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DSU Athletics announce 2011-12 women's and men's basketball schedules
June 8, 2011
MADISON, S.D. - The Dakota State University Athletic department is excited to announce the 2011-12 Trojan women's and men's basketball schedules. DSU is making a transition to the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) next season and will host the national qualifying tournament at the end of the 2011-12 season.
Dakota State will be playing a total of 28 regular season games during the 2011-12 season. The men's team will be playing a total of 15 home games, while the women will play 14 games at home.
The Trojan women's basketball team opens their season on the road for an exhibition game against NCAA Division II St. Cloud State on Oct. 29 at 7 p.m.
Both women's and men's hoopsters will have their first home game on Nov. 1. The Trojans host Grace (Neb.) in a doubleheader in the DSU Fieldhouse, starting at 6 p.m.
On Nov. 11, three games will be played on the DSU Fieldhouse floor. The Trojan women's basketball team will host York (Neb.) in an afternoon marquee game (2 p.m.) before the two-day Ed Harter Classic event takes place. Mayville State battles with Graceland (Iowa) at 5:30 p.m. followed by DSU hosting Morningside at 7:30 p.m. On Nov. 12, Mayville State will face Morningside at 4 p.m. with the Trojans playing Graceland in the nightcap at 6 p.m.
The Trojan men's basketball team scheduled three road exhibition games with NCAA Division II Northern State (Nov. 18) and Augustana (Nov. 22) along with NCAA Division I South Dakota State on Dec. 12.
DSU women's play their second exhibition game of the season on Nov. 29 as they visit Augustana in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Dakota State women and men will play six of the last 10 regular season games against NCAA Division II teams. The Trojans will play home-and-away with University of Sioux Falls (Jan. 17 at USF and Feb. 4 at DSU), Black Hills State (at DSU on Jan. 20 and at BHSU on Feb. 17) and South Dakota School of Mines (at DSU on Jan. 21 and at SDSM on Feb. 18).
"I feel our schedule has great balance," said DSU women's basketball head coach Joe Reints. "In making the transition to the A.I.I., scheduling in January and February was a concern, but I feel like we were able to schedule some very competitive games throughout the season that will prepare us to make a run during post-season play. It has been a big positive picking up a few more GPAC (Great Plains Athletic Conference) schools. It saves us a lot of miles in traveling which saves the program financially and is less stressful on the student-athletes as they balance their commitments between academics and athletics."
The A.I.I. has awarded Dakota State the opportunity to host the three-day women's and men's national qualifying tournament in Madison on Feb. 23-25. DSU will be hosting a five-team tournament, starting with a play-in game for women's (6 p.m.) and men's (8 p.m.) on Feb. 23. The semifinals take place on Friday, Feb. 24 with four games, starting at 3 p.m. The championship games will be held on Saturday, Feb. 25 with the women's game at 6 p.m. and men's game to follow. The A.I.I. champion and runner-up teams will receive an automatic bid to the NAIA Division II National Basketball Tournament on March 7-13 (women's at Sioux City, Iowa and men's at Point Lookout, Mo.).
"We are playing a competitive schedule next year," stated DSU men's basketball head coach Gary Garner. "I was worried that we might have trouble getting games scheduled in January and February, but everything has worked out well. We are playing most of the top GPAC teams and the upper echelon of the former Dakota Athletic Conference (DAC). The 2011-12 schedule will be better for our student-athletes as we don't have to travel as far and will also prepare us for the post-season play."
Starting next year, Dakota State women's and men's basketball teams each will have a junior varsity program. Junior varsity scheduling is already in progress and close to being finalized.
Below are the Trojan women's and men's basketball 2011-12 schedules:
Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director
