SEWARD, Neb. – The final dance is here. Four teams will be in Madison, S.D., but only one will remain as the two-game winner will surge to the final site. The Bulldogs were selected as the No. 6 seed in the Naismith Quadrant of the NAIA Women’s Basketball National Championship and will face 11th-seeded Bethel College (Kan.) in the first round on Friday (March 13). Third-seeded Dakota State University (S.D.) is set to host the first two rounds at the DSU Fieldhouse.
First/Second Round Info (March 13-14)
-Host: Dakota State University
-Site: DSU Fieldhouse (Madison, S.D.)
-Tournament Central Page
-Tickets: https://dsuathletics.com/sports/2024/5/23/tickets.aspx
--Cost: $15 for adults, $10 for senior citizens, $5 for K-12 students
-Live Radio: https://ruralradio.com/maxcountry/
-Live Streaming Link: https://urbanedgenetwork.net/?school=naia-championships
-Live Stats: Presto Stats
Game Schedule
2026 NAIA Women’s Basketball National Championship Bracket (PDF)
Friday, March 13: (3) Dakota State (26-5) vs. (14) Grand View (22-8), 5:30 p.m. CT
Friday, March 13: (6) Concordia (23-7) vs. (11) Bethel (20-9), 7:30 p.m. CT
Saturday, March 14: First round winners, 6 p.m. CT
(winner advances to the final site)
By the numbers
· The 2025-26 Bulldogs turned around last season’s results while putting themselves in position to earn at-large berth to the national tournament. Concordia stands at 23-7 overall with an NAIA RPI of 27th. According to the NAIA’s official calculation, the Bulldogs have played the nation’s 52nd most challenging schedule. Concordia was placed at No. 6 in the Midwest Region ARC Ratings released on Wednesday. Olson’s squad began the season at 9-0 and has been ranked as high as No. 9 in the NAIA coaches’ poll.
· The Vieselmeyer watch for a 1,000 career points has begun with the senior having 968 in her career. With her highest total in a season (333) already, the Holyoke, Colo., native has averaged a team-high 11.2 points per game. A forward who has played in 123 games, Vieselmeyer is shooting her best percentage, 50.6, in her time as a Bulldog. The veteran leader prepares for her final games, aiming to impact every level, posting 5.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game this season.
· In the All-Conference honors, Kristin Vieselmeyer was the lone Bulldog to receive first team accolades. The rising freshman Ayla Roth garnered second team All-GPAC recognition. With the depth constantly on display, Concordia’s Bree Bunting, JJ Jones, Raelyn Kelty and Sammy Leu were all valued as honorable mention candidates. The women’s basketball team had six different players awarded all-conference honors matching the most since the 2019-20 season that included Grace Barry (First Team); Philly Lammers (First Team); Mackenzie Koepke (Second Team); Colby Duvel (Honorable Mention); MacKenzie Helman (Honorable Mention); Riley Sibbel (Honorable Mention).
· Concordia has played 14 games against teams in the national qualifying field. The tournament résumé for the Bulldogs features seven wins over fellow teams: Briar Cliff (three), Hastings, MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.) and Northwestern (twice). The Bulldogs have posted a 7-7 record against the 14. Their quad one record is 3-7 according to the NAIA RPI. Versus quads two, three and four, Head Coach Drew Olson’s squad is 19-0. Concordia finished rated 6th in the NAIA Midwest Arc, as last released on March 4.
· The offensive numbers that are among the top in the country show how the Bulldogs rattle off attacking production that equals 81.9 points per game (10th in nation). Firepower is produced from outside the arc via 10.5 made treys (4th) a game to shoot 34.1 percent (20th) from long range. Vieselmeyer (11.1), Roth (11.0), Bunting (9.4), Leu (8.9), Kelty 8.8) and Jones (7.7) are the point leaders in the lineup. Open shots come consistently from the dishes of teammates as the Seward bench hurls out 18.5 assists (9th in NAIA). Nine Bulldogs average an assist per contest, but the leaders are Roth (2.7), Leu (2.4), Gabrielle Wagner (1.9), Kelty (1.9), Vieselmeyer (1.7) and Bunting (1.7).
· The staple of the defensive side of the ball is defined in the team’s motto set from the outset of the 2025-26 season, Press. The Bulldogs hound opposing offenses with in-your-grill type pressure that has materialized in 26.5 forced turnovers (4th in nation) a game. The Seward bandits create fireworks cracking down on the rock to produce 16.5 steals (4th) every 40 minutes. Nine thieves swipe at least one per game, but the ones who channel their inner Robin Hood frequently are Leu (2nd in GPAC), 2.8, Bunting (1.9), Roth (1.7), Wagner (1.6) and Kelty (1.4).
· The secret weapon second convoy of five Bulldogs rolls out that includes the likes of Gabrielle Wagner, Joclyn Bassett, Sara Harley, Juliana Jones and Makynna Robbins. The roster goes about 12 deep the majority of games. Bassett, Harley and Wagner combine for the second level of stingy guards that reach over three steals per game in unison and continue to force turnovers in the same ways as the initial five. Jones provides something on every level of the game with averages of 7.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 steals. Makynna Robbins is a force on the glass, seizing 4.1 boards (third on team) in only 9.4 minutes per game.
· Concordia’s pod at Dakota State will include the host and third-seeded Trojans in addition to No. 11 seed Bethel College (Kan.) and No. 14 seed Grand View University (Iowa). The Bulldogs traveled to Dakota State early in the 2024-25 season and came away with a 64-54 win. The Trojans qualified for nationals this season as Frontier Conference regular season champions. Meanwhile, Bethel qualified as Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament championship seed No. 2 and Grand View received an auto bid as Heart of America Athletic Conference regular season runner up.
National Tournament Facts
· In its first 23 appearances at the national championships, Concordia has posted a record of 40-21 with seven journeys to at least the national semifinals (three national championship game appearances). The Bulldogs are 16-7 in first-round games. All of the program’s national tournament berths have come since 1992 – the same year the NAIA split into two divisions for basketball. The 2019-20 season marked the final one featuring two divisions. The 2019-20 squad had garnered the No. 1 overall seed in a tournament that was shut down in the middle of the first round due to COVID-19.
· Six of the 16 players on Concordia’s national tournament roster have prior in-game national tournament experience. That list includes Joclyn Bassett, Bree Bunting, JJ Jones, Raelyn Kelty, Sammy Leu and Kristin Vieselmeyer. The upperclassmen players were part of the 2023-24 squad that won twice at home in the first/second rounds of the national tournament and advanced to the NAIA Round of 16 in Sioux City. Vieselmeyer appeared on the national stage in both 2023 and 2024. In the 2023 NAIA first round win (77-50) over Columbia College (Mo.), Vieselmeyer posted 12 points and five rebounds.
· Head Coach Drew Olson has been at the controls for each of Concordia’s past 17 national tournament appearances (including 2026). His record at the national tournament stands at 29-14 with five trips to the final four, including three national championship game appearances (2015, 2018, 2019). The program raised its first-ever national championship banner in March 2019 when it defeated No. 2 Southeastern University (Fla.), 67-59. Olson has won more national tournament games than any coach in school history (men’s or women’s programs).
· During the 2025-26 season to date, the Bulldogs have played 13 games against teams that are included in the national tournament bracket. Concordia has defeated fellow national qualifiers Briar Cliff (three), Hastings, MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.) and Northwestern (twice). The Bulldogs went wire-to-wire with Dordt, one of the NAIA’s four No. 1 seeds, in the GPAC semifinals.
· Olson became the program’s fifth coach to lead Concordia to the national tournament when he made his first appearance in 2008. Past coaches to take the Bulldogs to nationals were Todd Voss (three), Mark Lemke (two), Micah Parker (one) and Carl Everts (one). Voss guided two squads that reached the national semifinals.
· Back on Jan. 21, Olson picked up his 500th career victory (20th season) as head coach of the Bulldogs. Olson also reached 300 career GPAC league wins this season. Two seasons earlier, Olson surpassed Grant Schmidt for the most head coaching victories in the history of Concordia Athletics. Schmidt went 445-276 while leading the Bulldog Men’s Basketball program from 1989 through 2012. Schmidt formerly served as Director of Athletics and hired Olson as women’s basketball coach prior to the start of the 2006-07 season.
Dakota State site breakdown
(3) Dakota State
Overall Record: 26-6
Location: Madison, South Dakota
Conference: Frontier Conference
Head Coach: David Moe
RPI: 14th
SOS: 44th
O-PPG: 81.0
D-PPG: 64.6
All-Conference: Tabor Teel (first team, player of the year, all-defensive team); Caitlin Dyer (first team, all-defensive team); Bria Wasmund (second team).
(6) Concordia
Overall Record: 23-7
Location: Seward, Nebraska
Conference: Great Plains Athletic Conference
Head Coach: Drew Olson
RPI: 27th
SOS: 52nd
O-PPG: 81.9
D-PPG: 59.3
All-Conference: Kristin Vieselmeyer (first team); Ayla Roth (second team), Bree Bunting (honorable mention); JJ Jones (honorable mention); Raelyn Kelty (honorable mention); Sammy Leu (honorable mention).
(11) Bethel
Overall Record: 20-9
Location: North Newton, Kansas
Conference: Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference
Head Coach: Jara Shoemaker
RPI: 55th
SOS: 87th
O-PPG: 74.4
D-PPG: 67.2
All-Conference: Kendall Locke (first team, player of the year, all-defensive team); Karlee Locke (second team); Madyson McKinzie (honorable mention); Emersyn Eischen (all-freshman).
(14) Grand View
Overall Record: 22-8
Location: Des Moines, Iowa
Conference: Heart of America Conference
Head Coach: Jasmine Stohr
RPI: 54th
SOS: 134rd
O-PPG: 68.0
D-PPG: 60.9
All-Conference: Anna Gossling (first team, all-defensive team); Amaya Davison (first team); Taryn Ottemann (third team).
Final site
The hopeful destination for the Bulldogs remains the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa. The final 16 teams left standing will advance to that location for action from March 19-24. Sioux City first became the women’s basketball national championship host for Division II in 1998. It was awarded as the host location for the NAIA’s one and only division beginning in 2021. Additional information about the NAIA Women’s Basketball National Championship can be found via the NAIA website HERE.