The best college team in the state of Iowa are defending national champions in 2023-24, 2024-25, and are expected to have a possible three peat in 2025-26.
You may be thinking to yourself. I don’t think any Iowa team has ever won a Natty in Basketball at any level. This Winter in Western Iowa – the Dordt Women’s Basketball team are going for their third straight NAIA National Title to put in the trophy case in Sioux Center, Iowa.
The Defenders are ranked Number One coming into the year and are led by Macy Seivers a senior from Newell Fonda High School (Iowa) who is the reigning NAIA National player of the year (15.6 ppg 7.6 rpg 7.8 apg). If you follow Iowa High Girls Basketball closely you might remember her winning three State titles before joining Dordt in 2022-23.
The Defenders also return 3rd team NAIA All-American Gracie Schoonhoven a junior (11.3 ppg) from Unity Christian High School in Iowa who won a state girls 3A HS title at Unity Christian, IA. Also, they return former Iowa preps Willow Beeker a junior (Sioux Center, Iowa) who made a program-record 94 3-point shots last season while averaging 8.9 points per game. Desta Hoogendoorn (sophomore; Rock Rapids, Iowa) also appeared in all 37 games for Dordt as a freshman, averaging 6.6 points and 4.8 rebounds.
*As side note the Dordt men’s leading scorer last year (Lucas Lorenzen Okoboji, IA) decided to enter the transfer portal and was a hot commodity and is now playing D1 at Western Illinois this winter. I share that tidbit to show the high level of player at NAIA schools. IMO – the Dordt Women’s team could likely beat some D1 Women’s teams if given the opportunity. I would say a non-power 5 D1 team would likely never schedule a team like Dordt because, well we know why….they would not want to risk a L.
The Dordt Women’s team is led by a head coach familiar to many Iowans
Coach Bill Harmsen has been the head coach of the Defenders since 2018-19. Harmsen has coached 11 first-team All-GPAC performers, three first-team NAIA All-Americans, four second-team NAIA All-Americans, two third-team NAIA All-Americans and six CoSIDA Academic All-American selections at Dordt.
Harmsen has a career 188-48 record and a career .797 college winning percentage. Plus, two national titles and a second-place finish at Dordt.
Before Dordt at Western Christian High School in Iowa – Coach Harmsen guided both the girls and boys basketball teams to state titles. Harmsen was the girls coach from 2012-16 and the boys head coach for two seasons from 2016-18. His 2012, 2013, and 2014 girls teams won state titles and the boys team he guided in 2017 won a state title. That is pretty remarkable, four titles in six years.
So, by my calculations Coach Harmsen is entering his 14th season as a head coach at the high school and college level and has won 4 state championships and 2 National Titles. Those are Hall of Fame numbers in Iowa High School and at the NAIA level.
We are looking forward to following the Dordt Women – we think the numbers show they are best college basketball program in the state – this winter and seeing if the Defenders can pull off a three peat Natty.
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