Box Score SALT LAKE CITY – The No. 3 Westminster College women's basketball team clinched a bye into the semi-finals of the upcoming Frontier Conference Tournament with a 70-51 win over Great Falls (Mont.) on Thursday night in the Behnken Field House.
The Griffins (19-2, 13-0 Frontier) 12th straight victory didn't come easy even after opening the game with a 22-7 run over the opening 8:23 of the night.
Tia Pappas sparked the early run with eight points and helped her team to 10-of-16 shooting during the span. Great Falls (14-12, 4-9) would close the half by outscoring the Griffins 22-9 and trailed by just two at intermission.
Westminster struggled early in the second half as they made just one of their first 10 shots from the field; however they were getting to the foul line and were able to increase the lead to 47-42 with 8:40 remaining behind eight points from
Alli Blake.
It was Blake that would then carry her squad down the stretch with 15 points in the final 8:25 of the game as Westminster outscored the Argonauts 23-9 to close out the win. The Griffins limited the visitors to 2-of-12 shooting in crunch time while making 9-of-13 themselves.
Blake finished the night 27 points, two off her career high, on a night that she made nine of her 14 attempts. The senior also went 9-0f-12 at the foul line with three rebounds and five steals. Pappas finished with 14 points, six rebounds and six steals.
Alli Winters shot 3-of-5 from beyond the arc for nine points and
Shelby Ellsworth also scored nine points with five assists.
The Griffins finished the game shooting 45.3 percent from the field and they scored 32 points in the paint. They totaled 12 assists and only seven turnovers with none of those coming after halftime. Westminster limited UGF to 34.6 percent shooting and forced 18 turnovers which they turned into 19 points.
Lindsey Abramson led the Argos with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Erin Legel added 13 points and five assists, but committed nine turnovers.
Westminster will play at home for the final time of the regular season on Saturday when they welcome No. 19 Montana State-Northern to Behnken Field House for a 5:30 p.m. MST. The Griffin senior class will be recognized in a ceremony following the game.
