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SALT LAKE CITY – The fourth-ranked Westminster College women's basketball returns home for the first time since Dec. 1 when they open a four-game home-stand with two games this week. Westminster welcomes Great Falls (Mont.) to town on Thursday before facing Montana State-Northern on Saturday. Both games will tip at 5:30 p.m. in the Behnken Field House.

Game Coverage
Both home games this week will be carried live on Griffins TV and Comcast 6 in Northern Utah. Mike Lageschulte (play-by-play) and Lance Barton (analyst) will be on the call. Westminster will also have Live Stats available for each of the games. Links for Griffins TV and the Live Stats can be found in the calendar section at WestminsterGriffins.com.

Griffin Notebook
Westminster enters the week with a 14-2 overall record and ranked No. 4 in the latest NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll that was released on Tuesday. The Griffins are 3-0 in Frontier Conference play after sweeping a road trip at Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) and Montana Tech last weekend.

The Griffins are riding a six-game winning streak and have two wins over a ranked opponent during that stretch. They have gone 3-1 at home this season and have won three straight home games. Westminster is 10-1 against non-ranked opponents and 11-0 when they hold a halftime lead.

Offensively, Westminster is averaging 61.5 points per game and shooting 41.3 percent from the floor to rank third in the Frontier. They make 7.12 threes per game to lead the conference and the 36.5 percent they shoot from beyond the arc is eighth-best in the NAIA. The Griffins are fifth nationally in free throw shooting at 74.3 percent and sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.01.

It is the defensive end where the Griffins really shine. They are currently holding opponents to just 49.88 points per game to lead the conference and place fourth in the country. The opposition shoots 35.4 percent from the floor and 28.7 percent from beyond the arc. Westminster has held each of the last five opponents below 50 points.

Against the Opposition
Westminster is 24-4 all-time against Great Falls and has won 18 straight games in the series. The last UGF win was on Feb. 17, 2005 in Salt Lake City. Westminster swept three games last season, including a 72-49 win in the Behnken Field House during last year's Frontier Conference Tournament.

The Griffins hold a 17-11 edge in 28 all-time meetings with MSU-Northern. They have won 12 straight games over the Sky Lights and seven straight games in Salt Lake City.

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 (49.88), field goal defense (35.4 percent), 3-point field goal defense (28.7 percent) and rebound defense (31.88). Those present totals would establish a new school record in each category. Westminster has held five straight opponents below 50 points and three of them to 40 or less.

Triple Threat
Senior Nicole Yazzie is proving to be one of the best all-around players in the country. The senior currently leads the team in scoring at 12.9 points per game and she ranks 40th in the NAIA with 21 made treys. Yazzie in 13thnationally at 5.25 assists per game and also ranks 10th in the Frontier with 27 steals. She was named the Frontier Conference Player of the Week on Monday after averaging 15 points, five rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.5 steals during the road trip.

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 1,483 points and her 251 career threes is most all-time. She is second all-time with 465 assists and third in steals with 172.

Tidbits on Tibbitts
Cydney Tibbitts is second on the team in scoring at 12.8 points per game and she shoots 43.5 percent from the field. The senior leads the team in rebounds with 128 and ranks third in the Frontier at eight boards per contest. She collects 5.75 defensive rebounds per game to lead the league and place 29th in the NAIA. Tibbitts currently grabs 13.7 percent of all available rebounds while she is on the floor and 19.2 percent on the defensive end.

Wells-come Addition
Kelsi Wells leads the team by shooting 50.4 percent from the floor and she averages 10 points per game in her first season with the Griffins. The junior is shooting 51.2 percent from beyond the arc and grabs 4.7 rebounds per outing. She has gone for 10+ points on eight occasions this season and also has 19 assists and 13 steals.

Tia-rrific
Tia Pappas has been a boost of energy off the bench this season. The sophomore is averaging 7.3 points in 23.4 minutes per game. She is second on the team in rebounds with 96 and her 2.06 steals per game rank third in the conference. Pappas has led the team in steals nine times this season and she has an offensive rebound rate of 13.7 percent.

Approaching 1,000
Allie Eastman is averaging 7.3 points per game this season and has scored 875 points in her career. She needs to average 8.3 points per game over the remaining 15 games on the schedule to become to seventh player in school history to score 1,000 career points. 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 74.3 percent at the stripe to lead the Frontier and rank fifth in the country. Both Tibbitts (80.8 percent) and Yazzie (79.6 percent) place in the NAIA top 25 in foul shooting. Westminster is 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.

Checking the Computers
Westminster has moved up to No. 5 in the latest edition of the Massey Ratings. The official computer rankings of the NAIA give the Griffins a No. 5 power rating and list them as the top defensive team in the nation. The Griffins have also played the No.3-rated schedule in all of the NAIA according to the ratings.

Looking Ahead
Westminster remains at home for two games next week. The first of those is slated for Jan. 17 against Dickinson State (N.D.) at 5:30 p.m. They will then welcome Carroll (Mont.) to Salt Lake City on Jan. 19 at 5:30 p.m.