Complete release in pdf format
Fall Classic Web Site

This Week
The Westminster women's basketball team will play at home this week for the first time of the season as they host the 2009 Westminster Fall Classic. Westminster will open the home schedule on Thursday, November 12 against No. 4 Point Loma Nazarene at 6:00 p.m. The Griffins will face College of Idaho on Friday, November 13 at 6:00 p.m. and conclude with No. 18 Westmont on Saturday, November 14 at 4:00 p.m.

Westminster enters the tournament at 2-0 on the season after two wins in California two weekends ago. They dropped William Jessup on October 30, and then they defeated Bethany on October 31. Westminster went 13-2 in the Behnken Field House last season, including 4-1 against non-conference opponents.

The Griffins currently lead the NAIA in 3-point field goal made per game with an average of 14.5. They are averaging 97 points per game and are shooting 52.7% from the floor. Defensively they limited the opposition to just 53 points per game and a combined field goal percentage of 30.4%.

Keshia Catten leads the team with an average of 15.5 points per game. Catten is also the team leader in assists with 13 through the first two games. McKenzie Jessop grabbed 16 rebounds during the first two games to lead all Griffins. She currently is third in the NAIA with an assist/turnover ratio of 7.0.

LIVE STATS AND VIDEO STREAMING
The Westminster Athletic Department will offer live stats of every home game this season. They also offer live video streaming of home events for $3 per game. Fans can purchase a season pass to all Westminster home video streaming events for $50.

Women's Basketball Fast Break
•Westminster has started 2-0 for the third consecutive year after never starting 2-0 in the first eight years of the program.

•The Griffins are 23-6 at home over the past two seasons.

•With the 100 points scored against Bethany, Westminster has reached the 100-point mark seven times in school history.

Quoting Coach Gustin
About the Fall Classic…
“All three teams we brought in are ranked and it will be an exciting three days. This is one of the tops tournaments in the country and we are excited to be hosting it.”

About the team...
“These are three good teams we are facing and we are going to have to play well to have a chance to win.”

Inside the Series with…
Point Loma Nazarene
Series Record: Point Loma Nazarene leads 4-1
Current Streak: Point Loma Nazarene 1 win
Last Meeting: Point Loma Nazarene def. Westminster, 92-73 (11/29/08)

College of Idaho
Series Record: Series tied 7-7
Current Streak: Westminster 1 win
Last Meeting: Westminster def. College of Idaho, 109-84 (11/1/08)

Westmont
Series Record: Westminster leads 1-0
Current Streak: Westminster 1 win
Last Meeting: Westminster def. Westmont, 84-82 (11/11/05)

From Way Downtown
Once Again Westminster is not afraid to fire from long range. Through the first two games, Westminster is averaging 31.5 attempts from 3-point range per game. They lead the NAIA with an average of 14.5 makes from that distance. It isn't a bad shot for the Griffins as they connect of 46.0% of those attempts to rank ninth in the country.

Keshia Catten averaged 3.0 makes from long range during the opening weekend to place her 14th in the country in that category. Catten went 6-of-11 from distance and the 54.5% accuracy is the 28th-best in the NAIA. Allie Eastman isn't far behind in makes from deep. Eastman went 5-of-8 from 3-point land and her 62.5% accuracy is 15th nationally.

Setting the Pace
Michelle Pace had a stellar opening weekend shooting. Pace went 12-of-17 from the field, anchored by an 8-for-8 performance against Bethany. Her 70.6 field goal percentage is currently 17th in the NAIA and leads the Frontier Conference. Pace is second on the team with her 13 points per game and 14 rebounds.

Jessop Does it All
McKenzie Jessop had an exceptional first two games by doing all the little things. Jessop grabbed a team-high 16 rebounds, including five on the offensive end. She also led the team with nine steals and was third with seven assists. Her 7.0 assist/turnover ratio is tops in the Frontier Conference and third in the country.

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 heads to Jackson, Tennessee for three more tough games. The Griffins will face No. 1 Union (Tenn.) on Thursday, November 19. That is followed by games against No. 9 Lambuth on Friday, November 20, and No. 6 Freed-Hardeman on Saturday, November 21.