFERENCE DEFENSIVE PLAYER-OF-THE-WEEK HONOR
Dakota State's senior forward Tabor Teel was named to the 2025-26 Erck Hotels/Frontier Conference Women's Basketball Defensive Player-of-the-Week honor for the second consecutive week on Jan. 26.  It was her sixth time this season that she had received the weekly honor from the Frontier Conference, her fifth time this year that she was named Defensive Player-of-the-Week.

Teel led the seventh-ranked Trojans to their lone victory of the week in the Frontier Conference, defeating Bellevue 89-41 at DSU Fieldhouse on Jan. 23.  She posted a double-double of game-highs 18 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, with nine rebounds being as defensive rebounds.

Teel also stole the ball four times and recorded three blocks in the game.  Dakota State led the defensive effort that held Bellevue to 24.6 percent field goal shooting in the game (15-of-61 field goals) and forced the Bruins to 26 turnovers in the game. 

DSU REMAINS AT NO. 7 RANKING IN NAIA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL COACHES' TOP 25
Dakota State remained at No. 7 ranking on the 2025-26 NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 national poll, the fifth edition of the regular season poll was announced Wednesday morning by the national office.  The Trojans earned 40 more points from the previous poll on Jan. 14, racking up a total of 445 points.

The Trojans has put together a strong 17-3 campaign behind an explosive perimeter-driven offense and a perfect 10-0 record at home.  DSU have topped 90 points seven times this season, including a 105-point outburst at Bellevue (Neb.) last November.  Dakota State owns wins over several ranked or receiving votes opponents, thanks to their pace, volume shooting, and depth.

Dordt (Iowa), who held on to defeat DSU 86-82 last November at the Sanford Sports Complex in Pentagon, continues to hold firm at No. 1 in the national poll.  Dakota State had been in the Top 10 all season long, ranking as high as the school record No. 4 ranking. 

FRONTIER CONFERENCE NEARS POSTSEASON TIME
There are a total of eight conference regular season contests remaining in the Frontier Conference before their postseason tournament.  The league closes the month of January with a pair of games this weekend, followed by three straight weekends of two games (Friday-Saturday) through Feb. 21.

Dakota State has four road contests and four home contests remaining on their 2025-26 regular season schedule.  After heading to North Dakota for the final time this weekend, the Trojans return home to DSU Fieldhouse next weekend versus No. 23 ranked Rocky Mountain (Mont.) on Feb. 6 in the White-Out theme and (RV) Carroll (Mont.) in Law Enforcement Appreciation Night on Feb. 7.

DSU heads to Montana on the weekend of Feb. 13-14, visiting Montana Western and Montana Tech.  The Trojans play their final home regular season games versus Dickinson State (N.D.) and Bismarck State (N.D.) on Feb. 20-21.

The top eight teams in the Frontier Conference standings will play in the conference's postseason tournament to be held at the Civic Center in Butte, Mont.  The top two seeds (No. 1 and No. 2 seeds) will play against the bottom two seeds (No. 7 and No. 8 seeds) in the first two quarterfinal contests on Friday, Feb. 27.  The other two quarterfinals will be played on Saturday, Feb. 28 for No. 3 through No. 6 seeds.

The semifinals are set for Monday, March 1, with the championship game scheduled for Tuesday, March 2 at 6 p.m. (CT)/5 p.m. (MT).  The winner of the postseason tournament will receive the second automatic bid to the national tournament.

2025-26 DSU Trojan Women's Basketball Team Leaders

• Points/Points Per Game: Tabor Teel – 318 points (15.9 points per game)
• Field Goal Percentage: Cierra Watkins – 57.4 percent (78-of-136 field goals)
• 3-point Field Goal Percentage: Hamtyn Heinz – 35.6 percent (37-of-104 3-point field goals)
• Free-Throw Percentage: Caitlin Dyer – 78.9 percent (30-of-38 free-throws)
• Rebounds: Tabor Teel – 209 rebounds (10.5 rebounds per game)
• Assists/Assists Per Game: Tabor Teel – 80 assists/4.0 assists per game
• Steals/Steals Per Game: Cierra Watkins – 38 steals/1.9 steals per game
• Blocked Shots: Tabor Teel – 37 blocked shots (1.9 blocks per game)