Osthus tabbed Co-Defensive Player of the Year, Ashley Bray and Amber Bray named GPAC First Team

MITCHELL, S.D. – One day after playing in the Great Plains Athletic Conference Championship game, the Dakota Wesleyan University women’s basketball team landed five players on the All-GPAC teams.

Osthus tabbed Co-Defensive Player of the Year, Ashley Bray and Amber Bray named GPAC First Team
February 28, 2018

MITCHELL, S.D. – One day after playing in the Great Plains Athletic Conference Championship game, the Dakota Wesleyan University women's basketball team landed five players on the All-GPAC teams.

 For the second-consecutive year, senior Ashley Bray (Anoka, Minn.) was named to the All-GPAC First Team, while twin sister Amber Bray (Anoka, Minn.) joined her for the first time in her career and junior guard Rylie Osthus (De Smet, S.D.) was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year and All-GPAC First Team.

 Ashley is second on the team in points per game averaging 14.4 and second on the team with 5.6 rebounds per game. She ranks seventh in the NAIA in three-point field goal percentage at 47.3 percent and 15th nationally in field-goal percentage shooting 55.2 percent. In her career, Ashley has totaled 1,602 points, good for sixth on the DWU all-time scoring list. She has scored at least double-figures in 24 games this season.

 Joining her on the All-GPAC First Team list for the first time is Amber Bray after an outstanding senior campaign. She leads the team with 14.5 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game. Amber has notched a double-double on six different occasions this season, leading the Tigers. She currently leads the nation in three-point field goal percentage at 53.3 percent and ranks 10th nationally in free-throw percentage shooting 86.4 percent. Amber has scored 1,230 points in her career, ranking 16th on the DWU all-time scoring list.

 Osthus is the third member of the All-GPAC First Team from DWU, and was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year. Osthus leads the team with 5.4 assists per game and 1.5 steals per game. She is also fourth on the team with 9.9 points per game and has three double-doubles this season. Osthus ranks seventh in the NAIA in total assists with 170 on the season and ninth in assists per game. She also ranks 16th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.3. In her career, Osthus has totaled 961 points, 471 assists and 480 rebounds.

 Sophomore Kynedi Cheeseman (Alexandria, S.D.) was tabbed All-GPAC Second Team, while senior Chesney Nagel (Springfield, S.D.) was named All-GPAC Honorable Mention. Cheeseman is third on the team with 13.9 points per game and third on the team with 2.6 assists per game. She notched a career-high in points, field goals made and assists against Friends University with 29 points on 11 made field goals and 10 assists. Nagel continues to lead the team at point guard throughout her senior season. She has tallied 3.5 points per game, 4.8 rebounds per game and three assists per game. Nagel also ranks 31st in the NAIA in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.0.

 The Tigers lead the nation in total rebound defense with 26.8 defensive rebounds per game. They also rank third in the NAIA in total rebound margin at 12.0, field-goal percentage shooting 48.3 percent and free-throw percentage shooting 79.5 percent.

 The NAIA Women's National Tournament begins on March 7 at the Tyson Event Center in Sioux City, Iowa.