Players that score at will — like Frostburg State’s Emilee Weakley — are special and certainly exciting to watch. Players that clean the glass — like DII women’s basketball’s rebounding leader Jada Warren — are all out hustle and a big presence in the paint. But players that do both on a nightly basis, well, they are game-changers.
Now that we are halfway through the season, let’s take a look at some of the best DII women’s basketball players that put up points and pull down rebounds every time they go out. There is one common thread among each of these leaders: They all seem to have been playing their best basketball ever since the calendar flipped to 2025.
Emily Chmiel, East Stroudsburg
Welcome to the spotlight, Emily. Last year, as a sophomore, Chmiel appeared in 28 games, starting 15 of them. She had a fine season, posting nightly averages of 9.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. This year, she has become a full-time starter — and she is taking DII women’s basketball by storm. She is tied for the lead in DII with 11 double-doubles, is second in DII with 24.4 points per game and is sixth in DII with 11.6 rebounds per game. Chmiel has been on a new level in 2025. In four January games, she has double-doubled in each one averaging, 30.3 points and 15.3 rebounds per game, all while shooting 52.8 percent. Her last game out on Jan. 11 saw Chmiel set a new career-best with 37 points while missing her career-high in rebounds by one with 15. She is on absolute fire right now.
Alisha Little, CSU Pueblo
If you follow the DII women’s basketball all-stats team, you are well aware of Little’s prowess on the boards. She was one of 10 preseason player of the year candidates on NCAA.com, and after her most recent appearance on the December all-stats team, is certainly living up to the lofty expectations.
Little is averaging 24.1 points per game, third-most in DII and four points better than her breakout 2023-24 season. Her 10.8 rebounds per game has her near the top of the rankings as well, but her 11 double-doubles are tied with Chmiel for the DII lead. She has double-doubled in nine straight games and has scored below 27 points in just two of them (a 15-point performance on Dec. 5 and a 23-point performance on Dec. 12). And let’s not forget the blocks. She leads DII with 4.07 per game, and her last time out on Jan. 11, Little recorded her first career triple-double with 28 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 blocks.
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Zarria Carter, Midwestern State
Carter transferred in from Texas Wesleyan prior to the 2023-24 season and immediately made her presence felt in the Lone Star Conference as the newcomer of the year. This season, the 6-foot-1 senior is besting her numbers, and after a career-high 37 points to go with 16 rebounds on Jan. 11, Carter is the reigning Lone Star Conference player of the week.
On the season, Carter is averaging 20.9 points and 11.8 rebounds per game, both amongst the best in the division. Her 5.9 offensive rebounds per game are the best of the best and Carter’s 10 double-doubles are second-most in DII. She has posted three in her last four games and after shooting better than 81 percent in her last two, so it seems like Carter is just now really heating up.
Abbie Smith, Concord
Smith is no stranger to the Mountain East Conference spotlight. She has been an All-MEC Second Teamer for the past two seasons, averaging 14.1 points and 8.2 rebounds over that span. This year, the 6-foot-2 junior is posting the best numbers of her career.
Smith is shooting 56.4 percent and posting nightly averages of 18.4 points and 11.4 rebounds per game, the latter a top-10 mark in DII. Her nine double-doubles are tied for fourth overall with Olivia Reed. She has double-doubled in three straight games, and on Jan. 9 matched her career-high with 30 points on 67 percent shooting. The next time out on Jan. 12, she recorded 19 rebounds, one shy of her career high of 20 set on Nov. 13. She is the reigning MEC player of the week, leads the conference in rebounding and is second in field goal percentage in a true breakout season.
Olivia Reed, Colorado Mesa
Reed was the 2023-24 RMAC Player of the Year, so she, too, is no stranger to the spotlight. Perhaps what is most impressive about her 2024-25 numbers is that they are all significantly better this season. She’s averaging a career-high 22.8 points as well as a career-high 12.1 rebounds. Both of those numbers are top-five in DII, so it should be no surprise that she is top 5 in double-doubles with nine. Reed has been absolutely insane in her last four games, scoring 33, 45, 31, and 24 with three double-doubles. She has double-doubled in six of her past seven games and there seems to be no end in sight to her domination.
Five more to watch:
- Karenna Gerber, Pittsburg State. Gerber has been an all-stats team regular and is playing some of her best ball in January: She set a season-high with 35 points to open the new year and has recorded three of her eight double-doubles in her four January games.
- Mia Kalich, Seton Hill. Kalich had a strong freshman campaign last year, but has been even better in her sophomore run. She’s averaging 13 points and 11 rebounds per game, leading the Griffins to a 15-1 start. She recorded a career-high 23 rebounds on Jan. 8 for her seventh double-double and a season-high 20 points for her eighth double-double on Jan. 11.
- Michelle Kozicki, West Chester. The 6-foot forward is crushing her career highs with nightly averages of 19.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. She has double-doubled only twice in the new year, but is among the leaders with eight overall.
- Grace Bradford, Lake Superior State. Bradford has had quite the career. She was GLIAC freshman of the year in 2022-23 and led the Midwest Region in rebounding in her sophomore campaign. This year, she is scoring a career-high 14.9 points per game with a GLIAC-best 10.1 boards per game and has eight double-doubles on the season.
- Syrita Faraj, St. Thomas Aquinas. Faraj started the new year with a bang. She got her seventh double-double on Jan. 8 with a 31-point, 17-rebound night and followed that up on Jan. 11 with 30 points and a season-high 18 rebounds. She missed the Jan. 11 game, so let’s hope we see her add to her eight double-doubles in her return.
