The 2024-25 DII women’s basketball season came to a close with Grand Valley State winning its second national championship in program history. While there weren’t many surprises — the DII Women’s Elite Eight was made up of five regional No. 1 seeds and three regional No. 2 seeds — there were plenty of players who left their stamp on March memories.
DII WOMEN’S BASKETBALL HUB
Much like the monthly DII women’s basketball all-stats teams, the March all-stats starting five focuses solely on stats. However, for March, we look only at NCAA tournament play. Whether you played one game or six, if you shined bright, you deserve notice. Remember, this dream team is based purely on stats — some may be the best in the tournament while others may have played all-around games with many stats that stuffed the box scores.
The DII women’s basketball championship all-stats starting five
Caroline Martin
Guard: Caroline Martin, North Georgia. The All-American had a big tournament despite North Georgia falling just short of the DII Women’s Elite Eight. She posted consecutive double-doubles, tying her for the most among all guards. She came close to a triple-double in the second round with 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Guard: Bri Stoltzman, Southwest Minnesota State. The NSIC player of the year showed everybody why she earned the honors in three Central Region games. In the Mustangs’ first-round upset of Concordia-St. Paul, she went for 19 points and 10 rebounds, and in the second-round upset over Fort Hays State, she piled on 28 points and 12 rebounds for her second double-double. Though the Mustangs’ upset train was stopped by Pittsburg State, Stoltzman went down fighting with 31 points.
Memorable performances of note:
- Destinee Bursch, Minnesota State. The Mavericks gave it everything they had, looking for another upset-fueled run to the championship but fell just short to Pittsburg State in the second round. Bursch exploded for 37 points, a season-high and the most in a single game of this year’s tournament.
- Cristina Jones, Cal State Dominguez Hills. Jones was one of the driving forces for the Toros’ charge to the finals but it was her quarterfinals performance that gets her on the list. She scored 20 points with 10 rebounds and eight steals, the most steals in a tournament game this year.
- Zamiya Passmore, Anderson (SC). Passmore played in one tournament game this year and left her mark with a double-double. She scored 17 points and dished out 11 assists, the most in a game this tournament.
- Laura Toffali, Missouri Western. Toffali only played one game, but what a game it was. She nearly triple-doubled with 13 points, a season-high 11 rebounds and seven steals, the second-most steals anyone had in a tournament game this season.
Kylie DuCharme
Forward: Kylie DuCharme, Bentley. DuCharme was a big reason the Falcons entered the DII Women’s Elite Eight with a 33-1 record, but she exceeded her season play when the lights shined bright on the March stage. She opened the tournament with a season-high 25 points and then matched it the next day with a 25-point, 14-rebound double-double, just her fifth double-double of the season. She would notch her sixth double-double in the Elite Eight, going for 16 and 10. She averaged just over 11 points on the season and scored 20.3 points per game in the tournament.
Forward: Asia Jordan, Cal State Dominguez Hills. Jordan averaged just under 13 points and 6.4 rebound per game during the season. Once the tournament started, she found a new gear and posted averages of 15.6 and 7.8. She recorded three double-doubles, the second most of any player in the bracket, two coming in the historic semifinal win and then the championship game loss. She also shot an impressive 61.2 percent in the DII Women’s Elite Eight.
Memorable performances of note:
- Rylie Bisballe, Grand Valley State. Yes, Bisballe was the tournament’s MVP, but remember, this is based purely on stats. Much of what Bisballe does doesn’t necessarily translate to big numbers, but she is still the leader on the Lakers’ championship squad. Her best game of the tournament was the DII Women’s Elite Eight opening win against Gannon, where she went for 17 points and 14 rebounds.
- Olivia Reed, Colorado Mesa. The Mavericks’ stay in the bracket was short, but Reed did what has made her an all-stats team regular for the past two seasons. She scored 28 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in the loss.
- Lindsey Taylor, Carson-Newman. Taylor reached double digits in rebounds in both of her games in the tournament. However, her second game was quite impressive when she pulled down 24 boards, the most in a single game of the tournament.
Karenna Gerber
Center: Karenna Gerber, Pittsburg State. Is there any surprise here? Gerber was a regular in the monthly all-stats teams and she did what she does in the tournament as well. The Gorillas played five tournament games and Gerber double-doubled in four of them, more than any other player in the tournament. In the Central Region championship game, she put up a season-high 34 points, which was also the second most scored in a single game this tournament. For the tournament, she averaged 25.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game.
Memorable performances of note:
- Tori Hollingshead, Alaska Anchorage. The Seawolves center was tremendous in her two games this tournament. She double-doubled in both games, scoring 28 points and ripping down 10 rebounds in Game 1 before going for 17 and 15 against the eventual national runners-up while shooting a combined 66 percent.
