- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,170,354
- Reaction score
- 59
Mar. 18—MITCHELL — It's a new site, a new opponent and a renewed focus for the Dakota Wesleyan University women's basketball team heading to Sioux City, Iowa, for the final rounds of the NAIA national tournament.
The Tigers will play Lindsey Wilson University, of Columbia, Kentucky, in the Round of 16 at 1 p.m. on Friday at the Tyson Events Center.
After two wins in the NAIA opening round at home in the Corn Palace, DWU (27-6) makes the two-hour drive to Sioux City for the remainder of the tournament to a familiar venue and a place where they can expect a strong contingent of fans in blue to follow along.
"I always tell the kids to control what you can control and that's going to be one of the messages this week," DWU coach Jason Christensen said. "We're definitely trying to 'embrace the now' and have fun with it. We're in a position where you know there's a lot of other teams that wish they could be here, so let's embrace our chances and let's see what happens."
The matchup with the Blue Raiders (23-8) will represent teams from two of the three strongest conferences in NAIA women's basketball, according to the Massey Ratings. The Mid-South Conference has five teams in the final 16, including LWU, while the GPAC sent three, with Dordt and Hastings joining DWU.
"They're similar to us, as far as you can look at their record and see they have eight losses," Christensen said. "Teams can look at us and say the same thing when we've got six losses. But we're in such a tough conference and I know they are too. They have five of the last 16 teams from their league and that tells you something about what kind of team they have to be."
The Blue Raiders have never won a national championship but they've had plenty of NAIA tournament experience, qualifying for the fifth time in six years and 11 times in the last 12 seasons — previously competing in NAIA Division I before the NAIA divisions merged into one. Because of that, they've never played in Sioux City, getting bounced in the opening rounds in 2022, 2024 and 2025, last making it this far in 2019.
The Tigers last played in Sioux City two years ago in the Round of 16, when the Tigers advanced as a No. 7 seed and played the University of the Cumberlands — another team from the Mid-South Conference — in an 87-80 loss. DWU's three seniors — Rylee Rosenquist, Maleighya Estes and Taliyah Hayes all played in that game — while Rosenquist, Emma Yost and Shalayne Nagel all were in the starting lineup.
Rosenquist, who played high school basketball at nearby Dakota Valley, said she's been looking forward to getting a chance to end her career at the national tournament.
"We've all been highly motivated to get back there," she said. "It's where you want to be, and for me, it's basically a home game. It's a homecoming for sure, and that part is great."
Of the 16 teams still remaining, DWU has played five of them already this year. That includes Dordt and Hastings from the GPAC, Dordt's opponent on Thursday MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), Dakota State and Campbellsville, of Kentucky, which is also a Mid-South opponent. DWU beat then-No. 3-ranked Campbellsville 83-55 in Hawaii in December.
"I will say when we played Campbellsville in Hawaii, we played very well and did a lot of good things," Christensen said. "It's nice for our kids to have that confidence, and I'm glad we won that game so our kids know they can play with teams from the Mid-South Conference."
Lindsey Wilson ranks No. 1 in the country in the fewest turnovers as a team per game, checking in at 10.4 giveaways per game. DWU is also in the top-15 in the NAIA in that stat at 12.8 turnovers per contest. Christensen also identified rebounding as a key area of focus.
"We're going to have to keep them off the boards," he said. "They have some height, and I'm not saying they're 6-foot-3 or 6-foot-4 but they're 5-foot-10 and they're built well. Their guards are built that way too. ... They are going to be the most physical team that we've played so far in this tournament."
The Blue Raiders have three players who average at least 10 points per game, led by 5-foot-10 forward Meadow Tisdale at 15.7 points per game, who is an NCAA Division I transfer from Murray State (Ky.), while 5-foot-10 forward Taylor Guess averages 11.5 points per game and 5-foot-6 point guard Amelia Hodges tallies 10 points per contest. LWU has three wins over teams ranked in the top-five this season, including two over Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.), which is the tournament's overall No. 1 seed.
If DWU wins, they will face either the quadrant's No. 1 seed Bethel (Tenn.) or No. 4 Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho). That national quarterfinal would be at 6 p.m. Saturday night, and the Tigers have never played either team. Sunday is an off day for the four remaining teams, while the semifinals are on Monday night and the championship game is at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Christensen said after a film review of the first two games, he appreciated his team's ability to follow the game plan and execute at a high level. He said that will be a focus once again from here forward in the NAIA tournament, as well.
"We were very consistent in what we wanted to do, going after boards and taking advantage of our post games," Christensen said. "We stayed true to that and I think that helped us."
Continue reading...
The Tigers will play Lindsey Wilson University, of Columbia, Kentucky, in the Round of 16 at 1 p.m. on Friday at the Tyson Events Center.
After two wins in the NAIA opening round at home in the Corn Palace, DWU (27-6) makes the two-hour drive to Sioux City for the remainder of the tournament to a familiar venue and a place where they can expect a strong contingent of fans in blue to follow along.
"I always tell the kids to control what you can control and that's going to be one of the messages this week," DWU coach Jason Christensen said. "We're definitely trying to 'embrace the now' and have fun with it. We're in a position where you know there's a lot of other teams that wish they could be here, so let's embrace our chances and let's see what happens."
The matchup with the Blue Raiders (23-8) will represent teams from two of the three strongest conferences in NAIA women's basketball, according to the Massey Ratings. The Mid-South Conference has five teams in the final 16, including LWU, while the GPAC sent three, with Dordt and Hastings joining DWU.
"They're similar to us, as far as you can look at their record and see they have eight losses," Christensen said. "Teams can look at us and say the same thing when we've got six losses. But we're in such a tough conference and I know they are too. They have five of the last 16 teams from their league and that tells you something about what kind of team they have to be."
The Blue Raiders have never won a national championship but they've had plenty of NAIA tournament experience, qualifying for the fifth time in six years and 11 times in the last 12 seasons — previously competing in NAIA Division I before the NAIA divisions merged into one. Because of that, they've never played in Sioux City, getting bounced in the opening rounds in 2022, 2024 and 2025, last making it this far in 2019.
The Tigers last played in Sioux City two years ago in the Round of 16, when the Tigers advanced as a No. 7 seed and played the University of the Cumberlands — another team from the Mid-South Conference — in an 87-80 loss. DWU's three seniors — Rylee Rosenquist, Maleighya Estes and Taliyah Hayes all played in that game — while Rosenquist, Emma Yost and Shalayne Nagel all were in the starting lineup.
Rosenquist, who played high school basketball at nearby Dakota Valley, said she's been looking forward to getting a chance to end her career at the national tournament.
"We've all been highly motivated to get back there," she said. "It's where you want to be, and for me, it's basically a home game. It's a homecoming for sure, and that part is great."
Of the 16 teams still remaining, DWU has played five of them already this year. That includes Dordt and Hastings from the GPAC, Dordt's opponent on Thursday MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), Dakota State and Campbellsville, of Kentucky, which is also a Mid-South opponent. DWU beat then-No. 3-ranked Campbellsville 83-55 in Hawaii in December.
"I will say when we played Campbellsville in Hawaii, we played very well and did a lot of good things," Christensen said. "It's nice for our kids to have that confidence, and I'm glad we won that game so our kids know they can play with teams from the Mid-South Conference."
Lindsey Wilson ranks No. 1 in the country in the fewest turnovers as a team per game, checking in at 10.4 giveaways per game. DWU is also in the top-15 in the NAIA in that stat at 12.8 turnovers per contest. Christensen also identified rebounding as a key area of focus.
"We're going to have to keep them off the boards," he said. "They have some height, and I'm not saying they're 6-foot-3 or 6-foot-4 but they're 5-foot-10 and they're built well. Their guards are built that way too. ... They are going to be the most physical team that we've played so far in this tournament."
The Blue Raiders have three players who average at least 10 points per game, led by 5-foot-10 forward Meadow Tisdale at 15.7 points per game, who is an NCAA Division I transfer from Murray State (Ky.), while 5-foot-10 forward Taylor Guess averages 11.5 points per game and 5-foot-6 point guard Amelia Hodges tallies 10 points per contest. LWU has three wins over teams ranked in the top-five this season, including two over Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.), which is the tournament's overall No. 1 seed.
If DWU wins, they will face either the quadrant's No. 1 seed Bethel (Tenn.) or No. 4 Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho). That national quarterfinal would be at 6 p.m. Saturday night, and the Tigers have never played either team. Sunday is an off day for the four remaining teams, while the semifinals are on Monday night and the championship game is at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Christensen said after a film review of the first two games, he appreciated his team's ability to follow the game plan and execute at a high level. He said that will be a focus once again from here forward in the NAIA tournament, as well.
"We were very consistent in what we wanted to do, going after boards and taking advantage of our post games," Christensen said. "We stayed true to that and I think that helped us."
Continue reading...
