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Nicole Yazzie
Shooting Star

Women's Basketball

Women’s Basketball Looks for Title with Two Road Games

Nicole Yazzie
Complete release in PDF format

SALT LAKE CITY – The 2011 regular season will come to an end for the Westminster women's basketball team with two Frontier Conference road games this weekend. The ninth-ranked Griffins face Montana State-Northern in Havre, Mont. on Friday, February 25. They will then play in Great Falls, Mont. against the University of Great Falls on Saturday, February 26. Both games will begin at 6 p.m.

Westminster enters the week at 23-5 overall and leads the Frontier Conference with a 10-2 record. They have a magic number of one to clinch home court advantage throughout next week's conference tournament. Two wins would give the Griffins a third straight outright regular season championship.

Westminster scores 76.5 points per game while shooting 44.9% from the floor to rank second in the Frontier. The team leads the Frontier in 3-point field goal percentage, 3-point field goals made, and assist-to-turnover ratio. Defensively the Griffins allow 65.8 points per game and limit the opposition to 38.9% shooting.

Michelle Pace leads the team in scoring and rebounding at 14 points and 5.2 rebounds per night. Pace is shooting 54.3% from the field and 77.6% at the foul line. Nicole Yazzie scores 12.5 points per contest and has 107 assists and 52 steals.

About the Sky Lights
Montana State-Northern enters the final weekend at 13-15 overall and 4-8 in the Frontier Conference. They defeated Carroll 70-54 on February 19 to snap a three-game losing streak. The Sky Lights are 9-5 at home this season, but have lost two straight in Havre. Samm Schermele leads the conference in scoring at 18.6 points per game while ranking second in the NAIA with a 90.9% free throw percentage.

About the Argonauts
Great Falls begins the final weekend at 10-17 overall and 3-9 in the Frontier. They snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 69-65 win over Rocky Mountain on February 19. They average seven threes made per game and score 66 points per game. Kezia Ford leads the Argos in scoring at 13.2 points per game while grabbing a team-best 6.9 rebounds per night. Ford has scored in double figures in 10 of the 12 Frontier Conference games.

Video Streaming
Both games will be available to watch online with live video streaming. Fans can access the live video by visiting WestminsterGriffins.com on game day and following the links provided.

Live Stats
Live Stats will be available for both games during the road trip. The stat feed is available through the DakStats Web Cast site at www.dakstats.com/naia or by visiting WestminsterGriffins.com.

Playoffs 2011
Westminster has clinched a home game in both the quarterfinals and semi-final of next week's Frontier Conference Tournament. The Griffins need one win or LC State loss this weekend to clinch home court throughout the entire tournament. The quarterfinal game is scheduled for Tuesday, March 1 with the semi-final being played on Friday, March 4. The Frontier Conference championship game will be played on Monday, March 7. All games will begin at 7 p.m.

Chasing 1,000
Senior Dani Evans is on a quest to become the fifth player in school history to score 1,000 career points. Evans enters the week with 982 career points and needs to average six points per game over the remaining scheduled games to reach 1,000. Evans has never missed a game in her Griffin career and if that continues she will finish her career having played in more games than any other Griffin.

Open for Three
The Griffins are once again among the top 3-point shooting team in the nation. The team averages 8.29 makes from beyond the arc per game to rank first in the Frontier and sixth in the NAIA. Westminster also shoots 35.5% from long range to lead the conference and rank 15th nationally. Dani Evans makes a conference-best 41.7% of her attempts from beyond the arc while making 1.79 per game. Nicole Yazzie averages 2.29 treys per night to lead the league while shooting 36.2% from distance.

From the Charity Stripe
Westminster is shooting 77.3% from the foul line this season to rank second in the Frontier Conference. The team is third in the NAIA with that percentage. They have shot above 70% at the stripe in 23 times this season and 11 times have gone above 80%. Westminster has gone 197-of-247 (79.8%) at the line in during conference games. Jenteal Jackson is shooting 80.8% at the stripe which ranks 25th nationally and fourth in the conference. Angela Fales is shooting 94.3% at the line and has made 10 straight.

Home Cooking
Over the past three seasons, Westminster has gone 38-7 at home including a 19-2 mark in Frontier Conference action. They started the year with seven straight home wins before suffering an 88-76 loss to Montana Tech on January 6. The Griffins have won 24 of the last 27 games played in the Behnken Field House and this is the first time since 2008 they have lost two conference home games.

Streaking in the Poll
With a No. 9 ranking in the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll that was released on February 21, Westminster has now been ranked inside the top 25 for 20 consecutive polls. Earlier this year the Griffins were ranked a school record No. 8. They have also been ranked in the top 25 in 45 of the last 46 polls and received votes in the poll they weren't ranked. The Griffins started this season at No. 10 and have been as low as No. 15.

Massey Ratings
Westminster carries a No. 12 ranking in the Massey Ratings that were released on February 19. They are up three spots from the previous week. Westminster has a rating of 0.861 and they are the second highest rated team from the Frontier Conference. Lewis-Clark State is rated eight and the Frontier is rated as the second highest conference.

Looking Ahead
Westminster will play host to a Frontier Conference Tournament quarterfinal game. The Griffins will play a yet to be determined opponent at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1 in the Behnken Field House.
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