Feb. 26—MITCHELL — After taking down top-ranked Dordt on Saturday, Dakota Wesleyan University women’s basketball moved up three spots to No. 13 in the final NAIA coaches top-25 poll of the season, which was released on Wednesday.
The Tigers’ 76-66 win in overtime over the Defenders capped a 23-5 regular season, including an 18-4 mark in Great Plains Athletic Conference play ahead of their conference postseason opener against Doane (Neb.). As the No. 2-seed in the GPAC tournament, DWU would host games at the Corn Palace through the semifinal round.
Dordt, the top seed in the tournament and GPAC women’s regular-season champion, went wire-to-wire in the poll as the No. 1 team in the nation, but received its lowest number of first-place votes (10) this week out of the eight polls conducted this season. No. 2 Southern Oregon received seven first-place votes while No. 3 Campbellsville (Ky.) had three.
Among other GPAC schools, Briar Cliff held firm at No. 5 for the fourth consecutive poll while Hastings climbed six spots from No. 24 to No. 18. Northwestern also received votes.
Dakota State is ranked at No. 8 and is the top seed in the final North Star Athletic Association women’s basketball tournament. The conference will shut down at the conclusion of the 2024-25 academic year.
In the men’s top-25 rankings, the College of Idaho became the sixth program this season to obtain the No. 1 ranking, with former No. 1 LSU Alexandria (La.) moving down a spot to No. 2.
GPAC men’s regular-season champion Dordt leads the conference contingent in the rankings, moving up from No. 7 to No. 6. Concordia also moved up a spot from No. 12 to No. 11 while Northwestern stayed at No. 13. Morningside is also receiving votes.
The polls, which are voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences, will not be used to select the 64-team field for both NAIA national tournaments. The NAIA basketball tournament selection shows are on Thursday, March 6.
