The Dordt Defender women’s basketball team is ranked no. 12 in the NAIA DII Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Poll released Wednesday, March 4 in conjunction with the NAIA DII National Championship field announcement. It’s the third week in a row the Defenders held the no. 12 spot in the polling.
Dordt finished the GPAC Postseason Tournament with a 24-8 record and advanced to the semifinal round of the GPAC Tournament for the first time in program history. Dordt was 15-7 in league play and finished the year fourth in the standings. Dordt had 205 points in the balloting that is conducted by 12 coaches representing each of the conferences and Association of Independent Institutions and Unaffiliated Groups. There has been very little variation in the last three polls with Dordt taking 205 points in the February 24 poll and 204 points in the February 17 ranking.
Dordt will open National Championship play on Thursday, March 12 at 1:45 against Reinhardt (Georgia).
The Great Plains Athletic Conference had four other teams in the top-25 with regular season and postseason tournament champion Concordia returning to the no. 1 spot and Hastings, the runner-up in both the regular season and postseason tournament is no. 4. Morningside is no. 10 and Dakota Wesleyan no. 16 in the poll.
2019-20 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Final
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL [1ST PLACE VOTES] | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 2 | Concordia (Neb.) [12] | 31-2 | 312 |
| 2 | 3 | Marian (Ind.) | 30-3 | 302 |
| 3 | 1 | Southeastern (Fla.) | 26-3 | 290 |
| 4 | 4 | Hastings (Neb.) | 30-3 | 284 |
| 5 | 5 | College of the Ozarks (Mo.) | 29-4 | 272 |
| 6 | 6 | Saint Xavier (Ill.) | 29-5 | 261 |
| 7 | 7 | Taylor (Ind.) | 29-4 | 246 |
| 8 | 8 | St. Francis (Ill.) | 28-5 | 245 |
| 9 | 10 | Indiana Tech | 29-4 | 231 |
| 10 | 8 | Morningside (Iowa) | 23-9 | 225 |
| 11 | 11 | Saint Francis (Ind.) | 23-7 | 211 |
| 12 | 12 | Dordt (Iowa) | 24-8 | 205 |
| 13 | 16 | Northwest Christian (Ore.) | 26-5 | 189 |
| 14 | 13 | Bryan (Tenn.) | 28-2 | 170 |
| 15 | 14 | Kansas Wesleyan | 25-6 | 165 |
| 16 | 15 | Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) | 20-11 | 162 |
| 17 | 19 | Mayville State (N.D.) | 25-5 | 153 |
| 18 | 17 | Siena Heights (Mich.) | 27-5 | 139 |
| 18 | 18 | Indiana Wesleyan | 23-9 | 139 |
| 20 | 21 | Antelope Valley (Calif.) | 24-4 | 126 |
| 21 | 20 | Sterling (Kan.) | 25-8 | 114 |
| 22 | 22 | Reinhardt (Ga.) | 26-3 | 100 |
| 23 | 23 | WVU Tech | 24-7 | 83 |
| 24 | 24 | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | 22-9 | 78 |
| 25 | NR | Huntington (Ind.) | 21-11 | 61 |
Dropped Out: Eastern Oregon
Receiving Votes: Eastern Oregon 59, Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 57, Northwestern (Iowa) 38, Bellevue (Neb.) 30, Indiana South Bend 17, Union (Ky.) 13, Southern Oregon 5, Lawrence Tech 4
