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SALT LAKE CITY – The fifth-ranked Westminster College women's basketball team returns home for the first time in three weeks when they host Montana Western in the Frontier Conference opener on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. The only game of the week for the Griffins is part of “Together We Can” where fans can bring 2 cans of food to the game and receive 2-for-1 admission.

Game Coverage
Saturday's game will be carried live on Griffins TV and on Comcast 6 in Utah. Mike Lageschulte and Lance Barton will be on the call and fans can interact with the guys on Twitter @griffins_tv. Live Stats will also be available for the game with links for Griffins TV and Live Stats in the calendar section at WestminsterGriffins.com.

Griffin Notebook
Westminster heads into league play with a 6-1 overall record. The Griffins have won six straight games entering Saturday after going 2-0 and winning the Lady Yote Classic last weekend in Caldwell, Idaho. Westminster beat Eastern Oregon, 60-59, on Friday before a 65-39 win over the host College of Idaho on Saturday.

The current six-game winning streak is the second longest under head coach Shelley Jarrard. The team won 11 straight games at one point last season. Westminster is 2-1 at home this season and they have won seven straight regular season conference games in the Behnken Field House dating back to the 2010-11 campaign. They have also won nine straight regular season conference games overall dating back to last season.

Westminster is averaging 60.1 points per game while shooting 40.3 percent from the floor to ranks second in the Frontier. The Griffins are making 6.86 threes per outing and are 19th in the NAIA in that department. They shoot 36.4 percent from beyond the arc to lead the league and rank 12th nationally. At 14.71 assists per game, Westminster is 32nd in the country and they place 16th with a 0.91 assist-to-turnover ratio.

The defensive end is where the Griffins really shine this season. Westminster holds the opposition to 54 points per game and only 37.8 percent shooting. Griffin opponents are at 29.6 percent from beyond the arc and are averaging 14.9 turnovers per game. Westminster ranks eighth in the NAIA by allowing the opposition just 31 rebounds per game.

Against the Opposition
Montana Western holds a 15-12 edge in the all-time series with the Griffins. That deficit has shrunk over the past few seasons as the Griffins have won 10 straight games in the series. Montana Western hasn't defeated the Griffins in Salt Lake City since Jan. 20, 2007.

Yazzie Starts Fast
Senior Nicole Yazzie is again proving to be a handful for the opposition. The Frontier Conference Preseason Player of the Year is averaging 14.9 points per game and shooting 37.5 percent from the field. She is sixth in the league in scoring and ranks third at 2.29 made threes per game. Yazzie also leads the team with 36 assists and 11 steals. She ranks 15th in the NAIA at 5.14 assists per game and 11th in the Frontier at 1.57 steals per outing. He 3-point field goal percentage of 34 percent is eighth in the conference.

Climbing the Charts
Yazzie continues to climb the charts in the Westminster career record book. She currently ranks in the top 10 in 12 statistical categories and is one of just six players to score 1,000 career points. Yazzie currently ranks fifth in school history with 1,381 points and her 236 made threes place her second, just two off the record of 238 held by Elisa Leader.

Twenty for Tibbitts
Cydney Tibbitts continues to be the team's leading scorer this season. The senior is averaging 15 points per game and has scored in double figures in all seven contests this year. Tibbitts is shooting 47.4 percent from the field and 80 percent at the foul line. She leads the Griffins with 54 rebounds and five blocked shots. Tibbitts is fourth in the Frontier at 7.7 rebounds per outing.

Welcome Wells
Kelsi Wells is averaging 9.9 points per game to be the team's No. 3 scorer this season. Wells is shooting 46.9 percent from the field with 39 rebounds, 10 assists and seven steals. She scored a career high 17 points against College of Idaho on Nov. 10 and has twice led the team in rebounds this season, including 11 in a double-double versus The Master's in her first game as a Griffin.

Clutch at the Stripe
Westminster is one of the premier free throw shooting teams in the NAIA. The Griffins are shooting 75 percent at the stripe this season and rank eighth in the country in that category. They have shot about 8- percent at the line in four games this season, including the last three straight. The Griffins have been also been solid at the foul line in clutch situations this season. Westminster is shooting 84.2 percent at the stripe with the game in the balance this year. Wells (4-of-4) and Brooke Blonquist (2-of-2) made all of their clutch attempts with Tibbitts going 11-of-12, Brooke Larsen making 5-of-6 and Yazzie at 8-for-10.

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. 7 in this week's edition of the Massey Ratings. They have a rating of 0.76 and rank fifth defensively according to the computers. Westminster has a power ranking of No. 9 and has played the 11th-toughest schedule.

Looking Ahead
It is back to the road for the Griffins next week as they begin a stretch of eight straight games away from home. They open the stretch on Dec. 7 at Concordia (Calif.) before facing No. 4 Vanguard (Calif.) on Dec. 8.