MITCHELL – Last season marked a first for the Tigers. After finishing third in the GPAC standings in the regular season, the Tigers won the program’s first ever GPAC Tournament Championship with an 83-60 win on the road against then-No. 6 Morningside. DWU made an appearance in the NAIA National Tournament and won a first-round game before losing to Bethel by a single point 54-53 in round two.
The Tigers come into this season with much of their team returning. However, the two holes left from departed talent leaves big shoes to fill.
Point guard Kaylee Kirk graduated after three years as the floor general for the Tigers. Kirk was GPAC Defensive Player of the Year and a Second-Team All-Conference selection in 21-22. All signs point toward Morgan Edelman (So. – Menno, SD) as the player due up to take over the reins of the point. Edelman came to DWU as a decorated high school standout for Menno, where she became the program’s first ever 2,000-point scorer and was named Cornbelt Conference MVP as a senior. She averaged 21.8 points, six rebounds, three assists and 4.5 steals per game her final season with Menno. Edelman appeared in 33 games last year for the Tigers and averaged 6.2 minutes per game.
Along with the point guard position, the Tigers graduated senior backup post Natalie Gottlobb. With a post-heavy program like DWU, depth at the forward and center position will be an important role to fill.
Returning for DWU are four starters. Matti Reiner (Sr. – Tripp, SD) returns at forward as a First-Team All-Conference GPAC selection and NAIA All-American honorable mention selection in 21-22. Reiner averaged 13.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.
DWU also brings back 6-4 center Jada Campbell, who was named Second-Team All-Conference GPAC last year. The former Presentation College transfer in Campbell is using an extra year of granted eligibility, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, to return for a third season for DWU.
Campbell was dominant down the stretch last season and averaged 12.8 points per game on 56.4% shooting from the field. She had a career high 33 points in the GPAC Tournament Championship game versus Morningside.
Other starters returning for DWU are guards Rynn Osthus (Sr. – De Smet, SD) and Aspen Hansen (Jr. – Dell Rapids, SD) and sixth-man Isabel Ihnen (Jr. – Lennox, SD). Osthus was named All-Conference honorable mention last year.
Guard Britney Lovre (Jr. – Clear Lake, SD) and forward Lacey Sprakel (So. – Crofton, NE) were both bench contributors a year ago who could be due for an uptick in minutes this season.
The Tigers also scored a couple of big commits in Rylee Rosenquist (Fr. – North Sioux City, SD) and Maleighya Estes (Fr. – White River, SD). Both could command rotation minutes right away.
The guard 5-8 Rosenquist average 21.9 points and was First-Team All-Conference for Dakota Valley as a senior. She scored a program-record 570 points in 21-22. Rosenquist comes into the Tigers program with the ability to play either point guard or wing.
Estes, also a 5-8 combo guard, scored more than 2,214 points for White River in her career.
The Tigers open the season on Nov. 5 at the Pentagon in Sioux Falls, SD, against Valley City State. The home opener at the Corn Palace comes on Dec. 2 against Doane.