Cultivating a rich culture of hard work, tradition and success on the basketball court, Jason Christensen returns to the sideline for his 14th season at the helm after earning GPAC Coach-of-the-Year honors two seasons ago.

Christensen and the Tigers completed another successful season that saw the Tigers finish with a 23-9 overall record and a 15-7 conference record. Christensen and company returned to the national tournament and made it to the second round before falling 57-53 to undefeated and No. 1 overall seed Central Methodist. The Tigers earned a convincing 85-56 route in round one against Hope International. Christensen had five players earn All-GPAC honors while also coaching Jada Campbell, the Co-Defensive Player-of-the-Year. I

n 2021-22, the Tigers returned to the national stage and advanced to the second round of the NAIA Women’s Basketball Championship, finishing 27-8 overall. Christensen guided the program back into the national polls en route to 250 career wins, and DWU secured the 2022 conference tournament championship title for the first time under his tenure. For the 10th straight season, three or more Tigers garnered All-GPAC honors and were led by first-team selection Matti Reiner. Other All-Conference performers were Campbell and GPAC Defensive Player-of-the-Year Kaylee Kirk, both second-team honorees, and Rynn Osthus received honorable mention status. Reiner also earned NAIA All-American Honorable Mention notoriety.

Christensen led DWU through an unpredictable 2020-21 season in which the Tigers posted a 14-11 record and an opening-round appearance in the Great Plains Athletic Conference Postseason Tournament. Haidyn Pitsch earned GPAC Freshman-of-the-Year and an All-GPAC First-Team nod. Also listed as All-Conference, Reiner received second-team accolades, while Kirk and Campbell were named to the honorable mention team.

A trio of Tigers once again finished with All-Conference honors during the 2019-20 season, as DWU earned a 78-67 victory over Indiana Wesleyan University in the opening round of the NAIA National Tournament. Kynedi Cheeseman and Sarah Carr were each tabbed as All-GPAC First-Team performers, while Makaela Karst was named to the All-Conference Second Team. Additionally, Carr received All-American Third-Team status, while Cheeseman made multiple All-American lists as a NAIA first-team member and a Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Association All-American.

After winning a national title in 2018, DWU returned to the semifinals in 2019, this time dropping a double-overtime thriller to Southeastern University. The Tigers set the record for most consecutive wins at 18 games after opening the season with a 13-0 start and tacking on five national tournament victories from the prior season.

DWU spent the entire season ranked inside the top five after beginning the year ranked second in the NAIA. The Tigers were the nationally top ranked team for six straight weeks through December and January before dropping to fourth. DWU climbed back to third in the land, while holding the third overall No. 1 seed in the NAIA National Tournament.

In 2017-18, Christensen led the Tigers to the first team championship in school history with an 82-59 victory over Concordia University to cap off the recordsetting season. The team saw numerous team records broken throughout the season, including points per game, which was the longest standing record to be broken. The 2017-18 team averaged 80.4 points per game, while the 1990-91 team averaged 79.1 points. In all, the 2017-18 team broke or tied 16 DWU women’s basketball team records.

In the previous season, the Tigers received their first NAIA Division II Coaches’ Top-25 Ranking as the No. 1 team in the country since the 2003-04 season. One of the top highlights of the season came on Feb. 12 at the Corn Palace when DWU snapped Concordia University’s 26-game winning streak. The Tigers met the Bulldogs again in the GPAC Postseason Tournament Championship Game but fell in overtime. It was the second straight season the Tigers finished as runner-up in the GPAC.

The 2015-16 Tigers brought about a return to the glory years with an unexpected run to the national quarterfinals. After being picked to finish eighth in the GPAC and losing potential starting point guard Chesney Nagel before the first game to a season-ending injury, Christensen led a group of Tigers without a senior on the squad to a tie for second place in the league and a runner-up finish in the GPAC Postseason Tournament.

DWU entered the NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Tournament for the first time in 12 years and promptly marched through its first two opponents. DWU’s win over Haskell Indian Nations in the first round was the 100th for Christensen as the Tigers’ head coach, making him just the second coach in the program’s history to reach that milestone. Christensen was named the USMC/WBCA Region Coach-of-the-Year for 2015-16, guiding the Tigers to a record of 27-9 overall.

Christensen brought a wealth of basketball coaching experience, as well as knowledge of the area, with him to the Tiger program. DWU is Christensen’s first collegiate coaching position, but he has 11 successful years of high school coaching under his belt. For nine seasons, he coached the Mount Vernon High School girls’ basketball team. In those nine seasons, his teams went 173-29 (.856) with six conference titles, five district championships and four region titles.

Christensen grew up in Mitchell, S.D., and played high school basketball for the Kernels before graduating from Dakota Wesleyan in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education. He received a master’s degree in physical education, health and recreation from Emporia State University in Emporia, Kan., in 2004. Christensen and his wife, Michelle, live in Mitchell with their two children, Kaitlyn and Tyler.