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SALT LAKE CITY – The fifth-ranked Westminster College women's basketball team remains at home this week as they are hosting the annual Westminster Fall Classic. Westminster will open the week with a showdown against No. 3 Westmont (Calif.) on Thursday at 6 p.m. MST. After Westmont plays Montana Tech at 4 p.m. MST on Friday, the Griffins will face College of Idaho at 6 p.m. MST. Montana Tech will play College of Idaho on Saturday at 2 p.m. MST to close the weekend.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
All four games of the Westminster Fall Classic will be streamed live on Griffins TV. The two Westminster games will also be available on Comcast 6 in northern Utah with Mike Lageschulte (play-by-play) and Lance Barton (analyst) on the call. The pregame show will begin 10 minutes before tipoff. Live Stats are also available for all four games with links for all of the live features available in the calendar section of WestminsterGriffins.com.

GRIFFIN NOTES
The Griffins, who are ranked fifth in the NAIA Preseason Coaches' Top 25, are 1-0 this season after a 79-61 win over Mary (N.D.) last Wednesday in the Behnken Field House. Dating back to last season, Westminster is 8-2 in their last 10 games and 4-1 in the last five games. They also dropped a 72-60 decision at Brigham Young on Saturday in an exhibition game.

Westminster is shooting 45.6 percent from the floor and 55.6 percent from beyond the arc through one game. They finished the Mary game with 22 points in the paint and got 26 points from the bench. The Griffins had a 42-32 edge on the boards with 14 rebounds coming on the offensive end for seven points.

Tia Pappas finished opening night with a game-high 18 points, one off her career high. She shot 4-of-11 from the floor and 2-of-2 from beyond the stripe while also grabbing a game-high eight rebounds and five assists. Shelby Ellsworth scored 16 points in her first game in over a year. Amy Krommenhoek came off the bench to match her career-high with 13 points while shooting 3-of-4 from deep.

CONFERENCE FAVORITES
Westminster is the five-time defending conference champions and they were the preseason pick of the league's coaches to win the title again this season. They received seven of the possible eight first-place votes and scored 62 points to be picked as the favorite for a second straight season.

NATIONAL RANKING
Westminster received 222 points and will start the season with a No. 5 national ranking after the national office released the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Top 25 Poll on Tuesday. The Griffins pent all of last season ranked inside the top 10 and they have now been ranked in the top 25 for 24 consecutive polls dating back to Dec. 12, 2011.

WELLS A SCORING THREAT
Kelsi Wells looks to be the top scoring option for the Griffins this season. The senior was name Preseason All-Frontier Conference after scoring 10.3 points per game in league games last season. Wells scored in double figures in 17 games last season and had at least 15 in seven of those games. She also corralled 153 rebounds with 44 assists and 25 steals during the year. In the season opener, Wells finished with seven points, seven rebounds, and two assists.

A LI-"TIA" BIT OF EVERYTHING
Junior Tia Pappas was selected Preseason All-Frontier Conference by the league coaches after averaging 8.1 points per game last season, The junior was named the sixth player of the year in the league last season when she was second in the league in steals at 2.27 per game and 16th in rebounding with an average of 5.3 per contest. Pappas led the team with 18 points, eight rebounds, and five assists against Mary.

WELCOME BACK ELLSWORTH
Sophomore Shelby Ellsworth returns after sitting out last season with a knee injury. As a freshman in 2011-12, Ellsworth averaged 9.9 points per game while pulling down 5.6 rebounds per outing. She scored in double figures during 16 games that season with three double-doubles. Ellsworth posted the first 20-20 game in school history when she had 23 points and 20 rebounds in a game versus Cal Maritime. She scored 16 points in 16 minutes while grabbing for rebounds in the opener.

BIG NIGHT FOR AMY
Amy Krommenhoek came off the bench for 13 points in the season-opening win over Mary. The junior went 5-of-10 from the floor while making three of her four attempts from beyond the arc. She matched her career-highs in points, field goals made. In 24 minutes off the bench, Krommenhoek also had two assists and two steals.

FOLLOWING THE GRIFFINS
To keep up with all of the latest news and information about the Westminster women's basketball team, fans are encouraged to "Like" the Griffins on Facebook and follow them on Twitter. And as always, make sure to visit WestminsterGriffins.com for all things Griffins during the 2013 season.

LOOKING AHEAD
Next week the Griffins travel to Calif. to play a couple of team from the Golden State Athletic Conference. Westminster plays at Biola (Calif.) on Nov. 15 before visiting top-ranked Vanguard (Calif.) on Nov. 16.