5 bold DII women’s basketball predictions for 2026

The 2025 portion of the DII women's basketball season is in the rearview mirror. Grand Valley State is dominating, and several players are off to extremely hot starts. There could be some magic come March 2026.

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Before we ring in the New Year, let's take out the crystal ball and see if we can make a guess at some possible outcomes for the rest of the season.

🔮 5 bold DII women’s basketball predictions for 2026

Grand Valley State Athletics

Grand Valley State repeats. Okay, maybe I am easing in and this isn’t as bold as we can go. However, the Lakers sure look like they can do it, don’t they? They have one of the best defenses in DII, allowing just 50.7 points per game, and have two very capable leaders in MacKenzie Bisballe and Paige VanStee, both of whom can score, rebound, defend and, most importantly, have played very well on DII women’s basketball’s biggest stage before.

Repeating is not commonplace in DII women’s basketball. Lubbock Christian technically did it in 2019 and 2021 with the cancellation of the 2020 tournament, but only Cal Poly Pomona way back in 2001-02 has a true back-to-back championship run this century. So, Grand Valley State would be in rarified air if they pull it off.

Ashland makes the tournament. The Eagles are in uncharted territory in the Kari Pickens era. Since taking over in 2018, the Eagles have averaged just three losses a year during her seven seasons. The Eagles head into 2026 on three-game losing streak and sit at 5-5 on the year.

I started covering DII women’s basketball in 2014. During that span, Ashland has won 334 games (30.4 per season), won two national titles, have one national runner-up finish and have made the tournament in every single one of those seasons. A DII women’s basketball championship without Ashland is like March Madness without Kansas… unfathomable. The Eagles certainly have the coaching and they also have the talent (keep an eye on freshman Jenna Slates). Sleeping on Ashland would be ill advised.

Fort Hays State Athletics

Brooke Loewe breaks the single-season assists record. Loewe is dishing out assists at a record-setting pace for Fort Hays State. When West Liberty’s Kailee Howe set the DII record in 2016 with 326, she averaged 9.6 assists per game. Loewe currently leads DII with 10.4 per game. She has the single-game high for 2025 with 14 (which she’s done twice) two games with 13 and one with 12, putting her in the top 5 almost all by herself. She also has the advantage of passing the ball to Talexa Weeter, who leads DII with 27.5 points per game. Give her the ball eight times a game, and the stats will keep rolling in. Fort Hays State has a good shot to challenge Minnesota State in the Central Region, which means going deep into the playoffs... which means more games played... which means the single-season assists record is certainly in danger.

Gannon threatens DII defensive records. It is still very early in the season, but the Golden Knights defense looks really good; historically good, even. Heading into the break, they are allowing just 48.8 points per game by holding teams to just 31.1 percent shooting from the floor. Both are within reach of the DII records; Southern Connecticut State allowed 44.1 points per game in 2006 and Rollins held opponents to 29.8 percent shooting the same year. The PSAC doesn’t have a lot of high-scoring teams, and Gannon knows the conference well. Don’t be surprised if we see one, if not both, of those records fall in 2026.

Northwestern Oklahoma State Athletics

Northwestern Oklahoma State makes its DII tournament debut. The Rangers joined DII from the NAIA before the 2012-13 season and it has been a long ride since. Aside from a 24-7 record in 2023-24, they have never won more than 15 games in a season, struggling through more than a decade of losing records with zero DII women’s basketball championship appearances to their name.

Now, the Rangers look poised to make some noise, not only in the GAC, but Central Region. Sitting at 10-1, they have signature wins against Minnesota Duluth and then-No. 7 Harding, with their only loss coming to nationally-ranked Pittsburg State in overtime. Yes, it is early, but they are showing they can beat tourney teams now, so why not in March as well?

A few other teams making a bid for their first tournament appearances (per the ) are Winston-Salem State, which currently sits at 10-1; Thomas More, which is 9-1; 9-2 Felician; and a couple of PacWest new(er) comers in Vanguard (7-1) and Westmont (8-2).