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SALT LAKE CITY – The 16th-ranked Westminster College women's basketball team enters the final week of the regular season needing one win to clinch the Frontier Conference regular season title.  They get two chances at home to accomplish the feat with the first coming on Thursday against Montana State-Northern.  The regular season concludes on Saturday against Great Falls on Senior Night.  Both games will be played in the Behnken Field House with a 5:30 p.m. tip time.

Griffin Notebook
The Griffins enter the weekend at 18-7 overall and hold a two-game lead in the Frontier race at 11-1.  They are coming off a 78-56 win over then-No. 8 Lewis-Clark State College last Saturday.  The Griffins are 10-2 at home this season and have won seven straight and 13 of the previous 14 games they have played.

Westminster is scoring 67.8 points per game to rank fourth in the Frontier and 41st in the NAIA.  They shoot 41.7% from the field and 35.3% from beyond the arc.  The Griffins lead the league with 196 threes and an average of 7.84 made per outing.  They also lead the Frontier by shooting 78% at the foul line and with a 1.05 assist-to-turnover ratio.

On the defensive end, Westminster holds the opposition to 55.9 points per game and rank second in the league in that category.  Griffin opponents are shooting 38.2% from the field and 31.5% from beyond the arc.  Westminster grabs 37 rebounds a night while also averaging 14.1 assists.  They gather 7.9 steals while also averaging two blocks per game.

Four Griffins are averaging double figures in scoring this season.  Nicole Yazzie leads the team at 13.2 points per game which ranks sixth in the league.  Dana Bates is 11th in the Frontier in scoring at 11.6 while Shelby Ellsworth is 16th at 10.5 points per contest.  Cydney Tibbitts averages 11.2 per game, but hasn't played enough games to qualify in the conference rankings.

Yazzie leads team with 50 made threes and is shooting 92.6% at the foul line to lead the Frontier.  Jenteal Jackson is shooting 41.7% from beyond the arc to rank first in the Frontier and sixth in the nation.  Jackson has a team-best 98 assists and leads the Frontier with a 2.00 assist-to-turnover ratio.  Bates leads the team with 157 rebounds while Ellsworth has grabbed 153 boards.  Bates' average of 6.28 rebounds a night is ninth in the conference.

Game Coverage
Both games this week 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.

Playoff Preview
The Frontier Conference Tournament begins on Wednesday, Feb. 29 with four games at the site of the four top seeds from the regular season.  Westminster has clinched home games during the first two rounds of the tournament and will host a quarterfinal game on the 29th.  The opponent is yet to be determined, but the game will tipoff at 7 p.m. in the Behnken Field House.

If the Griffins advance to the semi-finals, that game would also be played in the Behnken Field House on Saturday, Mar. 3 at 7 p.m.  The championship game is scheduled for Tuesday, Mar. 6 at 7 p.m.  For complete postseason information be sure to visit WestminsterGriffins.com/playoffs.

Frontier Dominance
Over the past five seasons, Westminster has been the best team in the Frontier Conference during league play.  The Griffins have compiled a 60-8 (.882) record during league action since the 2007-08 season.  Those 60 wins are six 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 four seasons.  Westminster has won four straight regular season conference championships and has gone 50-4 (.926) 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
Thanks to Saturday's win, Westminster moved up two positions to No. 16 in this week's NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Monday.  The Griffins received 164 points in the poll to move up from the No. 18 position they held for the previous two weeks. This marks the seventh consecutive poll the Griffins have been ranked in this season and the 61st consecutive poll they have received votes.

Taking Advantage at the Stripe
Westminster can be found first in the conference with a 78% free throw percentage.  They have shot above 70% at the stripe on 20 occasions while also going above 80% in 14 games.  The Griffins are shooting 81.6% 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 92.6% 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 92.6% 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 7.84 made threes per game.  The Griffins are shooting 35.3% from beyond the arc which ranks second in the conference and fourth in the NAIA.  Yazzie makes 2.0 threes per game to rank fourth in the league while Jackson is good for 1.72 triples per contest to rank sixth.

Defensive Excellence
The Griffins are you of the top defensive teams in the country.  Westminster opponents average just 55.88 points per game and shoot just 38.2% from the floor.  The Griffins rank 13th in the NAIA in scoring defense and 44th in field goal defense. Opponents are committing 15.2 turnovers per game which the Griffins turn into 15.4 points per night.

Westminster has held four straight opponents under 60 points and they lead the Frontier by allowing just 52.33 points per game during league games. The Griffin shave held six opponents under 50 points this season and twice limited the opposition to less than 40 points.

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 14 games played, Tibbitts is averaging 11.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.  She has recorded four double-doubles and been the team's leading rebounder in 11 games.  She is shooting 45.1% from the field and 39% from beyond the arc with the team going 13-1 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 10.9 points per game while grabbing 7.7 rebounds in 32.4 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 11th in the Frontier on scoring at 11.64 points per game and is shooting 49.7% from the field.  She has scored in double figures 16 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 2.44 per contest.  Bates has led the team in scoring on nine occasions this season and has been the top rebounder eight times. 

Bates was named the Frontier Conference Player of the Week last week after leading the Griffins with 18 points and seven rebounds in Saturday's victory.  She went 7-of-10 from the field and 4-of-5 at the foul line while also posting one assist and one steal.  This is the first player of the week award in Bates' career and she is the second Griffin to claim the award this season.

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 13 times.  She is 16th in the Frontier in scoring and is the second-highest scoring freshman in the league.  Ellsworth is averaging 6.1 rebounds per game to rank 10th in the Frontier. Since moving to the bench, Ellsworth is scoring 11 points per game and shooting 45.6% 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 13 of the previous 14 games, Westminster has moved up to No. 15 in the current Massey Ratings.  The Griffins post a rating of 0.80 and rank second among the eight teams in the Frontier Conference.  They are the No. 10-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.