March 23, 2026

THIS WEEK'S PREVIEW
The Dakota State University Trojan women's basketball team (30-5 overall record, No. 7 ranking in the final NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 national poll) eyes for the national title early this week as they continue their postseason run.  The Trojans, the winner of the Naismith Quadrant, face the two-time defending national champion Dordt (Iowa) (33-2 overall record, No. 1 in the final poll) Monday evening.  Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at the Tyson Events Center in the first NAIA national semifinals.

The winner moves on the championship game on Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. versus the winner of Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) (29-6 overall record) and Marian (Ind.) (33-2 overall record).

QUICK HITS
*Dakota State returns to NAIA semifinals for the second time since 2023 after winning the Naismith Quadrant as the No. 3 seed.  The Trojans are making their 12th appearance in the NAIA national tournament, their sixth straight season in the Division I era (previous national tournament was during the 2000's decade where they qualified six times in the span of nine years in Division II era).

*The final four teams in the NAIA Women's Basketball National Tournament sees familiar foes that Dakota State had faced.  The Trojans played Dordt (Iowa) and rival Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) earlier this season.  DSU faced Marian on Nov. 3, 2024, in the Concordia (Neb.) Cattle Classic.

*The remaining four teams come from the Midwest region, with three teams in the Upper Midwest including Frontier Conference's DSU, and Great Plains Athletic Conference members Dakota Wesleyan and Dordt.  Marian comes from Indianapolis, Ind., from the Crossroads League.

*All four teams in the NAIA national semifinals are averaging more than 80 points per game, except Dakota Wesleyan.  All four teams held a scoring margin average of at least 21.0 points per game.
 

Scoring Offense	86.4	82.9	79.1	80.9
Scoring Defense	57.8	61.9	58.1	52.0
Scoring Margin	26.8	21.0	21.0	28.9
Field Goal %	.472	.441	.465	.471
Field Goal Def. %	.349	.368	.347	.350
Free Throw %	.745	.646	.721	.674
Rebounds Per Game	43.8	43.3	42.3	40.9
Rebounds Margin	12.1	5.9	13.2	7.3
3-point FGs Made Per Game	8.6	10.4	5.0	5.5
3-point FG %	.362	.333	.314	.353
Assists Per Game	18.8	17.9	12.7	17.8
Blocks Per Game	3.9	4.1	4.3	3.7

SCOUTING THE DEFENDERS
Bill Harmsen guided Dordt (Iowa) since 2018-19 and is seeking for their third consecutive NAIA Women's Basketball national title.  He holds a career record of 188-48 and led the Defenders to the Great Plains Athletic Conference title.

Dordt ranks No. 1 in the final edition of the NAIA Women's Basketball National Coaches' Top 25, despite falling to Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) in the GPAC Tournament's title.  The Defenders swept the Tigers during their regular-season series.  

Dordt won the Cramer Quadrant after rolling the past four opponents.  The Defenders crushed No. 16 seed Simpson (Calif.) 120-47 in the First Round, followed by an 85-54 Second Round win over Frontier's foe Rocky Mountain (Mont.).

DU went to earn a pair of 20-point plus victories last weekend, defeating No. 4 seed MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 75-53 in the Round of 16 and 83-62 to No. 2 seed St. Francis (Ind.) in the national quarterfinals.

Dordt won the previous meeting on Nov. 11, 2025, at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.  The Defenders jumped to a 23-11 first quarter lead and withdrew DSU's late comeback for an 86-82 victory.  The Trojans are seeking their first win over Defenders since Nov. 3, 2020.   

SCOUTING THE TIGERS/KNIGHTS
Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.), under the guidance of Jason Christiansen, comes out of the Duer Quadrant as the No. 2 seed.  The Tigers, who won the GPAC Tournament title, defeated No. 15 seed St. Francis (Ill.), No. 10 seed College of the Ozarks (Mo.), No. 3 seed Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) and rallied back to defeat the No. 1 seed Bethel (Tenn.) to reach the national semifinals.

Dakota State defeated rival DWU 74-62 in the annual Battle of the Blues at DSU Fieldhouse in Madison, S.D., earlier this season on Dec. 2, 2025.  Ironically, it was the identical score last season at the Corn Palace won by DSU.

Suntana Anderson is in her second year as Marian (Ind.) head coach.  She guided her squad to back-to-back NAIA national tournament appearances, thanks to their 33-2 overall record and 16-2 record in the Crossroads League.  The Knights swept both the regular-season and tournament conference titles.

Liston Quadrant's No. 1 seed Marian earned a pair of home wins in their first two rounds of the national tournament, defeating No. 16 seed Haskell (Kan.), No. 8 seed Columbia (Mo.), No. 12 seed Shawnee State (Ohio), and No. 2 seed Campbellsville (Ky.).

Marian defeated DSU 78-69 in their last meeting held in Seward, Neb., hosted by Concordia (Neb.) in the Cattle Classic on Nov. 3, 2023.

LAST TIME OUT
Dakota State returned to Tyson Events Center for the third time in the past four seasons.  The Trojans held off a pair of opponents to reach the NAIA national semifinals for the second time since 2023.

DSU opened the Round of 16 against familiar foe, Indiana Wesleyan.  Both teams met in at the national tournament's final site for the third time in the past four seasons.  Both teams met in the Round of 16 for the second straight meeting.  After boing knotted 26-26 by halftime, the Trojans took a s lim 49-47 lead after three quarters and pulled away past the Wildcats after outscoring them 24-18 in the final quarter for a 73-65 victory.  It was DSU's third straight victory in the series meeting with IWU.

Bria Wasmund finished with a season-high 21 points and dished out five assists for the Trojans.  Caitlin Dyer added 15 points and four steals.  Tabor Teel collected 10 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and two blocks.  Cierra Watkins tallied seven points and seven rebounds.  

DSU shot 22-of-50 from the field (44 percent), while IWU shot 24-of-55 field goals (43.6 percent).  The Trojans converted 21-of-34 from the free-throw line, while the Wildcats struggled by hitting 10-of-22 free-throws (45.5 percent).

Dakota State met Georgetown (Ky.) of Mid-South Conference in the Naismith Quadrant's final.  Georgetown opened the game by making four straight baskets to grab a 10-0 lead before DSU went on a 22-8 first quarter closing run for a 22-18 lead.  The Trojans ballooned their lead to 48-37 by halftime after a 3-pointer from Angelina Chapple right before halftime.  

DSU led as many as 19 points midway through the third quarter before the Tigers stormed back to cut the Trojans' lead to 66-63 by the end of third quarter.  After GC briefly led 72-71 in the early fourth quarter, DSU went on to score 11 straight points and held on to an 85-79 victory.

Teel finished with a double-double of 16 points and 16 rebounds for Dakota State.  She also had six blocks and four assists.  Dyer added 16 points, four rebounds, and three assists.  Watkins had 13 points, six rebounds, and two blocks.  Ella Carstensen posted a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds.  She had two blocks.

DSU shot 43.5 percent from the field (30-of-69 field goals) and hit 17-of-26 from the free-throw line.  Georgetown was 37.8 percent from the field (28-of-74 field goals) and 11-of-19 at the free-throw line.

DSU HIT SCHOOL RECORD 30 WINS; RETURN TO NAIA SEMIFINALS 
Dakota State continued their postseason run as they continue to shatter school records.  The Trojans reached their 30th win of the season after their NAIA national quarterfinals win over (RV) Georgetown (Ky.) 85-79 on March 21 at Tyson Events Center.

The previous school record was 29 wins, the year when the Trojans reached the NAIA national semifinals before falling to eventual national champion Clarke (Iowa).  It marked the sixth straight year that Dakota State had reach more than 25 wins, which all of those wins are ranked in the top six most single season wins in the DSU women's basketball school record book.  

The 2022-23 squad, which went to the national semifinals, the league's regular season champion team lost in the North Star Athletic Association conference tournament's championship game to Mayville State (N.D.) in Watertown, S.D.  However, they advanced to the national semifinals after defeating Morningside (Iowa), Eastern Oregon, Carroll (Mont.), and Indiana Wesleyan to earn their 29th win of the season.

Ironically this season, the Trojans this season won the inaugural Frontier Conference regular season outright title with a 19-3 conference record and fell in the conference's tournament championship game to No. 15 ranked Montana Tech in Butte, Mont.  DSU then went on to win four straight games in the NAIA national tournament to return to the semifinals after reaching their school record 30th win.

2025-26 DSU Trojan Women's Basketball Team Leaders

• Points/Points Per Game: Tabor Teel – 587 points (16.8 points per game)
• Field Goal Percentage: Cierra Watkins – 54.6 percent (136-of-249 field goals)
• 3-point Field Goal Percentage: Caitlin Dyer – 38.2 percent (66-of-173 3-point field goals)
• Free-Throw Percentage: Caitlin Dyer – 76.9 percent (50-of-65 free-throws)
• Rebounds: Tabor Teel – 370 rebounds (10.6 rebounds per game)
• Assists/Assists Per Game: Tabor Teel – 131 assists/3.7 assists per game
• Steals/Steals Per Game: Bria Wasmund – 70 steals/2.0 steals per game
• Blocked Shots: Tabor Teel – 61 blocked shots (1.7 blocks per game)