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SALT LAKE CITY – It is back to the road this week for the fourth-ranked Westminster College women's basketball team. Westminster will begin an eight-game road stretch on Friday when they face Concordia (Calif.) at 6:30 p.m. MT in Costa Mesa, Calif. That precedes one of the top games in the NAIA so far this season as the Griffins face No. 3 Vanguard (Calif.) on Saturday at 1 p.m. MT in Costa Mesa, Calif.

Game Coverage
Both games this weekend will be available to watch online with live video streaming. There will also be live stats available for both of the road games this week. Links for all of the live features can be found on the calendar section of WestminsterGriffins.com.

Griffin Notebook
Westminster returns to the road riding a seven-game winning streak and carrying a 7-1 overall record. They are 1-0 in Frontier Conference games after a 73-35 win over Montana Western last Saturday in the Behnken Field House. The current seven-game winning streak is the second longest streak under head coach Shelley Jarrard. The team won 11 straight games during a stretch last season.

The Griffins are a perfect 4-0 away from home this season, including a 3-0 mark in road games. They have won seven-straight road games dating back to last season. Westminster has also won four consecutive non-conference road games.

Westminster is averaging 61.8 points per game this season and they lead the Frontier Conference by shooting 41.5 percent from the field. They are coming off a season-high for points in a game with the 73 scored against Western. The Griffins make 7.25 threes per game to rank 17th in the NAIA while shooting 37.7 percent from beyond the arc, seventh in the country.

Defensively the Griffins are stingy. The team holds the opposition to just 51.6 points per game and limits them to 36.9 percent shooting. They rank 11th nationally in scoring defense and 36th in field goal defense. Westminster opponents are shooting just 27.2 percent from beyond the arc and are averaging 15.4 turnovers per game.

Against the Opposition
Concordia leads the all-time series with the Griffins, 3-1. They haven't played since a 77-69 win by Concordia on Nov. 9, 2006 in Salt Lake City. The lone Griffin win in the series was a 59-57 win on Nov. 5, 2005 in Irvine.

Westminster trails to all-time series with Vanguard, 0-4. The Lions won the last meeting 60-43 on Oct. 30, 2010 in Costa Mesa. Three of the four match-ups in the series have been played in Costa Mesa with the fourth taking place at the 2009 NAIA National Championships. The Griffins first-ever game was at Vanguard on Nov. 12, 1999, a 69-55 loss.

Connecting from Deep
Nicole Yazzie is one of the most prolific shooters in the NAIA this season. The senior guard is averaging 2.25 made threes per game and ranks 34th in the country in that category. The Frontier Conference Co-Preseason Player of the Year shoots 33.3 percent from beyond the arc and is second on the team in scoring at 14.3 points per game. She ranks third in the Frontier and 16th nationally with an average of 5.13 assist per outing.

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 1,397 points and she is tied Elisa Leader for the career lead with 238 made triples. She is second all-time with 422 assists and third in steals with 162.

Tidbits on Tibbitts
Cydney Tibbitts leads the team in scoring this season at 14.5 points per game. The senior forward shoots 47.6 percent from the floor and has scored in double figures in all eight games played this season. She also leads the Griffins with 60 rebounds and seven blocked shots. Tibbitts ranks 18th in the NAIA in free throw shooting at 81.3 percent and she shoots 40 percent from beyond the arc.

A Wells-come Addition
Kelsi Wells is averaging 9.9 points per game and is the team's No. 3 scorer this season. The JC transfer is shooting 50 percent from the floor and 47.4 percent from beyond the arc. She has scored in double figures on four occasions, including a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds in her Westminster debut on Nov. 8 vs. The Master's (Calif.). Wells ranks 10th in the country with a 3.67 assist-to-turnover ratio while also grabbing 42 rebounds and eight steals.

Clutch at the Stripe
Westminster is one of the premier free throw shooting teams in the NAIA. The Griffins are shooting 75.3 percent at the stripe this season and rank sixth in the country in that category. They have shot above 75 percent at the line in five games this season, including the last four straight. The Griffins have been also been solid at the foul line in clutch situations shooting 84.2 percent with the game in the balance this year. Wells (4-of-4) and Brooke Blonquist (2-of-2) have made all of their clutch attempts with Tibbitts going 11-of-12, Brooke Larsen making 5-of-6 and Yazzie 8-of-10.

In the Polls
Westminster moved up one position to No. 4 in the 2012-13 NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. Westminster received 255 points to move up one position from the preseason poll that was released in October. The No. 4 ranking is the highest the team has ever been ranked, surpassing the No. 5 they were at to start the season.

Checking the Massey Computer
The Griffins currently sit at No. 8 in the current edition of the Massey Ratings. They fell one position from the No. 7 spot they held last week. The computer has the Griffins rated as the fifth-best defensive team in the country while playing the 13th-ranked schedule.

Looking Ahead
This stretch of road games continues next week with a trip to Oklahoma on the docket. The Griffins will face No. 15 Rogers State (Okla.) on Dec. 15 before playing at Oklahoma Baptist on Dec. 17.