MITCHELL — The Dakota Wesleyan University women’s basketball team was represented during NAIA awards season on Tuesday, with senior Matti Reiner named to the All-America honorable mention list.
Reiner, a 5-foot-10 senior from Tripp, started all 32 games and finished with 14 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, while shooting nearly 45% from the field and converting 83.5% of her free throws. She scored in double figures in each of the final 16 games of the season, leading DWU to the round of 32 in the NAIA tournament.
An athletic training major, Reiner finished with 1,377 points for her career, good for 13th in DWU all-time history. It is her second season as an All-American honorable mention player and she was a two-time all-GPAC first-team player.
Dordt’s Gustafson picked to NAIA All-America second team
Ethan High School product and Dordt senior Karly Gustafson finished the season as an NAIA second-team All-American for the GPAC regular-season champion Defenders.
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Gustafson, a 6-foot forward, scored 16.6 points and seven rebounds per game, while shooting nearly 62% from the field and starting all 33 games. For her career, Gustafson finished the season with 1,514 points, 841 rebounds, 230 assists and 135 steals. Gustafson, who is studying social work and psychology, was a first-team all-GPAC pick for the second consecutive season.
"Karly has had a tremendous season. She has once again proven she is one of the most formidable post players in the GPAC on both ends of the floor. Karly stepped up her leadership both on and off the floor. We are looking forward to having Karly be a large part of our program once again next season," said Dordt basketball coach Bill Harmsen on March 2.
The Defenders finished 30-4 and reached the Round of 16 in the NAIA tournament.
The rest of the GPAC All-America women's basketball All-America representatives included Jamestown's Hannah DeMars on the first team and Briar Cliff's Konnor Sudmann on the second team.
Clarke (Iowa) won the national title, 63-52, over 2022 defending national champion Thomas More (Ky.) on March 18. Marian (Ind.) junior Ella Collier was named the national women's basketball player of the year in NAIA.
Jamestown’s Walters named NAIA men’s player of the year
With the announcement of the NAIA All-America teams for men’s basketball on Tuesday, Jamestown senior Mason Walters was named the NAIA national player of the year after helping the Jimmies finish with a 27-7 record.
The 6-foot-9 Walters is now a three-time first-team All-America selection and again put up big numbers for the Jimmies. The Jamestown, N.D. native, averaged nearly a double-double with 26.6 points per game, which was second in the nation, and brought down 9.4 rebounds per game.
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The senior shot 63.8% from the floor throughout the course of the season and ranked fourth in the country with 321 total rebounds. He was a three-time GPAC player of the year.
Walters is UJ's all-time leading scorer with 2,662 points and rebounder with 1,239 rebounds. Walters still has one year of collegiate eligibility remaining, and has expressed interest in transferring to an NCAA Division I program.
Walters was the only GPAC player selected to the All-America first team, while Dordt senior forward Jacob Vis was the GPAC’s lone selection to the second team. College of Idaho was the national champion in NAIA men’s basketball with a 73-71 win over Indiana Tech on March 18 in Kansas City.
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