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SALT LAKE CITY – The fourth-ranked Westminster College women's basketball team returns to the orad for two Frontier Conference games in Montana this weekend. Westminster begins the trip on Friday when they face Great Falls (Mont.) at 5:30 p.m. in the McLaughlin Center. The Griffins will then face Montana State-Northern on Saturday at 6 p.m. in Havre, Mont.

Game Coverage
Friday's game will be shown live in HD on the Altitude Sports Network. Peter Young will handle the play-by-play for Altitude, which can be found in Utah on Comcast channel 61, Dish Network channel 410 and DirecTV channel 681. Saturday's game will be streamed live in the web and live stats will be available for both games. Links for any of the live features can be found in the calendar section of WestminsterGriffins.com.

Griffin Notebook
Westminster begins the week at 22-2 overall and riding a 14-game winning streak. They lead the Frontier Conference with a perfect 11-0 record and have already clinched a bye into the semi-finals of the conference tournament. Westminster defeated Montana Western, 45-28, last Saturday in the team's only game of the week.

The Griffins have gone 13-1 in all games played away from home this season and they are 11-1 in road games. Westminster has won all four of its conference road games this year. They are 4-0 on Friday and 12-1 on Saturday this season while also posting a 19-0 mark when they hold the lead at halftime. Dating back to last season, the Griffins have won 20 straight Frontier Conference games dating back to last season.

Westminster is scoring 65.5 points per game to rank second in the Frontier. They are first in the league in field goal percentage (44.2%), free throw percentage (74.2%) and place second in 3-point field goal percentage (34.4%). Westminster makes a league-best 6.71 treys per game and rank first in assists per game at 17.0 and assist-to-turnover ratio, 1.26, which is fourth in the NAIA.

On the defensive end, Westminster holds the opposition to 46.58 points per game and just 34.1 percent shooting. The Griffins rank second in the country in scoring defense and seventh in field goal defense. They allow just 30.08 rebounds per game to the opposition, second in the country, while also forcing 17.3 turnovers per outing. The Griffins record 10.04 steals per game to lead the Frontier and they rank 18th in the NAIA with a 3.58 turnover margin.

Against the Opposition
Westminster leads the all-time series with Great Falls 25-4. They have won 17 straight games against the Argonauts and seven straight in Great Falls. The Griffins won the game earlier this season in Salt Lake City, 81-39.

The Griffins have an 18-11 lead in the series with MSU-Northern after a 72-43 win in the Behnken Field House last month. Westminster has a 13-game winning streak against the Sky Lights, including five consecutive wins in Havre.

Frontier Dominance
With an 11-0 record in conference this season, Westminster continues its dominance in the league over the past six years. Since the 2007-08 season, the Griffins are 73-8 in league games and only once (2007-08) have they lost more than two games in a year. They are an even better 63-4 (.940) in the past five years and 24-1 (.960) in the past two seasons and have currently won 20 straight Frontier Conference games. During this time, Westminster has won four straight regular season championships after not winning more than eight league games in a season prior to the 2007-08 campaign.

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 (46.58, 2nd), field goal defense (34.1%, 7th) and rebound defense (30.08, 2nd). Those present totals would establish a new school record in each category. Westminster has held 13 straight opponents to 50 points or less and six of them below 40 points. They established a new school record for fewest points allowed by holding Montana Western to 28 in a win on Feb. 9.

Offense Coming Around
When we rolled the calendar into 2013, Westminster was eighth in the Frontier in scoring at 61.29 points per game. In the 10 games played in 2013 the Griffins are scoring 71.4 points per game and now rank second in the league in scoring at 65.5 points per game. They only scored more than 70 points one time in the first 16 games of the year and they have now done that in six of the last eight games.

Streaking
Westminster is currently riding a 14-game winning streak which is the second-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 68.5 points per game during the streak while holding their opponents to 41.7 points. The longest winning streak in school history is 17 set during the 2008-09 season. The current 20-game conference winning streak is tied for the longest in school history.

Streaking Around the Country
The current 14-game winning streak is the third-longest active streak in the NAIA. No. 2 Oklahoma City has won 20 straight games through Tuesday and No. 15 Columbia (Mo.) is at 17 consecutive wins. MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) and Westmont (Calif.) each have a 13-game streak as play begins this week. Westminster is one of 10 teams with a .900 winning percentage through Tuesday and they sit seventh at .917. Cumberland (Tenn.) and Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) are both 24-1 to lead the NAIA with a .960 winning percentage.

Six Straight Over 20
With their 83-45 win over Rocky Mountain (Mont.) last Thursday, Westminster reached the 20-win plateau for a sixth consecutive season. The first 20-win season in school history came during the 2006-07 season when they finished 22-12 and started this stretch of consecutive 20-win seasons. The Griffins set a school record with 28 wins during the 2010-11 season and also established the record with a .800 winning percentage. In the seven years prior to the 2006-07 campaign, Westminster had never won more than 16 games in a year.

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 12.67 points per game and she is fifth in the Frontier with 43 made treys. Yazzie is 11th nationally at 5.25 assists per game and sits 20th in the NAIA with a 1.88 assist-to-turnover ratio. She has scored in double figures in 18 games this season and led the team in scoring on nine 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 1,581 points and her 263 career threes is most all-time. She is second all-time with 507 assists and third in steals with 192.

Tidbits on Tibbitts
Cydney Tibbitts is second on the team in scoring at 12.25 points per game. She is 11th in the Frontier in scoring and is shooting 45 percent from the field. The senior grabs a team-high 8.25 rebounds per game to rank third in the Frontier and her 5.88 defensive rebounds per game lead the conference and are 26th in the NAIA. Tibbitts is 14th in the NAIA in free throw percentage at 82.2 percent and she leads the Griffins with 19 blocked shots. She grabs 14.7 percent of all available rebounds while on the floor and 20.2 percent on the defensive end.

Wells-come Addition
Kelsi Wells is third on the team in scoring at 10.79 points per game while shooting a team-best 55.6 percent from the floor. The junior makes 46.8 percent of her attempts from beyond the arc while also pulling down 4.6 rebounds per game. Wells averages 11.7 points per game in Frontier Conference play and she is shooting 61.6 percent from the field in the 11 contests. Wells has scored in double figures 14 times this season while leading the team in scoring in five games.

Tia-rrific
Tia Pappas has been a spark off the Griffin bench this season. The sophomore scores 7.9 points in 22.9 minutes per game while shooting 44.5 percent from the floor. Pappas is second on the team with 134 rebounds and her 2.24 offensive rebounds per game rank sixth in the Frontier. She is second in the league and 35th in the NAIA at 2.38 steals per game and she is 32nd nationally with 57 total steals. Pappas pulls down 13.2 percent of available offensive rebounds while she is on the floor and 14.7 percent of all rebounds.

Approaching 1,000
Allie Eastman is averaging 8.0 points per game this season and has scored 949 points in her career. She needs to average 10.2 points per game over the remaining five games on the schedule to become to seventh player in school history to score 1,000 career points. She has reached double figures in nine 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.

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 has clinched a first round bye. They will host the lowest remaining seed after the quarterfinals in the Behnken Field House on Mar. 1. For more information about the tournament, visit WestminsterGriffins.com/playoffs.

Airing on Altitude
Westminster's games at Great Falls (Mont.) (Feb. 15) and Carroll (Feb. 21) will be broadcast live in HD on the Altitude Sports Network. Altitude Sports is available within a 10-State territory of the Rocky Mountain Region including: Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Northern New Mexico, Northeast Nevada and Southwest South Dakota. Altitude can be found in Utah on Comcast channel 61, Dish Network channel 410 and DirecTV channel 681.

Looking Ahead
The Griffins play twice in the final week of the regular season and they begin the week with a trip to Carroll (Mont.) on Feb. 21. The regular season finale is slated for Feb. 23 against Montana Tech on Senior Night in the Behnken Field House.