MITCHELL, S.D. – Winners of four-straight games and six of the last seven, the Dakota Wesleyan University women's basketball team battles conference foe Northwestern College in Great Plains Athletic Conference play at 6 p.m. on Wednesday from the Bultman Center in Orange City, Iowa.
The Game
The Tigers secured a pair of road victories over the weekend as they defeated Midland University, 76-47 on Saturday and College of Saint Mary on Sunday, 79-47. DWU collected 45 rebounds and 24 assists in Saturday's victory over the Warriors as the Tigers completed the season sweep over Midland. In Sunday's win over the Flames, Dakota Wesleyan shot 45.7% from the field including 5-of-9 on 3-pointers.
Matti Reiner (Tripp, S.D.) continues to ignite the Tiger offense sitting second on the team in scoring while leading DWU in double-doubles with two. Reiner averages 12.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game while shooting 44% from the field on the season. In her last three outings, the sophomore forward has shot better than 50% while eclipsing 15 points each time to earn All-GPAC honors for week eight.
Junior guard Kaylee Kirk (Balaton, Minn.) continues to command the DWU offense averaging 5.7 assists per game and ranks second nationally in assists with 80. Kirk also sits 13th in the country in assists per outing and leads the Tigers in steals with 40. The 5-foot-5 junior tallied a season-high 10 assists versus College of Saint Mary on Sunday.
In the paint, Jada Campbell (Alexandria, S.D.) continues to pace Dakota Wesleyan defensively. Campbell leads the Tigers in both blocks (22) and rebounds (105) and ranks 15th nationally in blocks. The 6-foot-4 junior was one rebound shy of a double-double in Sunday's victory finishing with a season-high 17 points and nine rebounds.
As a team, Dakota Wesleyan cracks the top-10 nationally in both assists and blocks. DWU sits seventh in both statistical categories with 254 assists and 58 blocks on the season.
The Coaches
Jason Christensen (Dakota Wesleyan University '98) is in his 11th season with the DWU women's basketball squad and is the winningest coach in program history.
Chris Yaw is in the midst of his 10th season as the Northwestern women's head basketball coach. He recorded his 200th career victory a season ago versus Doane University on Jan. 4, 2020.
The Series
The series has been controlled by Northwestern recently, holding a 39-22 record in games played between the schools. The Raiders narrowly defeated Dakota Wesleyan earlier this season, 75-69 from the Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D.
Scouting the Northwestern College Raiders
NWC boasts an overall record of 7-8 and is 7-5 in conference play. The Raiders are fueled by their strong offensive play as they sit 10th nationally in 3-pointers made (125) and are eighth in the country in assists with 250.
Sammy Blum sparks the NWC offense averaging 13.5 points per outing and leads the Raiders in both assists and steals. The 5-foot-7 guard is shooting 41.6% from the field and has made 38 3-pointers on the season.
The game can be livestreamed at https://nwcraiders.com/watch/?Live=105&type=Live with stats at https://nwcraiders.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary.