The Westminster women's basketball team play a pair of conference road games this weekend to start a span of eight games with six on the road. The trip begins on Friday with a 5:30 p.m. MT game at Chadron State in Chadron, Neb. The Griffins will then play at Regis on Saturday at 5 p.m. MT in Denver.
 
3 THINGS
>Westminster is 1-5 on the road this season with four straight losses.
>The Griffins have won 56 consecutive games when leading with five minutes to play
>The Griffins are 5-1 this season when they score at least 60 points
 
COVERING THE GRIFFINS
Both of the Griffins games this weekend will be available to watch on Griffins TV with the home school producing the content. Griffins TV is available online and is optimized for mobile devices in the Game Central portal available at portal.stretchinternet.com/Westminster.
 
You can also follow the action of both games with live stats available at WestminsterGriffins.com/live.
 
FOLLOWING WESTMINSTER WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Make sure to like Westminster Griffins on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and You Tube for the latest news about the Griffins. Game updates are provided on Twitter by following @wc_griffins.
 
Fans can stay connected with Westminster women's basketball by following @westminster_womens_basketball on Instagram.
 
ABOUT WESTMINSTER
Westminster will start the week at 6-9 overall and 3-8 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference games. The Griffins are currently 14th in the conference standings, but just two games behind eighth place. They have a 1-5 record on the road this season and have dropped four straight.
 
The Griffins are scoring 58.1 points per game as a team and they shoot 38.5 percent from the floor. They average 6.4 made 3-pointers per contest and shoot 30.8 percent from beyond the arc. The team is allowing 60.5 points per night – sixth in the RMAC – with opponents shooting 38.7 percent from the field.
 
Denise Gonzalez is the Griffins top scorer at 11.5 points per game. She is shooting 38 percent from the floor and also leads the team with 55 assists and 31 steals. Natalie Parsons ranks second on the team by scoring 10.3 points per game and with 40 assists.
 
Jessica Sorensen has grabbed a team best 89 rebounds and she is eighth in the RMAC by getting 3.1 offensive rebounds per game. Mika Pinner has 29 blocked shots and is fourth in the conference at 1.9 blocks per game.
 
LOOKING BACK
Westminster snapped a two-game losing skid with a 76-54 win over Adams State on Friday. The Griffins shot 52.7 percent from the field and tied a season-high with 10 made 3-pointers. Denise Gonzalez led four Griffins in double figures with 16 points while adding four assists and four steals.
 
The Griffins then surrendered a seven-point third quarter lead in a 72-62 loss to Fort Lewis on Saturday. FLC shot 55.6 percent in the second half and they held the Griffins to just 27 second-half points. Gonzalez led Westminster with 13 points while Jessica Sorensen added 10 points and seven rebounds.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
•Chadron State – The Eagles enter the week at 5-10 overall and 5-6 in the conference. They won both of their games last weekend, sweeping the New Mexico schools on the road. CSC is third in the RMAC by blocking 3.5 shots per game. Maka Daysh scores 15.5 points per game to rank third in the conference and she leads the league by making 56.9 percent from the field.
 
•Regis – The Rangers begin the week at 9-8 overall and 7-4 in conference play. They have won three straight games and five of the past six outings. Regis is second in the RMAC by shooting 34.4 percent on 3-pointers. Bay'lee Purdy is fourth in the conference at 15.1 points per game and Caresse Williams is second by getting 2.5 steals per game.
 
SERIES NOTES
Westminster will face both Chadron State and Regis for the first time this weekend.
 
500 GAMES PLAYED
Westminster played the 500th game in program history on January 2 against South Dakota Mines. The Griffins won 308 times in those 500 outings with nine 20-win seasons. This is the 17th season of women's basketball at Westminster and the program has gone 309-195 in that time to record a .613 winning percentage.
 
FRESHMAN SENSATION
Denise Gonzalez has taken over point guard duties from the start of the season and she currently leads the team in scoring at 11.5 points per game. That ranks 16th in the RMAC and she has scored in double figures 10 times. Gonzalez is fourth in the conference by averaging 3.7 assists per game while ranking ninth at 2.1 steals per game. She is one of two players in the conference to rank in the top-20 in scoring and top-10 in both assists and steals.
 
DEFENSIVE PRESENCE
Mika Pinner has recorded a team-best 29 blocked shots and has had multiple blocks in a game nine times. She currently ranks third in the RMAC by blocking 1.9 shots per game. Her 29 blocks are tied for ninth-most in a season in team history. Pinner is fifth in school history with 55 career blocks and her 1.32 blocks per game is on pace to establish a new school record.
 
IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Natalie Parsons has been a focal point of the Griffin offense in her first season with the team. The senior transfer is scoring 10.3 points per game to place second on the team and she has scored in double figures seven times. Parsons has twice scored 20 points in a game, including a career high 24 at Dixie State on November 24. She also ranks second on the team with 40 assists and tied for first with 20 made 3-pointers.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
The Griffins return home next weekend to host two games. They will play Western State Colorado on January 29 and then Colorado State – Pueblo on January 30. Both games will begin at 5:30 p.m. MT with tickets available at WestminsterGriffins.com/tickets.