Griffins Open First RMAC Tournament on Thursday
The Westminster women's lacrosse team will play in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament for the first time this week. They are the No. 5 seed in the field and face No. 4 seed Fort Lewis in a quarterfinal game on Thursday at 4 p.m. The winner of that game will play No. 1 seed and second-ranked Lindenwood in the semifinal on Friday at 4 p.m.
 
All tournament games are being played at the Regis Lacrosse Pitch in Denver and is being hosted by Regis University. The championship game is slated for Sunday at 2 p.m.
 
The RMAC Network will carry all five games of the RMAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament live with Regis producing the content. The RMAC Network is available online or by downloading the RMAC Network channel on your Roku device. Each game will also have live stats available.
 
About the Griffins
Westminster finished the regular season with a 7-5 overall record and alternated wins and losses over the final six games played. They earned the fifth seed for the conference tournament with a 5-4 record in RMAC games. The Griffins went 2-2 at home, 4-3 on the road, and are 1-0 in neutral site games entering the weekend.
 
The Griffins are scoring 14.67 goals per game this season while adding 6.00 assists per game. The team is fourth in the RMAC in goals, assists, points, and shots per game. They score of 53.2 percent of their shot attempts and converted 48.3 percent of free-position chances.
 
Kira Heiden and Katie Adams are two of the top goal scorers in the conference. Heiden leads the RMAC by averaging 3.83 goals per game while Adams is fourth at 2.67 goals per game. Heiden is tied for the RMAC lead at 4.42 points per game and is second in attempting 6.08 shots per outing. Morgan Bakarich ranks fourth in the conference with her average of 2.00 assists per game while placing ninth at 3.42 points per game.
 
Westminster leads the RMAC by gathering 16.17 draw controls per game, an average that would rank fifth in the NCAA if the team were eligible for national rankings. They corral 22.08 ground balls per game – third in the conference – while creating 10.25 caused turnovers per game.
 
Heiden leads the RMAC by getting 4.67 draw controls per game. Adams is ninth by claiming 3.25 draw controls per game. Daisy Mele averages 2.83 ground balls per game to rank fifth in the conference and is tied with Adams for the team lead with 17 caused turnovers.
 
Westminster makes a RMAC-leading 10.25 saves per game while sitting fourth with a .432 save percentage. Taylor Hekking is sixth in the conference with her .452 save percentage and by recoding 6.25 saves per game.
 
All-Conference Selections
A trio of Griffins were honored by the RMAC as they conference announced the all-conference teams and award winners on Tuesday. Kira Heiden (midfield) and Daisy Mele (defense) were each named Second Team All-Conference. Morgan Bakarich was named Honorable Mention All-Conference. These are the first all-conference selections for the program since joining the RMAC last season.
 
Postseason History
While this will be the program's first postseason in the NCAA era, the team went 8-5 in postseason play during the WCLA years. Westminster recorded a record of 5-2 during the four appearance in the RMWLL Tournament with two titles.
 
Nearing 50
Kira Heiden enters the weekend just four goals shy of 50 on the season. She already holds the record for most goals in a season during the NCAA era, and can become the 10th player in team history with 50 goals in a season if she hits the mark during the tournament. Heiden leads the RMAC by averaging 3.83 goals per game and she has scored at least four goals in a game seven times this season.
 
Opponent Info: Fort Lewis
• Fort Lewis finished the regular season at 8-6 overall and winners of two straight.
• The Skyhawks earned the No. 4 seed with a 6-3 record in RMAC games.
• Brooke Galle leads the team with 23 goals and Taylor Cabrera has a team-high 30 points.
• FLC is 3-0 all-time against the Griffins and won this year's game, 12-10, on April 2 in Durango.
 
Potential Opponent Info: Lindenwood
• Lindenwood went 19-0 during the regular season and are ranked No. 2 in this week's national poll.
• The Lions are the No. 1 seed in the tournament after a 9-0 conference season.
• Sophie Buelow scored 40 goals to lead the team while Rachel Benzing has a team-high 53 points.
• Westminster is 0-2 all-time vs. the Lions and lost 23-0 at home on March 18.