March 11, 2026

THIS WEEK'S PREVIEW
MADISON, S.D. - The Dakota State University Trojan women's basketball team (26-5 overall record, No. 7 ranking in the NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 poll) continues their postseason action this weekend as they host the 2026 NAIA Women's Basketball First and Second Round, presented by Ballogy.  It will be third straight year that DSU will be hosting the first two rounds of the national tournament at DSU Fieldhouse (1302 N. Washington Ave.).

The No. 3 seed in the Naismith Bracket, Dakota State, will face No. 14 seed Grand View (Iowa) (22-8 overall record) of the Heart of America Athletic Conference.  Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.  The second game will feature No. 6 seed Concordia (Neb.) (23-7 overall record, No. 13 in the final national rankings) of the Great Plins Athletic conference taking on No. 11 seed Bethel (Kan.) (20-9 overall record) of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference.  The game is set for 7:30 p.m.

Friday's winners will play on Saturday evening at 6 p.m., vying for a spot to the final site at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa, on March 19 through March 24.

QUICK HITS
*Dakota State is hosting the NAIA Women's Basketball First and Second Round for the third straight year at DSU Fieldhouse.  

*The Trojans will face familiar foes that either played at DSU Fieldhouse in the past few years or this season.  DSU had faced Concordia (Neb.) in a scrimmage at Bellevue (Neb.) earlier this season and defeated Bethel (Kan.) 100-75 in the Coyote Classic last November.

*Grand View (Iowa) returns to DSU Fieldhouse for the second time in the past three seasons in the NAIA National Tournament First and Second Round.  The Vikings, who were seeded No. 5 in the national tournament in 2024, lost to No. 12 seed Indiana East 72-53.

*Dakota State qualified for the NAIA National Tournament for the sixth straight year, the longest streak in DSU women's basketball program history (previous high was three straight appearances in NAIA Division II twice during the 2000's decade).

*Dakota State is 14-0 record at home this season, including 11-0 record in the Frontier Conference play.

Scoring Offense	68.0	81.8	81.9	74.4
Scoring Defense	60.9	61.3	59.3	67.2
Scoring Margin	7.2	20.5	22.6	7.2
Field Goal %	.408	.436	.438	.431
Field Goal Def. %	.375	.366	.377	.409
Free Throw %	.711	.652	.717	.720
Rebounds Per Game	34.7	43.0	36.9	35.9
Rebounds Margin	-0.2	5.4	-3.4	1.5
3-point FGs Made Per Game	7.5	10.5	10.5	3.9
3-point FG %	.319	.329	.341	.253
Assists Per Game	11.1	17.8	18.5	16.7
Blocks Per Game	3.5	3.9	3.2	4.8

SCOUTING THE VIKINGS
Grand View is coached by Jasmine Stohr.  She enters her fifth season leading the Vikings. Before coming to Grand View, Stohr was an associate head coach at Briar Cliff (Iowa). She also was an assistant for NCAA Division I Idaho State and NAIA's Providence (Mont.).

The Vikings, who are 22-8 overall record on the season, lost in the Heart of America conference tournament semifinal against Benedictine (Kan.). 

Common opponents this season between DSU and Grand View are Mayville State (N.D.), Dordt (Iowa), and Northwestern (Iowa). Both teams defeated Mayville State, both teams lost to Dordt, and Grand View lost to Northwestern while DSU defeated Northwestern.

Dakota State has a series record of 2-2 against Grand View. Their last meeting was in 2021 at the DSU Fieldhouse where the Trojans defeated the Vikings 76-63. Jessi Giles scored a game-high 21 points in the winning effort. 

This will be Grand View's third all-time game inside DSU Fieldhouse; they played their NAIA National Tournament First Round game against IU-South Bend in 2024.  The Vikings earned the automatic qualifier bid to the national tournament as the Heart's conference regular-season runner-up.

SCOUTING THE MADISON POD
This will be the third consecutive year that Dakota State hosts the NAIA Women's Basketball First and Second Rounds at DSU Fieldhouse.

The nightcap will feature the sixth seeded Bulldogs of Concordia (Neb.) against the eleventh seeded Threshers of Bethel (Kan).

Concordia, ranked 13th in the nation, 23-7 overall record and 17-5 record in the Great Plains Athletic Conference, fell in the semifinals of the GPAC Conference Tournament to (1) Dordt (Iowa). The Bulldogs earned an at-large invitation to the national tournament.

Bethel, 20-9 overall and 17-5 in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, fell in the quarterfinals of the KCAC Conference Tournament to Tabor (Kan.).  BC earned the bid to the national tournament as the KCAC's Tournament No. 2 seed.

Dakota State had scrimmaged Concordia earlier this season and played Bethel at the Coyote Classic on Nov. 1, winning by a score of 100-75.

The second round will take place Saturday evening at 6:00 p.m. The game will feature the winners of the DSU/Grand View and Concordia/Bethel contests.

LAST TIME OUT
Dakota State (S.D.) traveled to Butte Civic Center to play in the first-ever Frontier Conference postseason tournament.  The Trojans were the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament after winning the conference regular season title outright with a 19-3 record.

Dakota State kicked off the quarterfinal round on Feb. 27, ironically, against the eighth seeded Bismarck State (N.D.), where both teams played back-to-back games (DSU defeated BSC 117-56 in the regular-season finale on Feb. 21 at DSU Fieldhouse).  The Trojans erupted for back-to-back 110-plus points, hitting a season-high 20 3-pointers in 113-83 win over Bismarck State.

Seven DSU players led a balanced scoring attack, paced by Hamtyn Heinz with a career-high 20 points thanks to her 6-of-10 3-pointers.  Tabor Teel added 17 points, seven rebounds, and a career-high seven rebounds.  Caitlin Dyer scored 17 points.  Bria Wasmund had 12 points and seven assists.  Cierra Watkins scored 11 points and dished out five assists.  Angelina Chapple had 10 points and five rebounds.  Mackenzi Simmons scored 10 points.

Dakota State faced No. 5 seed MSU-Northern, who defeated No. 4 seed Rocky Mountain (Mont.) in the quarterfinals on Feb. 28, in the semifinals round on March 1.  The Skylights took a slim 16-13 lead after the first quarter, but the Trojans outscored MSU-N 19-6 in the second quarter to propel to a 73-57 win.

Teel posted her 18th double-double of the season, scoring 26 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.  She was 10-of-19 from the field.  Ella Carstensen added 17 points, four rebounds, and hit 4-of-4 from the 3-point line.  Wasmund had 16 points, six assists, and five steals.

Dakota State met No. 15 ranked and No. 2 seed host team Montana Tech in the Frontier Conference championship game, with both teams already securing the automatic bids to the NAIA National Tournament.  The Trojans led as many as 19 points to start the quarter and led 31-17 after the first quarter.

The Orediggers kept chipping in close with the Trojans, cutting their lead to 46-39 by halftime and 61-58 after three quarters.  MT went on to outscored DSU 18-11 in the final quarter to earn a 76-72 victory.

Watkins scored a career-high 22 points on her 7-of-10 field goal shooting, including 3-of-4 from the 3-point line.  She added a career-high 14 rebounds for a double-double.  Wasmund contributed 15 points and seven rebounds.  Teel had 11 points and nine rebounds.

NAISMITH BRACKET PREVIEW
Dakota State was placed in the Naismith quadrant when the NAIA Women's Basketball Selection Show as announced via NAIA's YouTube on March 5.  There are four teams in each of the 16-team quadrant, with winners after the second round advancing to the final site on March 19-24 at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa.

The overall No. 1 seed goes to Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) as they host No. 16 seed Rust (Miss.), No. 8 seed Langston (Okla.) and No. 9 seed Bethel (Ind.) in Henderson, Tenn., this weekend.

No. 5 seed Georgetown (Ky.) will host the pod in Georgetown, Ky., with No. 12 seed Taylor (Ind.), No. 4 seed Loyola (La.) and No. 13 seed Milligan (Tenn.).    

No. 3 seed Dakota State hosts a four-team pod in Madison, S.D. with No. 14 seed Grand View (Iowa), No. 6 seed Concordia (Neb.), and No. 11 seed Bethel (Kan.).

Rio Grande, Ohio, will be the final site in the Naismith quadrant as No. 2 seed takes on No. 15 seed Rochester Christian (Mich.) in the first round, followed by No. 7 seed Cumberlands (Ky.) versus No. 10 seed Indiana Wesleyan.

Three other Frontier Conference teams are also in the NAIA National Tournament.  No. 5 seed Montana Tech is placed in the Duer Quadrant in the Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) pod in Lewiston, Idaho, with Hope International (Calif.) and Nelson (Texas).  Rocky Mountain (Mont.) returns to Dordt (Iowa) in Sioux Center, Iowa, for the second straight year.  The Sioux Center pod includes Southern Oregon and Simpson (Calif.).  Carroll (Mont.) travels to Indianapolis, Ind., in the Marian (Ind.) quad with Haskell (Kan.) and Columbia (Mo.).

TROJANS RECEIVE FRONTIER CONFERENCE POSTSEASON AWARDS
The Frontier Conference announced the women's basketball All-Conference teams and postseason awards prior to the conference tournament on Feb. 26.  Five individuals received awards from the conference.

Tabor Teel was selected to the league's Player-of-the-Year for the Trojans.  It was the second straight year that she received the conference's Player-of-the-Year award (North Star Athletic Association in 2025), and her third straight year as the First Team All-Conference selection.  She was also named to the Frontier All-Defense Team. 

Caitlin Dyer also received the First Team All-Conference and All-Defense Teams for Dakota State.  Bria Wasmund was chosen to the league's Second Team All-Conference.  Brooke Gunderson was DSU's recipient of the Frontier Conference's Champions of Character award.

The league's head coaches selected DSU's David Moe as the Coach-of-the-Year.  It was his seventh straight year on receiving the award, guiding the Trojans to their sixth consecutive 25-plus wins.

2025-26 DSU Trojan Women's Basketball Team Leaders

• Points/Points Per Game: Tabor Teel – 520 points (17.1 points per game)
• Field Goal Percentage: Cierra Watkins – 56.1 percent (125-of-223 field goals)
• 3-point Field Goal Percentage: Caitlin Dyer – 36.9 percent (58-of-157 3-point field goals)
• Free-Throw Percentage: Caitlin Dyer – 75.0 percent (36-of-48 free-throws)
• Rebounds: Tabor Teel – 324 rebounds (10.5 rebounds per game)
• Assists/Assists Per Game: Tabor Teel – 120 assists/3.9 assists per game
• Steals/Steals Per Game: Bria Wasmund – 67 steals/2.2 steals per game
• Blocked Shots: Tabor Teel – 48 blocked shots (1.5 blocks per game)