Williston State College Women's Basketball Breaks Into Top 25 Rankings

After spending more than a month knocking on the door, the Williston State College women’s basketball team finally kicked it in.

The Tetons cracked the NJCAA Division I Top 25 this week, landing at No. 25 following a 93-36 dismantling of Dakota College. The win pushed Williston State to 24-1 overall and 7-0 in MonDak Conference play, while extending a winning streak that now sits at 20 games, the kind of consistency that tends to force national attention sooner or later.

Against Dakota College at Bottineau on Monday, February 2nd, the Tetons spread the wealth during the dismantling of the Lumberjacks. Taylah Murtagh led all scorers with 24 points, while Jersey Berg added 17. Leila Heffernan posted 14 points and 10 rebounds, Sophie Barker scored 13, and Lucia Bellido finished with 12. Barker and Murtagh each recorded five assists, underscoring a performance driven as much by balance as by firepower.

In a Facebook post announcing the Tetons' coronation into the top 25, Teton women's basketball Head Coach Bill Triplett said the timing of the ranking matters as much as the number itself.

“Getting ranked could end up being very important,” Triplett wrote in a Facebook post. He noted that the NJCAA national tournament field includes 24 automatic qualifiers, with eight additional at-large selections. “The higher you get ranked nationally can help you get an invite just in case you don’t get there by winning your region and district play-off game.”

For now, Triplett said, the focus doesn’t change.

“We’ll just keep playing them one game at a time and do our best,” he wrote. “The rest will sort itself out.”

What has sorted itself out so far is dominance across environments. Williston State entered the week unbeaten at home (10-0) and on the road (9-0), with a 5-1 record at neutral sites. The Tetons are averaging 91.6 points per game while holding opponents to 54.8, margins that explain why they’re no longer just receiving votes.

Williston State continues conference play Thursday with a road matchup at Miles City against the Lady Pioneers, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CST with the men's game to follow.

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