WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: The Griffins dropped a 73-64 decision to No. 4 Point Loma Nazarene on Thursday night in the Behnken Field House. Westminster (2-1) suffers its first loss of the young season in the night's final game during the Westminster Fall Classic. The Griffins couldn't overcome an 18-point first half against the sharp shooting Sea Lions.

Westminster rallied from 19 points down with five minutes to play, eventually cutting the deficit to six with 1:40 left. PLNU (1-0) got a

3-point play from PJ Hanson on the next possession to push the lead back to nine, and seal the victory. PLNU had built the big lead behind 58.8 percent shooting, including 64.3 percent in the second half.

Westminster hung around in the game behind 11 makes from 3-point territory. Dani Evans connected on four triples to account for all 12 of her points. Allie Eastman got hot in the second half and finished with a team-high 19 points while shooting 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. She also corralled a team-best eight rebounds, with five coming on the offensive end. Keshia Catten had 13 points and four assists.

Point Loma Nazarene used its size advantage to keep the Griffins at bay. Colleen Plantea finished with 31 points on 14-of-18 shooting. She attempted 17 of those shots from inside the paint and grabbed three rebounds and four blocked shots. Amanda Franz added 11 points and Liah Ector chipped in 11.

Westminster returns to action on Friday when they host the College of Idaho. That is the final game of the day during the Fall Classic, and it is slated for a 6 p.m. tipoff.

VOLLEYBALL: Carroll College's Christina Smetana, a 5-foot-10 senior middle blocker from Helena, Mont., was named the Frontier Conference's Volleyball Player of the Year while her coach Maureen Boyle and Lewis-Clark State College's Jennifer Greeny shared Coach of the Year honors, FC Commissioner Kent Paulson announced during a conference tournament social at the Lewis-Clark State College Activity Center on Thursday night.

Also, Westminster's 5-5 junior Tahnie Blymiller, from Taylorsville, was selected the Libero of the Year, while teammate Talita Kresser, a 6-1 senior middle blocker from Sao Paulo, Brazil, was chosen the Newcomer of the Year. Blymiller and Erika Evans, a 5-10 junior outside hitter from Layton, also were named to the first team.

Tournament bracket

All matches at the LCSC Activity Center

(Times MT)

G1: 1 p.m. - No. 1 Great Falls (11-3, 25-8) vs. No. 8 Montana Western (0-14, 4-17)

G2: 3 p.m. - No. 4 Rocky Mountain (8-6, 19-10) vs. No. 5 Westminster (6-8, 9-19)

G3: 7 p.m. - No. 2 Lewis-Clark State (11-3, 20-7) vs. No. 7 Montana State-Northern (4-10, 7-13)

G4: 9 p.m. - No. 3 Carroll (11-3, 25-8) vs. No. 6 Montana Tech (5-9, 11-16)

Saturday's pairings

G5: noon - G1 winner vs. G2 winner.

G6: 2 p.m. - G3 winner vs. G4 winner.

G7: 8 p.m. - G5 winner vs. G6 winner (championship)