SALT LAKE CITY – The No. 4 Westminster women's basketball team takes to the road for the first time this season when they visit southern California this weekend for a pair of contests. Westminster begins the trip on Friday at No. 23 Hope International University (Calif.) in Fullerton, Calif. They will then face Biola University (Calif.) on Saturday in La Mirada, Calif.
 
On the Web: The will be live video and stats available for both games of the road trip. Links for all of the live features are available at WestminsterGriffins.com.
 
Griffin Fast Break: Westminster sits at 4-0 on the season as they embark on their first road trip of the year. The Griffins are ranked No. 4 in the preseason NAIA Coaches' Poll that was released on Oct. 28. They will carry a seven-game road winning streak with them on the trip to Calif. with three straight wins over ranked opponents on the road.
 
Offensive Notebook: The Griffins are scoring 72.25 points per game through the first four games of the year. They rank 44th in the NAIA with that average while sitting 17th by shooting 44.7 percent from the floor. The team averages 7.75 threes made per outing – 15th in the country – while they connect on 36.9 percent from beyond the arc which ranks 17th nationally. Westminster dishes out 16.5 assists per game and they are fifth in the nation with a 1.44 assist-to-turnover ratio.
 
Defensive Notebook: Westminster is one of the top defensive teams in the country and they currently sit fifth in the country by holding the opposition to 49 points per game. Through four games, Griffin opponents are shooting 34.8 percent from the field and 24.7 percent from beyond the arc. That places the Griffins 23rd and 22nd respectively in the NAIA in those categories. Westminster is 16th nationally by holding their opponents to 32.75 rebounds per game and they are forcing 18.75 turnovers per contest.
 
Leaders: Tia Pappas leads Westminster in scoring at 19 points per game. That ranks 19th in the NAIA and second in the Frontier Conference. Amanda Hacking has pulled a team-best 29 rebounds for an average of 7.3 per night. Amy Krommenhoek leads the squad with 23 assists and she ranks 13th in the NAIA at 5.75 per game. Pappas has a team-best 12 steals while Katie Richens leads with three blocked shots.
 
Looking Back: Westminster moved to 4-0 on the season with a pair of wins at the Westminster Fall Classic last weekend. The Griffins opened the Classic by defeating Concordia University (Calif.), 87-64, on Friday. They then took down Arizona Christian University, 73-42, in Saturday's finale. Pappas averaged a team-best 16.5 points per game in the two games while grabbing 14 rebounds with nine offensive. Hacking scored a career-high 17 points with eight rebounds against Arizona Christian.
 
In the Polls: Westminster opened the year with a No. 4 national ranking according to the 2014-15 NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll, the national office announced on Oct. 28. The Griffins received 226 points to sit in the top-five of the NAIA poll for the 26th straight poll. They have now been ranked is 37 straight polls and 82 polls all-time. The first regular season poll will be released on Dec. 9.
 
Frontier Favorites: In a poll of the Frontier Conference coaches, Westminster was selected as the favorite to win the conference title this season. They received all seven available first-place votes and finished with 49 total points to take the top spot. Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) was selected second with 41 points and one first-place vote.
 
Conference Dominance: The Griffins have been the team to beat in the Frontier Conference over the past six seasons. Since the start of the 2008-09 season, Westminster has gone 82-5 in league games and won six straight conference titles. They have twice gone undefeated in league play, including a 16-0 mark last season. The 82 conference wins during that span is 22 more than the 60 posted by the next highest team during the stretch, Lewis-Clark State.
 
Home Dominance: Since the start of the 2012-13 season, Westminster has compiled a 29-1 mark in the Behnken Field House. The .967 winning percentage during that time is the best three-year home mark in school history. They have won a school-record 29 straight home games since losing to The Master's College (Calif.) in the 2012-13 season opener.
 
Love the Long Ball: Westminster has taken 84 three-point field goals through four games this season. They rank 15th in the NAIA by making 7.75 per game while sitting 17th by making 36.9 percent of those attempts. The team has at least six threes in every games this season and they went for a season-high 12 made threes against College of Idaho on Nov. 8. Krommenhoek averages 3.0 made triples per game to place 22nd in the country and Pappas sits six nationally by making 61.5 percent of her attempts. Alli Winters is 43rd in the nation by making 2.25 treys per game.
 
Getting Defensive: Westminster has been one of the premier defensive teams in the country over the past four seasons. After finishing second in the country last season by allowing just 52.24 points per game, the Griffins are allowing just 49 points per game to start this season. They are fifth nationally in scoring defense and 23rd by holding opponents to 34.8 percent shooting. The Griffins limit opponents to 24.7 percent shooting on three-point attempts and they force 18.75 turnovers per game by getting 10 steals per outing – 10th in the NAIA.
 
Pappas for Player of the Year: The Frontier coaches selected Westminster senior Tia Pappas as the Preseason Player of the Year in the conference and she is off to a fast start. Pappas is currently ranked in the Frontier top-20 in 16 statistical categories and she is second in the conference by scoring 19 points per game. She leads the league and is sixth nationally by making 61.5 percent from three while sitting ninth in the country by making 90.9 percent at the foul line. Pappas also gets three steals per game – 19th in the country – and averages 6.25 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.
 
Krommenhoek a Starter: After being named the Frontier Conference Sixth-Player of the Year last season, Amy Krommenhoek has moved into the starting lineup this season. The senior is scoring 13.25 points per game on the year and she is 13th in the country by handing out 5.75 assists per game. Krommenhoek makes 40 percent from three and she is 22d in the NAIA by making 3.0 treys per game. She also places 29th at 2.75 steals per game with her 4.6 assist-to-turnover ratio sitting 18th in the country.
 
Winters from Deep: After leading the NAIA in 3-point field goal percentage last season at 52.5 percent, Alli Winters is back in 2014-15. The senior is shooting 39.1 percent from three this season and she averages 2.25 made threes per outing. Winters is scoring 9.3 points per game through the first four games while distributing 3.75 assists. Her 5.0 assist-to-turnover ratio places 11th in the NAIA entering the week.
 
Hacking the Glass: Amanda Hacking has been a force on the boards through the first four games of the season. She currently leads the team with 29 rebounds and ranks sixth in the Frontier by pulling 7.25 rebounds per game. Hacking grabs 2.75 rebounds per game on the offensive end and she averages 8.8 points per game. The junior also get 1.5 steals per game and she is coming off a career-high 17 points in the win over Arizona Christian.
 
Looking Ahead: The Griffins will spend Thanksgiving Weekend in Caldwell, Idaho for a pair of games at the Best Western Caldwell Inn and Suites Lady Yote Classic. They will face College of Idaho on Nov. 28 and then Eastern Oregon on Nov. 29.