Tiger women ready to make statement in National Tourney

MITCHELL, S.D. – The Dakota Wesleyan University women's basketball team came into 2015-16 with the outside world expecting a middle-of-the-road finish, especially after a crushing preseason injury challenged the young squad of Tigers before the first tip of the season.

DWU lost sophomore guard Chesney Nagel before the start of one of the toughest schedules in the nation, and the team was picked to finish eighth in the Great Plains Athletic Conference, which is arguably the best league for women's basketball in NAIA Division II, with four GPAC teams making up the national semifinals in 2014-15.  Someone forgot to tell the Tigers they were not supposed to make history this season.

From the opening tip of the first game, DWU surpassed all expectations, storming out to a 14-1 record and No. 5 national ranking.  The start included three wins over top-10 teams, with the majority of games being played away from the Corn Palace.  DWU hit a rough patch midseason, but rebounded to win six straight, three over ranked teams, down the stretch before falling to No. 1 Morningside College in the GPAC Tournament Championship game.

DWU finished the season 25-8, tied for second in the GPAC, which has six teams in the field of 32 at the NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Tournament.  The win total is the most in six years under head coach Jason Christensen and has not been seen since 2003-04, the last time DWU earned a spot in the national tournament.  Of the eight losses for DWU, seven came to ranked opponents or ones receiving votes in the NAIA poll, five were on the road, three to the No. 1 team in the nation, and the other defeat came at the hands of College of Saint Mary, which sports GPAC Player-of-the-Year Deaundra Young.

In all, the No. 10 Tigers topped seven teams that are ranked or receiving votes.  With an overtime win over No. 14 Mount Marty College on the road in the GPAC Tournament semifinals, DWU secured an automatic bid to the national tournament by way of reaching the league tournament final.  The berth is the first for the Tigers since making three straight appearances from 2002 to 2004, which are the only three appearances in school history.

The Tigers open the 2016 NAIA Division II Women's Basketball National Tournament as the No. 3 seed in their bracket against No. 6 Haskell Indian Nations University (Lawrence, Kan.) in the opening game of the tournament at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa.

The Tigers were led to the NAIA postseason by a deep rotation of players and a handful of All-GPAC honorees.  Junior forward Erica Herrold was the lone Tiger on the All-GPAC First Team, joined by junior forward Kristin Sabers and sophomore forward Ashley Bray on the second team.  Sophomore forward Amber Bray and freshman guard Rylie Osthus each landed All-GPAC Honorable Mention accolades.

Herrold leads the team with 16.2 points per game, setting a new career high.  She has scored in double figures all but four times this season, while scoring more than 20 points on nine occasions.  Herrold joined the 1,000-point club at DWU earlier this season and sits at 1,167 for her career.  She has added 4.4 rebounds and nearly two assists per game this season.  The honor is her first on the first team after being selected to the second team a year ago.

Sabers carried the Tigers offensively early in the season, earning three GPAC Player-of-the-Week honors.  She heads into the national tournament averaging 14.2 points per game, while making 40 percent of her shots from deep to go along with 3.8 rebounds per contest.  Sabers was an All-GPAC Honorable Mention as a sophomore.

Ashley Bray made the All-GPAC team after a breakout sophomore campaign.  She is third on the team with 12.4 points and leads the Tigers with 5.5 rebounds per game.  She has scored more than 10 points in 10 of the last 11 games for DWU.

Osthus made her debut as the starting point guard from game one for the Tigers, with the absence of Nagel.  Osthus heads to nationals averaging 7.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.  Amber Bray came on strong in the second half of the season, helping push DWU into the GPAC title game.  She is averaging 10.6 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, while hitting 51.3 percent of her shots from the field.

The Tigers received contributions from several players off the bench this season, as Christensen had his deepest rotation in years at DWU.  Junior guard Gabby Frykbo, freshman guard Kelsey Bertram, sophomore guard Madison Kuehl and freshman guard Hope Menning have each played significant minutes for the Tigers this season, helping the team reach the national tournament for the fourth time in school history.

DWU and Haskell lift the lid on the women's tournament at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa.

About Haskell:

Record: 23-6

Appearances in the NAIA Tournament: 2

Record at NAIA Tournament: 0-1

Last appearance in NAIA Tournament: 2010

NAIA bid: Champions of the Association of Independent Institutions Tournament

Season review: Haskell completed one of the best regular seasons in school history with a 23-6 record, winning the Association of Independent Institutions Tournament to earn an automatic bid into the NAIA championships. The Indians play an aggressive style of offense and come away with steal at a strong rate, averaging 12.4 per game, third best in the NAIA. Haskell is outscoring their opposition by 15.4 points per game, 10^th best in the nation. Tyler Sumpter leads the Haskell offense with 15.1 points per game, while Keli Warrior is adding 13.7. Haskell has played three games against GPAC schools this season, with wins over Doane College and College of Saint Mary and a loss later in the year to Doane.

Last meeting: DWU and Haskell have never played in women's basketball