SALT LAKE CITY – The No. 4 Westminster women's basketball team is off the Las Vegas this weekend to play three games at the Frontier Conference Las Vegas Shootout. Westminster will open against Hope International (Calif.) on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. MT. They then face consecutive top-five ranked teams in No. 5 Campbellsville (Ky.) on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and No. 3 Vanguard (Calif.) on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
 
Every game of the Las Vegas Shootout will be played at Durango High School. The tournament is being hosted by Carroll (Mont.) College.
 
On the Web: It has yet to be determined if live stats will be available for the games. Updates will be posted on Twitter by following @FCLVShootout and @wc_griffins. Links for any live features will be posted at WestminsterGriffins.com.
 
Griffin Fast Break: Westminster returns to action at 8-0 on the season. They have gone 4-0 at home, 3-0 on the road, and 1-0 at a neutral site on the year. One of those road wins was a 61-46 win at Hope International on Nov. 21. The Griffins are ranked No. 4 in the NAIA Coaches' Poll that was released on Dec. 9. They enter the weekend having won 27 straight games against unranked opponents and two straight against ranked foes.
 
Offense Notebook: The Griffins rank 44th in the NAIA by scoring 69.25 points per game and they have scored at least 80 points in a game twice this season. They are shooting 45.6 percent from the field – fourth in the NAIA – and they rank third in the country by making 40.6 percent from beyond the arc. At an average of 8.88 threes per game, Westminster is fourth in the NAIA while sitting 28th with 71 total triples. They are 12th nationally with an average of 17.62 assists per game and sixth with a 1.40 assist-to-turnover ratio.
 
Defense Notebook: Westminster sits second in the nation by holding the opposition to only 46.50 points per game and they have held two opponents below 40 points. The opposition shoots 32.9 percent from the floor and 26.5 percent from beyond the arc to rank the Griffins ninth and 17th in those categories respectively. The Griffins allow 30.50 rebounds per game – second-fewest in the NAIA – while getting 25.88 defensive rebounds per night. They force 17.25 turnovers per outing and average 8.12 steals and 2.12 blocks per game.
 
Leaders: Tia Pappas leads the team in scoring at 13.5 points per game with Amy Krommenhoek right behind at 13.38 per night. Pappas is second in the country by shooting 52.2 percent from beyond the arc. Amanda Hacking has grabbed a team-leading 72 rebounds, including 25 offensive, and she is third in the Frontier by getting 9.0 rebounds per game. Krommenhoek is tops on the team with 52 assists and 18 steals while placing fourth in the country at 6.5 assists per night. Mika Pinner leads all Griffins with seven blocked shots.
 
Looking Back: Westminster moved to 8-0 on the season with wins over College of Idaho and Eastern Oregon over Thanksgiving Weekend at the Lady Yote Classic. Since those two wins, the Griffins have dropped a pair of exhibition road games to NCAA D-I opponents in Utah State and Southern Utah.
 
In the Polls: Westminster remained at No. 4 on when the NAIA released the first regular-season edition of the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll on Dec. 9. Westminster held their position from the preseason poll that was released on Oct. 28. The Griffins received 199 points to sit in the top-five of the NAIA poll for the 27th straight poll. They have now been ranked is 38 straight polls and 83 polls all-time. The next regular season poll will be released on Jan. 6.
 
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 attempted 175 3-point field goals this season which accounts for 41 percent of their total shots taken. They are fourth in the NAIA by making 8.88 per game and they sit third at 40.6 percent from distance. They have made at least six treys in every game this season while hitting for double-digit threes on three occasions, including a season-high 13 against Eastern Oregon on Nov. 29.
 
Krommenhoek is tops in the Frontier Conference and she is sixth in the country by making 3.25 triples per night. Alli Winters is second in the league and fifth nationally by putting in 3.0 per contest. Pappas ranks second in the NAIA by shooting 52.2 percent from deep with Winters – last season's NAIA leader – making 50 percent to rank fifth nationally.
 
Getting Defensive: Westminster has established as one of the top defensive teams in the country over the past three-plus seasons. This season, the Griffins are second in the nation by allowing just 46.5 points per game and they have held six of the eight opponents to 46 points or less. The opposition shoots 32.9 percent from the floor and 26.5 percent from three to rank Westminster ninth and 17th respectively in those categories. The Griffins are creating 17.25 turnovers per game by posting 8.12 stelas per night and they score 18 points per game from those turnovers.
 
Sharing the Rock: This year's team has been sharing the basketball and they currently sit 12th in the NAIA by averaging 17.62 assists per game. That average would rank second in school history, trailing only the 18.06 average set during the 2008-09 campaign. The Griffins have recorded an assists on 71.6 percent of their total field goals this season. Krommenhoek leads the team and ranks fourth in the country at 6.5 assists per game.
 
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 13 statistical categories and she is 10th in the conference by scoring 13.5 points per game. She is second in the country by shooting 52.2 percent from beyond the arc and also sits 11th by making 84.6 percent at the foul line.
 
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 13.38 points per game on the year and she is fourth in the country by handing out 6.50 assists per game. Krommenhoek makes 41.9 percent from three and she is sixth in the NAIA by making 3.25 treys per game. She had a career-high 10 assists for her first career double-double in the win at Hope International on Nov. 21 and her 4.33 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks fourth in the NAIA.
 
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 50 percent from three this season and she averages 3.0 made threes per outing. Winters is scoring 11 points per game through the first eight games while distributing 3.38 assists. She is the Westminster all-time leader in 3-point field goal percentage by making 51.8 percent from deep over the past two seasons.
 
Climbing the Charts: Pappas is marching up the Westminster career charts in her senior season and she has moved into eighth place all-time at Westminster with 818 career points. She needs to average 10.1 points per game over the remaining scheduled games to reach 1,000. Pappas also sits seventh with 424 career rebounds and fourth with 183 steals. Krommenhoek ranks eighth all-time with 119 made threes and she is 12th with 173 assists. Winters is 11th in the rankings with 88 triples.
 
Hacking the Glass: Amanda Hacking has been a force on the boards this season. She currently leads the team with 72 rebounds and ranks 15th in the nation with an average of 9.0 rebounds per game. Hacking grabs 5.88 rebounds per game on the offensive end – 21st in the nation – and she is scoring 8.9 points per game. The junior has grabbed double-digit rebounds four times this season and she recorded her first career double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds at Biola on Nov. 22.
 
Looking Ahead: After this week, the Griffins don't return to action until the Frontier Conference opener against Carroll on Jan. 8 at 5:30 p.m. MT in the Behnken Field House. They will then welcome Rocky Mountain (Mont.) to town for a 5:30 p.m. game on Jan. 10.