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SALT LAKE CITY – The fifth-ranked Westminster College women's basketball team returns to play after an 11-day layoff on Friday when they begin play at the GSAC Challenge against San Diego Christian (Calif.) at 2 p.m. Westminster will the play the host squad, No. 4 Westmont (Calif.), on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.to complete the non-conference schedule of games for the season.
Game Coverage
Every game of the GSAC Challenge will be streamed live online at the Westmont Game Central portal. Live stats will also be available for all of the games. Links for all of the live features can be found in the calendar section at WestminsterGriffins.com.
Griffin Notebook
Westminster will return to action with a 10-2 overall record and riding a two-game winning streak. The Griffins have gone 6-1 in road games this season and 7-1 in all games played away from Salt Lake City. They are coming off a 2-0 road trip to Oklahoma where they defeated No. 14 Rogers State (Okla.), 68-65, and Oklahoma Baptist, 55-39.
Going further into the records, Westminster is 3-1 this season when facing a team that was ranked in the NAIA Top 25 at the time of the meeting. They will face another of those on Saturday when they play No. 4 Westmont. The Griffins have a 7-0 record when leading at the half and are 8-0 when they hold the lead with five minutes remaining. They are 31-1 dating back to last season when leading at the 5-minute mark of the second half.
Westminster is scoring 61.3 points per game this season and rank fourth in the Frontier Conference by shooting 40.4 percent from the floor. They are eighth in the NAIA in 3-point percentage at 37 percent and make 7.58 treys per outing to place 12th in the country. As a team, Westminster shoots 72.8 percent at the foul line to rank 10th nationally and are 23rd in assists at 15.17 per contest.
Griffin opponents are scoring just 53.17 points per game to place Westminster 17th in the NAIA is scoring defense. The opposition shoots 37.6 percent from the field and 29 percent from beyond the arc. Westminster has held their opponent to less than 60 points in nine games are is a perfect 9-0 in those situations. The Griffins force 15.75 turnovers per outing while averaging 8.5 steals and 2.17 blocked shots per game.
Against the Opposition
Westminster is undefeated in three all-time meetings with San Diego Christian. The last meeting was an 81-73 win by the Griffins at SDC on Oct. 29, 2010. Westminster also won the meetings 92-74 on Nov. 28, 2008 and 72-54 one Dec. 4, 2009.
Westmont holds a 3-1 edge in four meetings with the Griffins. The two teams last played in last season's opener where Westmont defeated the Griffins 71-61 in the Behnken Field House on Nov. 4, 2011. The Warriors also won the last time Westmont traveled to Santa Barbara, 93-78 on Dec. 29, 2011. The lone win by the Griffins in the series was an 84-82 win in Salt Lake City on Nov. 11, 2005.
Sharing the Wealth
Besides being one of the most prolific shooters in the country,
Nicole Yazzie is also a top passer. The Frontier Conference Preseason Player of the Year is averaging 5.25 assist per game this season and ranks 17th in the NAIA in that category. The senior guard has recorded at least five assists in eight of the 12 game splayed this season, including five of the last six. Yazzie also ranks eighth in the Frontier on scoring at 13.25 points per game. She makes two triples per outing and is shooting 32.9 percent from beyond the arc.
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 1,436 points and her 244 career threes is most all-time. She is second all-time with 444 assists and third in steals with 169.
Tidbits on Tibbitts
Cydney Tibbitts currently leads the team in scoring at 14.4 points per game and is third in the Frontier in field goal percentage at 46.9 percent. The senior forward is also the team's leading rebounder at 7.8 boards per night to rank fifth in the league while her 0.83 blocks is seventh. Tibbitts has recorded two double-doubles this season and is coming off 15 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Oklahoma Baptist to earn her second Frontier Conference Player of the Week award this season.
A Wells-come Addition
Kelsi Wells is the team's third-leading scorer at 9.3 points per game. The JC transfer is shooting 48.8 percent from the floor and 51.6 percent from beyond the arc. She has scored in double figures on six occasions, including two straight. She had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds in her Westminster debut against The Master's (Calif.) on Nov. 8.
Tia-rrific
Tia Pappas has been a boost of energy off the bench this season. The sophomore is averaging 6.6 points in 24.1 minutes per game. She is second on the team in rebounds at 6.8 per game and leads the squad with 21 steals. Pappas has had her first career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Montana Western on Dec. 1. She is coming off back-to-back double-digit scoring efforts in Oklahoma, including a career high 16 points in the win over Oklahoma Baptist.
Clutch at the Stripe
Westminster is one of the premier free throw shooting teams in the NAIA. The Griffins are shooting 72.8 percent at the stripe this season and rank 10th in the country in that category. They are also solid at the foul line in clutch situations shooting 82 percent with the game in the balance this year.
Brooke Blonquist is 2-of-2 in clutch situation while Tibbitts make 92.9 percent and Yazzie and
Brooke Larsen make 83.3 percent in the clutch.
Looking Ahead
The Griffins have two Frontier Conference road games on tap for next week. They begin at Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) on Jan. 3 before facing Montana Tech in Butte, Mont. on Jan. 5.
