Box Score SALT LAKE CITY – The 16th-ranked Westminster College women's basketball team won its fourth straight Frontier Conference regular season championship by defeating Montana State-Northern 62-41 on Thursday evening in the Behnken Field House.
Westminster won their eight straight game on Thursday and improve to 19-7 overall and 12-1 in Frontier action. They earned the No. 1 seed at next week's conference tournament which means they will play at home for as long as they have games. MSU-Northern drops to 20-7 overall and 7-6 in league with the loss.
It was another second half domination for the Griffins tonight. After the whole first half was played within a seven point window, the Griffins outscored Northern 34-16 after intermission. Westminster began the half with an 11-4 run to build a 39-29 lead at the 12:54 mark. Over the next eight minutes, the Griffins outscored the visitors 19-0 and forced MSUN into 12 straight missed shots and four turnovers.
The Griffins limited MSUN to 31.3% shooting in the game and just 18.5% in the second period. They forced 14 turnovers and scored 18 points from them while also racing to fast break points. Westminster shot 41.4% from the field and had 28 points in the paint. They also grabbed 40 rebounds and turned 12 offensive boards into 18 second chance points. The Griffins posted 18 assists on their 24 made field goals and had nine steals.
Cydney Tibbitts was the Griffins leading scorer on the night with 15 points. It was her ninth double-digit scoring night of the year and her second straight game with at least 13 points.
Nicole Yazzie chipped in 11 points and had a season-high seven assists.
Shelby Ellsworth added nine points off the bench with
Brooke Larsen scoring a season-bets eight points.
Nikki Tresch led Northern with nine points by making three triples, all in the first half. Kylee Denham scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds.
Westminster will conclude the regular season on Saturday when they host Great Falls at 5:30 p.m. in the Behnken Field House. The two Griffin seniors will be honored following the game and the team will celebrate the regular season title in an on-court ceremony following the men's game.
