SALT LAKE CITY – The No. 4 Westminster women's basketball team has a challenging week ahead as they travel to Mont. to play a pair of ranked teams in Frontier Conference action. On Friday, Westminster plays at No. 22 Great Falls (Mont.) at 5:30 p.m. MT. The Griffins will then face 10th-ranked Montana State-Northern on Saturday at 6 p.m.
 
On the Web: Both games of the trip will be available to watch online courtesy of each school's athletic department. There will also be live stats for each of the contests. Links for the live features are available on the Westminster athletics web site.
 
Griffin Fast Break: Westminster begins the tough week at 12-2 overall this season and they are 2-1 in the Frontier Conference. They are 4-0 in road games on the year and 7-1 in all games away from home. The Griffins have won 11 straight road games overall and nine straight conference road outings.
 
Offense Notebook: The Griffins average 65.36 points per game on the year and they have scored at least 70 points in a game four times on the year. The team shoots 44.4 percent from the field to rank ninth in the NAIA and they sit ninth in the country by making 36.4 percent from beyond the arc. The Griffins make 7.36 treys per game – 14th in the NAIA – while posting 16.36 assists per game which ranks 14th nationally.
 
Defense Notebook: Westminster is giving up just 47.43 points per game and they rank second in the country in that department. They have held nine opponents under 50 points during the year while placing seventh in the NAIA by holding the opposition to 34.2 percent shooting. The Griffins force 16.36 turnovers per game with an average of 8.36 steals per contest.
 
Leaders: Tia Pappas leads the team in scoring this season with 202 points for an average of 14.43 per game. Amy Krommenhoek has scored 162 points and she leads the squad with 82 assists and 36 steals. Amanda Hacking has added 138 points and grabbed a team-best 113 rebounds, including 39 offensive. Mika Pinner has a team-best 10 blocked shots.
 
Looking Back: Westminster moved to 2-1 in league play with a 60-45 win at Montana Western last Saturday. They had four players score in double figures with Krommenhoek and Pappas leading the way with 12 points apiece. Pappas added seven rebounds and Krommenhoek recorded six assists. The team notched 17 assists on 20 made field goals with only 10 turnovers.
 
In the Polls: Westminster moved back to No. 4 on Tuesday when the NAIA released the fourth regular-season edition of the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll. The Griffins received 221 points to sit in the top-five of the NAIA poll for the 18th straight poll. They have now been ranked in a school-record 41 straight polls and 86 polls all-time. The next regular season poll will be released on Jan. 27.
 
Playing Ranked Foes: At weekend's end, Westminster will have faced seven ranked teams during the season. They are 3-2 against ranked teams so far this season and 2-1 against ranked opponent away from home. The Griffins won four straight road games against ranked opponents. The Massey Ratings rank the Westminster schedule as the second-toughest played to date.
 
Conference Dominance: The Griffins have been the team to beat in the Frontier Conference over the past six-plus seasons. Since the start of the 2008-09 season, Westminster has gone 84-6 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 84 conference wins during that span is 22 more than the 62 posted by the next highest team during the stretch, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho).
 
Home Dominance: Since the start of the 2012-13 season, Westminster has compiled a 30-2 mark in the Behnken Field House. The .938 winning percentage during that time is the best three-year home mark in school history. They had won 29 straight home games, including 23 home conference games, before losing to Carroll on Jan. 8.
 
Love the Long Ball: Westminster has attempted 283 3-point field goals this season which accounts for 38 percent of their total shots taken. They rank 14th in the NAIA by making 7.36 per game and they sit ninth at 36.4 percent from distance. They have made at least six treys in 11 of the 14 games this season while hitting for double-digit threes on three occasions, including a season-high 13 against Eastern Oregon on Nov. 29.
 
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 47.43 points per game and they have held nine opponents to 46 points or less. The opposition shoots 34.2 percent from the floor and 27.8 percent from three to rank Westminster seventh and 24th respectively in those categories.
 
Sharing the Rock: This year's team has been sharing the basketball and they currently sit 14th in the NAIA by averaging 16.36 assists per game. That average would rank seventh in school history and is the highest assist average since the 2009-10 campaign. The Griffins have recorded an assists on 69.4 percent of their total field goals this season. Krommenhoek leads the team and ranks sixth in the country at 5.86 assists per game.
 
Inside the Metrics: Westminster enters the weekend averaging 65.36 points per game, but their offensive efficiency has the Griffins averaging 105.9 points per 100 possessions. They are currently averaging 62 possessions per game. At the defensive end, Westminster opponents average 76.9 points per 100 possessions. While on the floor, Amy Krommenhoek is assisting on 39 percent of her teammates field goals and Amanda Hacking grabs 22.5 percent of available defensive rebounds.
 
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 isn't disappointing. Pappas is currently ranked in the Frontier top-20 in 17 statistical categories and she is fifth in the conference by scoring 14.43 points per game. She is shooting 47.3 percent from the floor to rank 30th in the NAIA while her 46.9 percentage from beyond the arc is second nationally. Pappas also sits 35th in the country at 3.86 assist per game while getting 2.14 steals per night to rank 40th in the NAIA.
 
Chasing 1,000: Pappas is closing in on becoming the eighth player in school history to reach 1,000 career points. She enters the week with 912 career points, having scored 202 points this season. She would need to average 7.33 points per game through the remaining 12 games on the schedule to hit the mark. At her current season average, Pappas will reach the plateau against Montana Western on Feb. 14 in the Behnken Field House and finish the season with 1,085 points to rank sixth all-time.
 
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 11.57 points per game and she has been in double figures 10 times. Krommenhoek ranks sixth in the country by handing out 5.86 assists per game while sitting third with her 3.57 assist-to-turnover ratio. She makes 34.8 percent from three and is 34th in the NAIA by making 2.29 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.
 
Winters from Deep: After leading the NAIA in 3-point field goal percentage last season at 52.5 percent, Winters has continued that hot shooting this season. The senior is shooting 45.8 percent from three on the year to rank fifth in the NAIA and she averages 2.36 made threes per outing to sit 31st nationally. Winters is averaging 9.21 points per game during the season while distributing 2.50 assists. She is the Westminster all-time leader in 3-point field goal percentage by making 50 percent from deep over the past two seasons.
 
Hacking the Glass: Amanda Hacking has been a force on the boards this season and she currently leads the team with 113 rebounds and ranks 38th in the nation with an average of 8.07 rebounds per game. Hacking grabs 5.29 rebounds per game on the defensive end – 38th in the nation – and she is scoring 9.86 points per game. The junior has grabbed double-digit rebounds five times this season and she has posted three double-doubles.
 
Looking Ahead: Westminster returns to the Behnken Field House for two games next week with Montana Tech in on Jan. 29 and Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) on Jan. 31. Both games will begin at 5:30 p.m. MT and tickets are available at WestminsterGriffins.com/tickets.