March Madness 2025: Grand Valley St. Wins DII Championship Game Against Cal State Dominguez Hills

Freshman MacKenzie Bisballe contributed 14 points, while her sister Rylie Bisballe added 13, leading Grand Valley State to its second DII women’s basketball championship with a 70-58 victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday night.

This marked Grand Valley State’s (38-2) second appearance in the title game, having previously won in the 2005-06 season against American International with a score of 58-52, finishing that year with a record of 33-3. That team held the record for the most wins in program history until this year’s squad surpassed it.

Cal State Dominguez Hills (36-2), which had an impressive start to the season with 29 consecutive wins, made its first-ever appearance in the championship game.

Below is the 2025 DII women’s basketball tournament bracket.

Grand Valley State took a 15-12 lead with just over a minute left in the first quarter, then surged ahead by scoring 11 of the next 12 points, extending their advantage to 26-13 midway through the second quarter. The Toros faced difficulties shooting in the first half, managing only 5 of 18 attempts (28%).

By halftime, the Lakers were ahead 38-21 and opened the third quarter with a quick nine-point run, featuring a three-pointer from MacKenzie Bisballe, pushing their lead to 47-21.

Ellie Droste contributed 11 points for GVSU, while Lexi Plitzuweit, who scored four points in 18 minutes, is the daughter of Dawn Plitzuweit, the head coach of GVSU’s previous championship team. Dawn is currently the head coach at Minnesota.

Asia Jordan led CSUDH with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Kya Pearson added 11 points. WBCA player of the year Nala Williams struggled, finishing with just seven points on 3-of-14 shooting.

Grand Valley State committed 26 turnovers, matching the average number of turnovers that CSUDH forces per game, which ranks fifth in the nation.

Additionally, the Cal State Dominguez Hills men’s team will compete for its first title on Saturday against Nova Southeastern.

2025 DII women’s basketball championship history

Minnesota State is the reigning champion since beating Texas Woman’s in the 2024 championship. Below is every DII men’s basketball champion and runner-up from the last decade:

Year	Champion (Record)	Coach	Score	Runner-Up	Site
2024	Minnesota State (32-5)	Emilee Thiesse	89-73	Texas Woman’s	St. Joseph, MO
2023	Ashland (37-0)	Kari Pickens	78-67	Minnesota Duluth	Dallas, TX
2022	Glenville State (35-1)	Kim Stephens	85-72	Western Washington	Birmingham, AL
2021	Lubbock Christian (23-0)	Steve Gomez	69-59	Drury	Columbus, Ohio
2020	Canceled due to Covid-19	—	—	—	—
2019	Lubbock Christian (32-5)	Steve Gomez	95-85 (2OT)	Southwestern Oklahoma	Columbus, Ohio
2018	Central Missouri (30-3)	Dave Slifer	66-52	Ashland	Sioux Falls, S.D.
2017	Ashland (37-0)	Robyn Fralick	93-77	Virginia Union	Columbus, Ohio
2016	Lubbock Christian (35-0)	Steve Gomez	78-73	Alaska-Anch.	Indianapolis
2015	California (Pa.) (32-4)	Jess Strom	86-69	Cal Baptist	Sioux Falls, S.D.