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SALT LAKE CITY – The fifth-ranked Westminster College women's basketball team will hit the road for the first time this season as they head to New Orleans, La. to play two games. Westminster will face Southern-New Orleans on Thursday at 5 p.m. They conclude the trip on Saturday at 11 a.m. at No. 11 Xavier (La.).
Game Coverage
Saturday's game at Xavier will have live stats available. Fans can access the live stat link at WestminsterGriffins.com.
Griffin Notebook
Westminster begins this road trip after going 2-1 at the Westminster Fall Classic last weekend to begin the season. The Griffins dropped the opener to The Master's (Calif.) before back-to-back wins over No.12 Biola (Calif.) and College of Idaho.
The Griffins are shooting 33.5 percent from the field this season and are scoring 59 points per game. They made 20 threes during the weekend and shoot 29.9 percent from beyond the arc. Westminster is third in the Frontier at 13 assists per game and rank 12th in the NAIA with a 1.11 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Defensively, the Griffins hold the opposition to 58 points per game and rank 36th in the NAIA in the category. Griffin opponents are shooting 42.7 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. Westminster forces 15.3 turnovers per game and average 11 points from those opportunities.
Conference Tabs Yazzie
Nicole Yazzie was named the Frontier Conference Player of the Week after averaging 20.3 points per game last weekend. The senior guard scored a career-high 28 points in the win over No.12 Biola and reach double figures in all three games. She also averaged five rebounds, four assists and two steals in the three contests and has scored in double figures in 19 consecutive games dating back to last season.
Climbing the Charts
Starting her senior season, Yazzie ranks in the Westminster career top 10 in 12 statistical categories. She has scored 1,338 points in her career to rank fifth in school history. Her 229 made threes rank second at Westminster and are just nine shy of tying Elisa Leader for the career record. Yazzie also needs just 10 assists to reach second on the all-time list with 403.
Tracking Tibbitts
Cydney Tibbitts had a strong first weekend for the Griffins as she averaged 11.3 points and a team-best 8.7 rebounds in the three games. The senior had a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds in the win over College of Idaho and scored in double figures in all three games. She also led the team with three blocked shots and recorded two steals and six assists.
Welcome Wells
Kelsi Wells started her Griffin career with a bang. The junior transfer averaged 13 points and 8.3 rebounds over the weekend while shooting 60 percent from the field. Wells recorded a double-double in her Westminster debut, scoring 15 points with 11 rebounds against The Master's. She shot 4-of-9 from beyond the arc and her 5.00 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks fifth in the country.
Clutch at the Stripe
The Griffins were solid at the foul line in clutch situations during the opening weekend. Westminster went 20-of-23 at the stripe with the game in the balance in the three games.
Brooke Larsen (5-of-5), Wells (4-of-4) and
Brooke Blonquist (2-of-2) made all of their clutch attempts with Yazzie, Tibbitts and
Tia Pappas also making clutch freebies.
In the Polls
Westminster received a No. 5 ranking in the 2012-13 NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll. The No. 5 ranking is the highest for a Westminster team in school history. The Griffins received a No. 8 national ranking on three occasions during the 2010-11 season to establish a school-best. The previous high for a preseason ranking was the No. 9 that the team received prior to the start of last season.
Checking the Massey Computer
The Griffins are at No. 21 in this week's edition of the Massey Ratings. They have a rating of 0.67 and rank ninth defensively according to the computers. Westminster has a power ranking of No. 19 and has played the 23rd-toughest schedule.
Preseason Favorites
Westminster was picked to win the Frontier Conference this season according to a poll of the league's coaches. Westminster received 64 points and eight first-place votes in the poll to take the top spot. The Griffins are the four-time defending regular season champions. Defending conference tournament champion Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) was picked to finish second in the league with 52 points. Carroll (Mont.) received one first-place vote and finished third in the poll with Montana Western placing fourth
Comcast to Carry Griffin Home Games
The Westminster College Athletics Department is pleased to announce that all Westminster men's and women's home basketball games will be broadcast live on Comcast Utah Channel 6. The games will then be available on Xfinity Utah On Demand that same week. Comcast Utah Channel 6 is available to all Comcast subscribers in the following Utah counties: Box Elder, Cache, Davis, Salt Lake, Sanpete, Summit, Tooele, Utah and Weber along with Franklin, Idaho. Mike Lageschulte and Lance Barton return as the broadcast team for Westminster basketball. Lageschulte enters his third season as the play-by-play voice of Griffins. Barton begins his second year as an analyst.
Looking Ahead
The Griffins return to the road for Thanksgiving Weekend as they play two games in Caldwell, Idaho. They will face Eastern Oregon on Nov. 23 at 6 p.m. and then face College of Idaho at 2 p.m. on Nov. 24. Westminster returns to the Behnken Field House on Dec. 1 for the Frontier Conference opener against Montana Western.
