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SALT LAKE CITY – The 18th-ranked Westminster College women's basketball team plays No. 8 Lewis-Clark State College on Saturday in the teams only game of the week.  Westminster will welcome LCSC to the Behnken Field house for a 5:30 p.m. tip. The game was selected as the NAIA Game of the Week, the national office announced today.

Westminster holds a one-game lead over the Warriors in the Frontier Conference standings with three games remaining.  Saturday's winner will take control of the inside track to the No. 1 seed at next month's Frontier Conference Tournament. A win by the Griffins clinches home games in the first two rounds of the tournament, and lowers the magic number to clinching the regular season title to just one.

Griffin Notebook
The Griffins enter the weekend with a 17-7 overall record and winners in 12 of their last 13 contests.  They have a 10-1 record in Frontier play to lead the league. Westminster is coming off a 2-0 trip to Montana last weekend that saw them collect wins over Rocky Mountain and Carroll.  The Griffins have gone 9-2 at home this season and are riding a seven-game home winning streak.

Westminster is scoring 67.4 points per game to rank fourth in the Frontier and 44th in the NAIA.  They shoot 41.5% from the field and 35.1% from beyond the arc.  The Griffins lead the league with 186 threes and an average of 7.75 made per outing.  They also lead the Frontier by shooting 77.7% at the foul line and with a 1.04 assist-to-turnover ratio.

On the defensive end, Westminster holds the opposition to 55.9 points per game and rank third in the league in that category.  Griffin opponents are shooting 38.2% from the field and 31% from beyond the arc.  Westminster grabs 37 rebounds a night while also averaging 14.1 assists.  They grab 7.7 steals while also averaging 2.1 blocks per game.

Four Griffins are averaging double figures in scoring this season.  Nicole Yazzie leads the team at 13.1 points per game which ranks seventh in the league.  Dana Bates is 13th in the Frontier in scoring at 11.4 while Shelby Ellsworth is 16th at 10.8 points per contest.  Cydney Tibbitts averages 11.1 per game, but hasn't played enough games to qualify in the conference rankings.

Yazzie leads team with 48 made threes and is shooting 92% at the foul line to lead the Frontier.  Jenteal Jackson is shooting 41.8% from beyond the arc to rank second in the Frontier and 10th in the nation.  Jackson has a team-best 92 assists and leads the Frontier with a 1.96 assist-to-turnover ratio.  Bates leads the team with 150 rebounds while Ellsworth has grabbed 144 boards.  Bates' average of 6.25 rebounds a night is ninth in the conference.

Game Coverage
Saturday's game 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.

Frontier Dominance
Over the past four-plus seasons, Westminster has been the best team in the Frontier Conference during league play.  The Griffins have compiled a 59-8 (.881) record during league action since the 2007-08 season.  Those 59 wins are five more than the 54 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 49-4 (.925) in league play since the 2008-09 season.  LCSC is again second over the span, winning 41 games in the same time span.

Tracking the Poll
For the second consecutive week the Griffins are ranked 18th in the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll.  Westminster received 151 points in the poll to remain in the same position as last week.  The Griffins have now been ranked in the Top 25 in six straight polls and seven times overall this season.  They also extended their streak of consecutive pols with votes to 60.

Taking Advantage at the Stripe
Westminster can be found first in the conference with a 77.7% free throw percentage.  They have shot above 70% at the stripe on 19 occasions while also going above 80% in 13 games.  The Griffins are shooting 81.2% at the stripe in conference games and sit third in the NAIA for the season.

Yazzie is the Frontier's top shooter at the foul line where she makes 92% 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% 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 75.9% at the line, making 41 of their 54 clutch 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 (90%) when it matters while Bates is 11-of-14 (78.6%). Yazzie is shooting 76.5% in clutch situations at 13-of-17.  Amy Krommenhoek and Jackson are a combined 3-of-8 with the game in balance.

Make That Three
Westminster currently leads the Frontier Conference with an average of 7.75 made threes per game.  The Griffins are shooting 35.1% from beyond the arc which ranks second in the conference and fifth in the NAIA.  Yazzie makes 2.0 threes per game to rank fourth in the league while Jackson is good for 1.71 triples per contest to rank sixth.

By shooting the ball from deep, Westminster has a 53.9% true shooting percentage.  They also have a 48.6% effective field goal percentage this season, up from the 41.5% 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 1.04 assist-to-turnover ratio and also rank sixth in the NAIA in that category.  They commit just 13.5 turnovers per outing and have a positive 1.62 turnover margin.

Three Griffins rank inside the Frontier top-10 in assist-to-turnover ratio.  Jackson is first in the league and 15th in the NAIA at 1.96 with Krommenhoek ranking second and 18th at 1.88.  Yazzie is 10th in the conference with her 1.23 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 22.4 points per game while also handing out seven assists per outing.  Yazzie is seventh in the Frontier in scoring while Jackson ranks 23rd.  They are fourth and sixth in the league with 92 and 76 assists respectively and also rank third 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 13 games played, Tibbitts is averaging 11.1 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.  She has recorded four double-doubles and been the team's leading rebounder in 11 games.  She is shooting 44% from the field and 36.1% from beyond the arc with the team going 12-1 with her playing.

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 10.7 points per game while grabbing 7.9 rebounds in 32.5 minutes per night.  She has grabbed 25 offensive rebounds during that time while also recording a team-best 12 blocked shots.

Big Time Bates
Senior Bates is 13th in the Frontier on scoring at 11.4 points per game and is shooting 48.4% from the field.  She has scored in double figures 15 times this season and twice been above 20 points.  The forward from Warden, Wash. also grabs 6.3 rebounds per game to rank ninth in the league while placing eighth in offensive rebounds at 2.46 per contest.  Bates has led the team in scoring on eight occasions this season and has been the top rebounder seven times. 

Bates has three games in which she 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 10.8 points per game while grabbing 5.9 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 10.8 points per game while scoring in double figures 13 times.  She is 16th in the Frontier in scoring and is the second-highest scoring freshman in the league.  Ellsworth is averaging six rebounds per game to rank 10th in the Frontier. Since moving to the bench, Ellsworth is scoring 12 points per game and shooting 49.2% from the field.

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 12 of the previous 13 games, Westminster has moved up to No. 19 in the current Massey Ratings.  The Griffins post a rating of 0.77 and rank second among the eight teams in the Frontier Conference.  They are the No. 8-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.