Box Score

SALT LAKE CITY – The ninth-ranked Westminster College women's basketball team earned the first coaching win for Shelley Jarrard with a 78-59 victory over Northern New Mexico on Saturday night in the Behnken Field House.

“I thought we came out with some fight tonight,” Jarrard said of the win.  “It was good to get a lot of players minutes and this is going to be great film for us to watch.”

Westminster (1-1) put four players in double figures led by 23 from Nicole Yazzie.  She shot 5-of-9 in the game and was a perfect 10-for-10 at the foul line for a second straight night.  Yazzie also added five assists and had three makes from beyond the arc.

“I loved Yazzie's game tonight,” Jarrard said of her junior guard.  “She has done everything we have asked of her and she is someone we can really rely on.”

As a team, Westminster shot 43.1% from the field.  They grabbed 39 rebounds with 13 coming on the offensive end while scoring 20 points in the paint.  The Griffins finished with 10 threes in the game.  Defensively, Westminster limited Northern New Mexico (2-2) to just 41.1% shooting and forced 17 turnovers that resulted in 19 Griffin points.

“The team has been real good at adjusting to what we have asked them,” Jarrard commented.  “We have seven newcomers, a new coaching staff and we are still tweaking things.”

Nisa Duran led NNM with 14 points and six rebounds.  Shaniqua Perkins added 13 points and five rebounds while Shannon Dez and Melanie Vigil had 10 points apiece.

Westminster will move on to next weekend's Westminster Fall Classic on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  The Griffins open the tournament against Cal Maritime at 4 p.m. on Thursday.  Every game of the Fall Classic will be played in the Behnken Field House.