Dec. 17—MITCHELL — With about a third of the season in the books, the Dakota Wesleyan women’s basketball team is sitting towards the top of the conference standings.
Sitting at 8-3, which includes a 5-2 mark in Great Plains Athletic Conference play, the No. 17-ranked Tigers in a three-way tie for third place in the standings, behind No. 1-ranked Dordt (Iowa) and Northwestern (Iowa). Women’s teams in the GPAC play 22 conference games during the regular season.
Much of the success comes from a physical style of defense the Tigers have put together, which stems from conversations coaches and players have had in practices. Also scrimmaging against scout teams has proven beneficial for simulating the type of environment a GPAC game brings each time on the floor.
“We’ve been doing a lot of stuff with situational basketball,” DWU head coach Jason Christensen said, “And are just trying to teach them mental toughness. I’ve been really preaching lately how to practice this and how you play, so you have to always go hard.”
The hard-nosed style of basketball has come with precision, as the Tigers only average 14 turnovers per game, the second-best mark in the conference. Among all GPAC teams, DWU is third in blocks per game (3.3) and fifth in total rebounding (41.2 per game), with an average rebounding margin of plus-10.1.
In particular, blocked shots continue to be a strong part of DWU’s defensive game, having averaged at least three blocks per game in the past three seasons. Avery Broughton is the conference leader with 1.4 blocks per game, while Shalayne Nagel is seventh at 0.9 blocks per game, owing to the situational awareness during the play and showing the ability to pick up teammates when opponents race to the basket.
“We’re always helping each other,” Christensen said. “They’ll get into situations where somebody might get beat, knowing they have to step up and help that person out. That’s where a lot of those blocks you’re seeing come from.”
The Dakota Wesleyan men’s basketball team has also shown defensive prowess to begin the season.
The Tigers boast the No. 1-scoring defense in the GPAC, holding opponents to 65.7 points per game, helping them sport an 8-3 record. It was a major focus throughout fall practices, which admittedly wasn’t everyone’s favorite part during their time working in new rotations and getting acclimated with a new system.
When results started to follow on the floor, DWU’s scope of what the team could achieve changed.
“They saw how difficult it was for other teams to score and they bought into it,” head coach Kevin Williamson said. “There’s very little I have to do, such as teach the schematics, because now they love doing it and they’re willing to do it for the guy next to them.”
Impressed with how the players have picked up quickly on several concepts the Tigers run on defense, the attention turns to the finer details of finding spots on the floor to force turnovers. DWU is fifth in the conference, forcing 12 turnovers per game by opponents.
In addition, several of the players have also grown in understanding assignments on defense while making the proper passes with what they’re facing on the court. While Sam Aslesen and Tampa Scott IV are designated as the team’s captains, others have stepped to help put the Tigers in the best positions to win games.
“We talked about trying to make our opponents as inefficient of scorers as we can,” Williamson said. “Jakob Dobney has always taken that challenge and Blaze (Lubbers) has stepped up wanting to be the physical bruiser inside for tough rebounds.
“Randy (Rosenquist Jr.) knows when it’s time to take the ball and go to the hoop when we want to go up-tempo,” he added, “And seeing the kind of development of Ethan Determan as a defensive presence off the bench has been fun to watch.”
Both DWU men’s and women’s basketball teams are partaking in mid-season warm-weather trips down south for a pair of non-conference games.
The men travel to Arizona, where Williamson previously spent time as a coach both collegiately and at the high school level. DWU faces Justice University (Ariz.) at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 20, in Chandler, Arizona, and Park University Gilbert (Ariz.) at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 22, in Mesa, Arizona.
Facing different styles of basketball compared to teams in the GPAC, Williamson wants the players to get a good feel of what the Tigers’ opponents will bring to the floor, as it’ll serve as a preview for what the team will face in the NAIA national tournament.
“This is a good viewing of two different types of teams that you could see from different conferences to prepare you for a national tournament setting with a quick turnaround time of only four days,” Williamson said. “We have to be really smart about what shots we’re taking or missing.”
For the women, DWU travels to Florida to take on Avila University (Mo.) at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 18, followed by hosts Ave Maria (Fla.) at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 19. Both games will be held on Ave Maria’s campus.
There will also be fun stops along the way, visiting the Florida coast to checking out fun attractions inland. However, the message to the team in preparation for making the trip is simple.
“It’s a business trip,” Christensen said. “It’s no different in life when you get on a plane and you go somewhere for work, and that’s how we’re treating it. We’ll go down there and have fun, but we’re going down there to take care of business.”
