PROVO, Utah – The Westminster women's basketball team defeated Brigham Young 59-54 in an exhibition game on Saturday afternoon at the Marriott Center.
 
Westminster, the NAIA's No. 4-ranked team, rode a solid first half in which they finished with a 34-21 lead to the victory of the NCAA D-I foe. The 13-point advantage was enough to hold on for the win despite making just six field goals in the second half.
 
The Griffins finished the game shooting 34.7 percent from the field and they made seven threes on 22 attempts. They dominated the glass to a 47-33 advantage with 13 boards coming on the offensive end. BYU shot just 35.7 percent from the field and they went 4-of-20 from beyond the arc.
 
Tia Pappas led three Griffins in double figures with 16 points while also grabbing 12 rebounds. She was just 2-of-12 from the field, but made 12 of her 16 free throw attempts while also handing out five assists. Shelby Ellsworth added 15 points and nine rebounds with Alli Winters going for 12 points with three triples.
 
Lexi Eaton led the Cougar with 17 points and Kylie Maeda and Morgan Bailey had 12 and 10 points respectively.
 
Westminster will begin the regular season on Friday with a 3 p.m. MT tipoff against No. 14 The Master's (Calif.) in the Behnken Field House as part of the weekend's Westminster Tipoff Classic.