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SALT LAKE CITY – The 19th-ranked Westminster College women's basketball team will begin the second half of the Frontier Conference season with two home games this weekend. Westminster will welcome Montana Western to town on Thursday before a Saturday contest against Montana Tech. Both games will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Behnken Field House and are part of the Westminster Athletics Hall of Fame Weekend.
Griffin Notebook
The Griffins enter the weekend with a 13-7 overall record and winners in eight of their last nine contests. They hold a one-game lead over No. 9 Lewis-Clark State and Rocky Mountain in the Frontier standings with a 6-1 record. Westminster is coming off a 2-0 trip to Montana last weekend that saw them collect wins over Great Falls at MSU-Northern. The Griffins have gone 7-2 at home this season and are riding a five-game home winning streak.
Westminster is scoring 67.9 points per game to rank fourth in the Frontier and 46th in the NAIA. They shoot 40.9% from the field and 34% from beyond the arc. The Griffins lead the league with 159 threes and an average of 7.95 made per outing. They also lead the Frontier by shooting 76.8% at the foul line and with a 1.05 assist-to-turnover ratio.
On the defensive end, Westminster holds the opposition to 57.3 points per game and rank third in the league in that category. Griffin opponents are shooting 38.2% from the field and 31.2% from beyond the arc. Westminster grabs 38 rebounds a night while also averaging 14.1 assists. They grab 7.5 steals while also averaging two blocks per game.
Four Griffins are averaging double figures in scoring this season.
Nicole Yazzie leads the team at 13 points per game which ranks seventh in the league.
Dana Bates is 11th in the Frontier in scoring at 11.9 while
Shelby Ellsworth is 18th at 10.5 points per contest.
Cydney Tibbitts averages 11.6 per game, but hasn't played enough games to qualify in the conference rankings.
Yazzie leads team with 39 made threes and is shooting 92.9% at the foul line to lead the Frontier.
Jenteal Jackson is shooting 40.2% from beyond the arc to rank third in the Frontier and 19th in the nation. Jackson has a team-best 71 assists and leads the Frontier with a 1.92 assist-to-turnover ratio. Ellsworth and Bates have each grabbed 128 rebounds during the year and rank ninth in the league at 6.4 per game.
Game Coverage
Both games this weekend will be carried live on Griffins TV. The pregame coverage begins at 5:20 p.m. with Mike Lageschulte handling the play-by-play and Lance Barton providing the color commentary. Head coach
Shelley Jarrard stops by to chat with the guys during the postgame show. Live Stats will also be available for the two games. Links for Griffins TV and the Live Stats are available at WestminsterGriffins.com.
Hall of Fame Weekend
Friday night the Westminster College Athletic Department will induct John Prokopis and Rex Macey into the school's athletic Hall of Fame. The two will then be honored at a reception on Saturday following the women's game and then introduced to the crowd at halftime of the men's game. Saturday's festivities are part of Alumni Night which allows all Westminster alumni 2-for-1 admission to the game.
Frontier Dominance
Over the past four-and-a-half seasons, Westminster has been the best team in the Frontier Conference during league play. The Griffins have compiled a 55-8 (.873) record during league action since the 2007-08 season. Those 55 wins are five more than the 50 posted by Lewis-Clark State during that same time frame. Only the Griffins and LCSC have been above .500 in league play during that stretch.
The dominance is even greater over the past three-plus seasons. Westminster has won three straight regular season conference championships and has gone 45-4 (.918) in league play since the 2008-09 season. LCSC is again second over the span, winning 37 games in the same time span.
Chasing 20
Westminster enters the weekend in need of seven wins for a sixth straight 20-win season. The team had never had a 20-win year prior to the 2006-07 season when they won 22. During the current five-year streak, the Griffins are averaging 25 wins per season and qualified for the NAIA National Championships each season. Westminster set a school record with 28 wins last season.
Tracking the Poll
The Griffins moved up one position to No. 19 in the latest edition of the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Monday. They received 133 points in the poll to move up for a third consecutive week. Westminster has now received votes in 58 consecutive polls and have been inside the Top-25 on 51 of those occasions.
Taking Advantage at the Stripe
Westminster can be found first in the conference with a 76.8% free throw percentage. They have shot above 70% at the stripe on 15 occasions while also going above 80% in 10 games. The Griffins are shooting 80.3% at the stripe in conference games and sit fourth in the NAIA for the season.
Yazzie is the Frontier's top shooter at the foul line where she makes 92.9% of her attempts. She sits second in the nation in free throw shooting and has streaks of 24 and 34 consecutive makes at the line this year. Her 92.9% percentage is on pace to set a new school record for a single season, surpassing the 87.1% that Elisa Leader shot during the 2007-08 campaign.
Just as Good When They Need It
The Griffins also shoot a high percentage at the foul line in clutch situations. A clutch situation is defined as any free throw with less than 5:00 remaining in the game (plus all of overtime) and a positive or negative differential of 10 points or less. During that situation, Westminster is shooting 76.5% at the line, making 39 of their 51 attempts this season.
Allie Eastman, Ellsworth and
Tia Pappas have yet to miss a freebie in a clutch situation. Tibbitts has gone 9-of-10 when it matters while Bates is 10-of-12 (83.3%). Yazzie is shooting 76.5% in clutch situations at 13-of-17.
Amy Krommenhoek and Jackson are a combined 2-of-7 with the game in balance.
Make That Three
Westminster currently leads the Frontier Conference with an average of 7.95 made threes per game. The Griffins are shooting 34% from beyond the arc which ranks second in the conference and 13th in the NAIA. Yazzie makes 1.95 threes per game to rank fifth in the league while Jackson is good for 1.75 triples per contest to rank sixth.
By shooting the ball from deep, Westminster has a 53.41% true shooting percentage. They also have a 48.1% effective field goal percentage this season, up from the 40.9% they shoot from the field. Both of those percentages take free throws and 3-point field goal into account.
Taking Care of the Rock
Westminster is one of the best teams in the country when it comes to taking care of the basketball. They Griffins lead the Frontier with a 1.05 assist-to-turnover ratio and also rank fourth in the NAIA in that category. They commit just 13.4 turnovers per outing and have a positive 0.95 turnover margin.
Four Griffins rank inside the Frontier top-20 in assist-to-turnover ratio. Jackson is first in the league and 21st in the NAIA at 1.92 with Krommenhoek ranking second and 23rd at 1.86. Yazzie is seventh in the conference with her 1.40 ratio and Bates is 19th with a 0.97 ratio.
Dynamic Backcourt
Westminster features one of the top 1-2 backcourt punches in the NAIA. The combination of Yazzie and Jackson combine to average 22 points per game while also handing out 6.9 assists per outing. Yazzie is seventh in the Frontier in scoring while Jackson ranks 25th. They are fourth and fifth in the league with 71 and 67 assists respectively and also rank fifth and sixth in 3-point field goals made.
Tracking Tibbitts
After missing the first 11 games of the season, junior Tibbitts has made an impact since stepping on the court for the Griffins. In nine games played, Tibbitts is averaging 11.6 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. She has recorded four double-doubles and been the team's leading rebounder in all nine games. She is shooting 41.5% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc and the team is 8-1 during that stretch.
After coming off the bench in her first two games, Tibbitts transitioned to the starting lineup when conference play began. As a starter, Tibbitts is scoring 11.1 points per game while grabbing 9.9 rebounds in 33 minutes per night. She has grabbed 22 offensive rebounds during that time while also recording a team-best eight blocked shots.
Big Time Bates
Senior Bates is 11th in the Frontier on scoring at 11.9 points per game and is shooting 49% from the field. She has scored in double figures 13 times this season and twice been above 20 points. The forward from Warden, Wash. also grabs 6.5 rebounds per game to rank ninth in the league while placing eighth in offensive rebounds at 2.6 per contest. Bates has led the team in scoring on seven occasions this season and has been the top rebounder five times.
Bates has twice grabbed double-digit rebounds and had a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards against Simpson on Dec. 3. In conference action, she is scoring 12 points per game while grabbing 6.1 rebounds.
Freshman Sensation
Ellsworth is off to a fast start during her freshman campaign. The forward has made 18 starts this season and is averaging 10.5 points per game while scoring in double figures 10 times. She is 18th in the Frontier in scoring and is the third-highest scoring freshman in the league. Ellsworth is averaging 6.4 rebounds per game to rank ninth in the Frontier.
She matched a school-record with 20 rebounds in a win over Cal Maritime on Nov. 10. During that game, Ellsworth had 14 offensive rebounds while also scoring a career-high 23 points. She has four games with double-digit rebounds and three double-doubles so far this season.
Massey Ratings
After winning eight of the previous nine games, Westminster has moved up to No. 25 in the current Massey Ratings. The Griffins post a rating of 0.68 and rank second among the eight teams in the Frontier Conference. They are the No. 14-rated defense and have played the 23rd-toughest schedule according to the ratings.
The Massey Ratings are compiled each week with new ranking being released on Sundays. Kenneth Massey is the creator of the rating formula and all ratings can be found on his web site at www.masseyratings.com.
