SALT LAKE CITY - Westminster women's basketball will officially begin its 2021-22 season this weekend at the NNU Tournament in Nampa, Idaho, as it looks to follow-up its historic 2020-21 season that ended in a trip to the NCAA DII Women's Basketball Sweet 16. The Griffins will open the season on Friday night at 5 p.m. as they take on Central Washington in a neutral contest before taking on weekend hosts Northwest Nazarene on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Game Info:
- Both of this weekend's women's basketball games will be hosted by Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho.
- Each game will be streamed live by NNU Athletics on YouTube live. Visit
westminstergriffins.com for webpage links to this weekend's live video broadcast.
- Live stats will be provided by NNU Athletics. Visit
westminstergriffins.com for webpage links to this weekend's live stats.
About the Griffins:
- Westminster women's basketball was voted to finish fifth in the latest RMAC Women's Basketball Preseason Poll after one of its most historic seasons in program history last season.
- Westminster return each of its top two scorers from a season ago,
Sarah McGinley (14.4 ppg) and
Hunter Krebs (14.1 ppg). McGinley and Krebs combined for 28.5 ppg and shot a combined 44 percent from long range while also pulling in an average of 11.4 rebounds a game as a front court tandem in 2020-21.
- Krebs will make her 100th-career start for the Griffins on Friday night as she has appeared in 102 games with 14.0 ppg and 5.5 rpg in her first four years on campus.
- The Griffins' back court will return
Abby Mangum who shot 47 percent from the field with 9.5 ppg in 2020-21 on top of her 21 blocks and team-leading 28 steals defensively.
- Westminster dominated the first half of games last season, outscoring teams 706-612 in the first and second quarters. The Griffins owned a 372-299 advantage in the second quarter alone.
- Westminster is led by first-year head coach
Jenteal Jackson who took over the program after last season and has been a member of the women's basketball staff as an assistant since finishing her career as a student-athlete in 2013.
- Westminster went 149-67 overall (NAIA and NCAA Division II) and 107-48 in conference play (Frontier Conference and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) in Jackson's nine years as former head coach Shelley Jarrard's assistant.
2020-21 Year in Review:
- Westminster had its most successful postseason run in just the third year being eligible for NCAA Championship competition last season in which it advanced to the NCAA DII Women's Basketball West Regional Final where it fell 53-48 to Azusa Pacific.
- The Griffins defeated RMAC foes Black Hills State and Western Colorado in the first and second rounds of the 2021 NCAA Tournament to secure their first-ever appearance in the sweet 16.
- The Griffins won six games by double digits last season including a 68-52 win over Western Colorado in the NCAA Western Regional second round.
- On an abbreviated, conference-only schedule in 2020-21, Westminster went 11-4 with a 5-2 home record at the Behnken Field House. Westminster lost to Black Hills State in its first game of the RMAC Tournament but later defeated BHSU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, 74-65.
About the Wildcats:
- Western Washington started the season 2-0 after taking down Stanislaus and Cal State East Bay in the GNAC-CCAA Crossover.
- Through the first two games the Wildcats averaged 67.5 points per game on a .423 field goal percentage and .296 from beyond the arc.
- In the post, Central Washington has averaged 46.5 rebounds and 5.0 blocks per game to start the season.
-
Samantha Bowman currently leads the CWU with an average of 22 points per game on a .760 shooting percentage and .833 from beyond the arc.
- Bowman has also grabbed 40 total rebounds in two games alongside all 10 of the Wildcats' blocks so far.
- Behind Bowman is guard
Kizzah Maltezo who has averaged 17.0 points per game after the first weekend of the regular season.
- Central Washington played just two games in 2020-21 after its conference season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Central Washington went 19-11 (13-7 GNAC) back in 2019.
About the Nighthawks:
- NNU went 0-2 at the GNAC-CCAA Crossover last weekend, losing 60-54 to Cal State East Bay before a 76-67 loss on Saturday to Stanislaus State.
- The Nighthawks led both games at halftime but struggled to close each contest as they were outscored 48-16 in the fourth quarters of their first two games.
- Ashlynn Sylve led the Nighthawks in scoring last weekend at 12 ppg. She also added three assists and 4.0 rpg.
- Cami Knishka (5.5 rpg), Erin Jenkins (5.5 rpg), and Nyalam Thabach (5.0 rpg) led the team in rebounding and Jordan Pinson had a team-high seven assists in NNU's two games.
- NNU also had its season canceled last year and went 7-7 on an abbreviated spring schedule. The Nighthawks went 22-7 (17-3 GNAC) back in 2019 and qualified for the NCAA Tournament but were not able to play their first-round game against UC-San Diego due to the canceling of all winter NCAA Championships.
Up Next:
Westminster will play a second game against Central Washington next week as the Wildcats get set to host their home opener on Friday, Nov. 26, beginning at 5 p.m. The Griffins will then play another neutral contest against Seattle Pacific on Saturday, Nov. 27, beginning at 3 p.m. (MDT).
Follow us on social media (@WCGriffins) or visit westminstergriffins.com for all the latest Westminster Athletics scores, news and updates.
