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SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster College women's basketball team travels to Billings, Mont. to face Rocky Mountain (Mont.) on Saturday. The game will begin at 5:30 p.m. from the Fortin Center and is the only game of the week for the fifth-ranked Griffins.

Game Coverage
Saturday's game will be streamed live by Rocky Mountain College. They will also have live stats available for the game. Links for both the video stream and live stats can be found in the calendar section of WestminsterGriffins.com.

Griffin Notebook
Westminster heads to Billings at 18-2 overall this season and atop the Frontier Conference with a perfect 7-0 record. They defeated Dickinson State (N.D.), 90-50, and Carroll, 67-36, at home last week and have now won 10 straight games. That is the fourth-longest winning streak in school history and one shy of the 11 under head coach Shelley Jarrard set last season.

The Griffins return to the road with an 11-1 record away from the Behnken Field House this season. They are 9-1 in road games and they have won 16 straight Frontier Conference games dating back to last season. The last league loss was at Lewis-Clark State on Jan. 19, 2012.

The offense has been clicking in the past few games for the Griffins and they are now averaging 64.7 points per game. The Griffins rank third in the conference in scoring average after sitting eighth as we entered 2013. Westminster is scoring 72.7 points per game in conference play and has twice been above 80. They are shooting 43.5 percent from the floor this season to lead the league and rank 13th in the NAIA. They are also atop the league in free throw shooting at 72.1 percent which ranks eighth in the country. The Griffins are ninth nationally in assists (16.65) and fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.23).

The defense has also been clicking this season as the Griffins allow just 48.3 points per game. That average ranks second in the country and helps to a 16.4 scoring margin. Westminster holds the opposition to 35.3 percent shooting from the floor and 28.1 percent from beyond the arc which places them 16th and 34th in the nation respectively. They have held 11 opponents below 50 points and six to less than 40 points.

Against the Opposition
The Griffins hold a 20-7 lead in the all-time series with Rocky Mountain. They have won 14 straight games in the series and six straight in Billings. Westminster won 84-52 at home last season on Jan. 14, 2012 and then 50-38 in Billings on Feb. 9, 2012.

Frontier Dominance
With a 7-0 start to the conference season, Westminster continues its dominance in the league over the past six years. Since the 2007-08 season, the Griffins are 69-8 in league games and only once (2007-08) have they lost more than two games in a year. They are an even better 59-4 (.937) in the past five years and 20-1 (.952) in the past two seasons. During this time, Westminster has won four straight regular season championships after not winning more than eight games in league games prior to the 2007-08 season.

Getting Defensive
The Griffins are having one of the best defensive seasons in school history. They rank in the NAIA top-20 in scoring defense (48.30, 2nd), field goal defense (35.3%, 16th) and rebound defense (30.65, 4th). Those present totals would establish a new school record in each category. Westminster has held nine straight opponents to 50 points or less and four of them below 40 points.

Streaking
Westminster is currently riding a 10-game winning streak which is the fourth-longest streak in school history. They haven't lost since dropping a 73-51 decision at then-No. 3 Vanguard (Calif.) on Dec. 8. The Griffins are averaging 68.1 points per game during the streak while holding their opponents to 43.2 points. The longest winning streak in school history is 17 set during the 2008-09 campaign with a 13-game streak taking place during the 2009-10 season. The team won 11 consecutive games during last season for the third-longest streak in team history.

Triple Threat
Senior Nicole Yazzie is proving to be one of the best all-around players in the country. The senior currently averages 12.6 points per game and is sixth in the Frontier with 34 made treys. Yazzie is 13th nationally at 5.35 assists per game and sits 22nd in the NAIA with a 1.91 assist-to-turnover ratio. She has scored in double figures in 15 games this season and led the team in scoring on six occasions.

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 1,528 points and her 254 career threes is most all-time. She is second all-time with 488 assists and third in steals with 187.

Tidbits on Tibbitts
Cydney Tibbitts is the team's leading scorer at 12.8 points per game. She is eighth in the Frontier in scoring and is shooting 44.9 percent from the field. The senior grabs a team-high 8.25 rebounds per game to rank fourth in the Frontier and her 5.95 defensive rebounds per game leads the conference. Tibbitts is 18th in the NAIA in free throw percentage at 81 percent and she leads the Griffins with 17 blocked shots. She grabs 14.5 percent of all available rebounds while on the floor and 20.6 percent on the defensive end.

Wells-come Addition
Kelsi Wells is third on the team in scoring at 11.2 points per game while shooting a team-best 54.9 percent from the floor. The junior makes 51 percent of her attempts from beyond the arc while also pulling down 4.7 rebounds per game. Wells leads the team at 13.3 points per game in Frontier Conference play and she is shooting 62.7 percent from the field in the seven contests. Wells has scored in double figures in four straight games and matched her career high with 22 points against Dickinson State last Thursday.

Tia-rrific
Tia Pappas has been a spark off the Griffin bench this season. The sophomore scores 7.5 points in 23 minutes per game and shoots 43.7 percent from the floor. Pappas is second on the team with 115 rebounds and her 2.55 offensive rebounds per game in fifth in the Frontier. She is second in the league and 32nd in the NAIA at 2.45 steals per game and she is 25th nationally with 49 total steals.

Approaching 1,000
Allie Eastman is averaging 7.8 points per game this season and has scored 914 points in her career. She needs to average 9.6 points per game over the remaining nine games on the schedule to become to seventh player in school history to score 1,000 career points. She has reached double figures in seven games this season and twice been the team's leading scorer in a game. Eastman also ranks in the Westminster career top 10 in field goals made, 3-point field goals made, assists, steals and blocked shots.

Making the Freebies
Westminster is one of the premier free throw shooting teams in the NAIA. The Griffins are shooting 72.1 percent at the stripe to lead the Frontier and rank eighth in the country. They are even better in clutch situation as they make 81.1 percent of their attempts in the final five minutes (and all of overtime) of a game within 10 points. Tibbitts ranks 18th in the country by making 81 percent of her attempts and she shoots 92.9 percent in clutch situations.

Massey Ratings
Westminster moved up two positions to No. 3 in this week's Massey Ratings. They have a rating of 1.15 and sit behind Lubbock Christian (Texas) and Oklahoma City. The Griffins are fourth in the power rating and are the No. 1-rated defense in the ratings. The ratings also list the team as having played the sixth-toughest schedule in the country.

Frontier Tournament
The 2013 Frontier Conference Tournament will be played Feb. 26–Mar. 4 at the home site of the highest seed in each game. The top six teams in the final standings will qualify for the tournament with the top two teams receiving a bye into the semi-finals. Westminster is currently the No. 1 seed and would host the lowest remaining seed after the quarterfinals in the Behnken Field House on Mar. 4. Complete tournament information can be found at WestminsterGriffins.com/playoffs.

Looking Ahead
Westminster returns to the Behnken Field House for Hall of Fame Weekend next week. They begin the week on Jan. 31 with the rematch against Rocky Mountain. After the Athletic Hall of Fame Celebration and Senior Student-Athlete Recognition takes place on Feb. 1, the Griffins host Lewis-Clark State on Feb. 2.