Complete release in PDF format

SALT LAKE CITY – The eighth-ranked Westminster women's basketball team begins its quest for a Frontier Conference Tournament championship when they host Great Falls on Tuesday, March 1 in the Behnken Field House. Westminster is the No. 1 seed in the tournament after winning the regular season title for a third straight year. Great Falls is the No. 8 seed for the second straight season.

Westminster finished the regular season at 25-5 and claimed the Frontier regular season title with a 12-2 mark in conference games. They enter the tournament as winner of three straight games and 12 of the last 14 they have played. The Griffins have home court advantage throughout the conference tournament and have never played a tournament road game under the current format.

Westminster averages a Frontier-best 76.3 points per game while shooting 45.2% from the field. The Griffins rank in the Frontier top two in 15 statistical categories. They lead the conference in scoring, 3-point field goal percentage, 3-pointer made per game, total assists, and assist-to-turnover ratio.

Michelle Pace leads the team in scoring and rebounding. She averages 13.9 points per night while grabbing 5.3 rebounds. She shoots 53.8% from the floor and 77% at the foul line. Nicole Yazzie averages 12.3 points and 3.8 assists per game. Dani Evans scores 10.7 points per game.

About the Argonauts
Great Falls in the tournament No. 8 seed after posting a 3-11 mark in conference games. The Argos finished 10-19 overall and has lost 11 of the last 12 games they have played. UGF played Westminster tough this season, dropping a 93-88 overtime decision in Salt Lake City and then a 79-75 game in Great Falls last Saturday. Sarah Sciascia averaged 22.5 points per game in the two games against the Griffins. Jamie Young scored 21 points while grabbing eight boards in the two games. Kezia Ford and Chelsea Adams averaged 13 and 10 points per game respectively.

Griffins TV
Tuesday's quarter final game will be available to watch live on Griffins TV. Mike Lageschulte will handle the play-by-play duties with Elisa Leader providing color commentary. The broadcast begins approximately 15 minutes prior to the 7 p.m. tipoff with the pregame interview with coach Gustin.

Live Stats
Live Stats will be available for Tuesday's game. The stat feed is available at tipoff and can be accessed at WestminsterGriffins.com

Frontier Tournament History
Westminster has gone 6-11 all-time at the Frontier Conference Tournament. They lost the first seven tournament games they played from 2000-2006. The first win came in the quarterfinals of the 2007 tournament when they defeated MSU-Northern 68-63. The Griffins are 4-2 under the current format, playing all six games at home.

Record Setting Senior
Senior Dani Evans is finishing her career in style. The 5-9 guard from Morgan, Utah became the fifth player in school history to score 1,000 career points when she had 18 points in the game at Great Falls last Saturday. Tuesday's game will be the 130th career game played by Evans, which is more than any other player in school history. Westminster has gone 101-28 is games Evans has played, meaning she has won more games as a Griffin than any other player.

Selection Show on VSN
The 2011 NAIA National Championships Selection Show will be broadcast live by the Victory Sports Network on Wednesday, March 9. The broadcast will begin at 5 p.m. MST with all 16 first round matchups being presented along with tournament seeds and game times. The broadcast will be available, live and on-demand, at www.livestream.com/victorysports.

Open for Three
The Griffins are once again among the top 3-point shooting team in the nation. The team averages 8.2 makes from beyond the arc per game to rank first in the Frontier and sixth in the NAIA. Westminster also shoots 35.7% from long range to lead the conference and rank 12th nationally. Dani Evans makes a conference-best 41.7% of her attempts from beyond the arc while making 1.77 per game. Nicole Yazzie averages 2.3 treys per night to lead the league while shooting 36.9% from distance.

From the Charity Stripe
Westminster is shooting 76.5% from the foul line this season to rank second in the Frontier Conference. The team is fourth 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 went 225-of-290 (77.6%) at the line in during conference games. Jenteal Jackson is shooting 80% at the stripe which ranks 27th nationally and fourth in the conference.

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. 8 ranking in the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll that was released on February 28, Westminster has now been ranked inside the top 25 for 21 consecutive polls. The No. 8 ranking matches the highest the Griffins have been this season and all-time. They have also been ranked in the top 25 in 46 of the last 47 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. 13 ranking in the Massey Ratings that were released on February 26. They are fell one spot from the previous week. Westminster has a rating of 0.845 and they are the second highest rated team from the Frontier Conference. Lewis-Clark State is rated eighth while the Frontier Conference is rated as the third-best conference.

Looking Ahead
A Westminster win on Tuesday would set them up for a home game in the semi-final round on Friday, March 4. That game against the lowest remaining seed would begin at 7 p.m. in the Behnken Field House.