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This Week
The Westminster women's basketball team begins the 2009-10 campaign with two games in California this Friday and Saturday. The Griffins (0-0) open at William Jessup University in Rocklin, California on Friday, October 30 at 6:30 p.m. They continue at Bethany University in Scotts Valley, California at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 31.

Westminster is coming off a 27-7 season and a trip to the second round of the NAIA National Championships. They were 14-5 in games played away from the Behnken Field House, including 11-2 in games on the opponent's court. They also won the last seven road games they played last season.

Westminster averaged 82 points per game last season while shooting 46.5% from the field. That field goal percentage was good for second in the NAIA and the points average was the third best nationally. The Griffins also ranked in the top-five nationally in 3-point field goal percentage (.381, 3rd), 3-point field goals made (9.06, 4th), assists (17.85, 4th), and scoring margin (+15.62, 5th). They do lose five players, including three starters from that team.

Keshia Catten and Michelle Pace are the two returners with the highest scoring average from the previous season. Catten scored 9.5 points per game during 2008-09, her first year with Westminster. She led the team with 69 makes from beyond the arc and was fifth nationally in 3-point field goal percentage at 43.9%. Pace posted 7.6 points per game and pulled down five rebounds per night. Her 0.97 blocks per game was fourth in the Frontier Conference.

Women's Basketball Fast Break
•Westminster returns seven players from the 2008-09 team that went 27-7 and 14-0 in the Frontier Conference.

•The Griffins are 3-3 in season openers under Coach Gustin and have won three straight.

•Westminster is 11-4 in road games the past two seasons and 28-10 in all games played away from the Behnken Field House.

Quoting Coach Gustin
About starting the season...
“We are excited to get on the road together and get this season started. We are ready to finally play against someone besides ourselves.”

About the team...
“With all the new players we have, we are anxious to figure out what everyone's role will be and you can only do that by getting them time in games.”

About the opposition...
“William Jessup and Bethany are both good teams that will provide us with a good test to begin the season.”

Inside the William Jessup Series
Series record: First meeting
Current Streak: n/a
Last Meeting: n/a
First Meeting: October 30, 2009

Inside the Bethany Series
Series record: Westminster leads 1-0
Current Streak: Westminster 1 win
Last Meeting: Westminster def. Bethany, 92-56 (11/29/02)
First Meeting: Westminster def. Bethany, 92-56 (11/29/02)

From Way Downtown
Westminster was real good from 3-point range last season. The Griffins averaged 9.06 makes from distance last season to rank fourth nationally. They shot 38.1% from 3-point range to lead the Frontier Conference and finish third in the NAIA in that category. The 308 makes they accumulated during the season accounts for 32.1% of the total field goals made by the team.

Keshia Catten finished fifth nationally with her 43.9% accuracy from long range. Of the 237 field goal attempts by Catten last season, 157 (66.2%) came from beyond the arc. Her 69 makes led the team ad her 2.03 per game was the 42nd best total in the country. Dani Evans connected on 46 makes from deep and shot 40.4% from 3-point range. Evans has 72 makes from deep in her career to rank sixth in school history.

Hustle Plays
The Griffins were dominant in the hustle categories during the 2008-09 season. Westminster averaged 17.9 assists and 13.4 steals per game. They were ranked in the top-six nationally in both of those categories. Their 36.9 rebounds per game were only sixth in the conference, but they were 39th nationally with a 2.76 rebound margin. The team also averaged 2.03 blocks per contest last season.

Shannon Evans led the Frontier in assists and steals, while ranking in the top-12 nationally in each category. Her 233 total assists were the most in the country and her 6.85 average was second nationally. In total, Westminster had six players rank in the top-20 in the conference in steals, including four in the top 11. Alexis Tucker ranked 14th in total rebounds and Michelle Pace was fourth in blocks.

Coaches Select Griffins Third
The Westminster women's basketball team was selected to finish third in the upcoming 2009-10 basketball season according to a poll of Frontier Conference coaches. Westminster received 38.5 points in the poll, finishing behind Lewis-Clark State and Carroll College. Lewis-Clark received seven first place votes and Carroll College received one.

In this year's women's poll, there was one ballot that gave both Carroll and Westminster a second place vote and one ballot that gave both University of Great Falls and Montana Tech a fifth place vote. In the Carroll/Westminster ballot, the points for second and third were added together and divided by two with each team given half of the total. The same formula used for the Tech/UGF fifth/sixth ballot.

In the Polls
Westminster received 45 points in the preseason NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll that was released on October 26. That put the Griffins just outside the top 25 in the 27th position. This is the first time since February 28, 2007 that the Griffins haven't been ranked in the top 25. This is the 30th consecutive week that Westminster has received votes in the poll with February 7, 2007 being the last time the Griffins received zero votes.

Next Week
Westminster travels to Provo, Utah to battle in-state foe Brigham Young. The game from the Marriott Center is on Friday, November 6 at 7:00 p.m. and is an exhibition game for both teams.