Small-school women's hoop teams open with high hopes

On the surface, many ingredients for a rebuilding season in women's basketball appear to be there for Westminster.

The Griffins returned just two starters from a team that posted a 27-7 record, captured a regular season Frontier Conference Championship and claimed a berth in the NAIA National Tournament for the third consecutive year. Westminster's top three scorers from a year ago all graduated and returning starter Michelle Pace was lost for the season when she tore her ACL after playing just two games.

Those obstacles have not weakened Westminster's determination to carve out a spot for itself atop the Frontier Conference once again.

"Our goal is to defend our conference championship," Griffins coach J.D. Gustin said. "We're going to work hard to get better every day and look to win the Frontier Conference Championship again. And we think that we have the tools to do so."

Once again, the fortunes of Westminster will turn on the contributions of the team's backcourt.

Keisha Catten is a returning starter and Dani Evans and McKenzie Jessop played major minutes off the bench a year ago. Adding valuable depth to the stable of guards are freshmen Ali Eastman and Nicole Yazzie.

Eastman has made an instant impact for the Griffins. She cracked the starting lineup right away and, in just eight games, is already the team's leading scorer. Gustin believes Eastman is a good enough player to be a standout for any college basketball team in the state.

"She's a big-time freshman," Gustin said. "She's going to be special for us."

Westminster has posted a modest 4-4 record through its first eight games, in part because of a rugged preseason schedule. Included among those opponents were a pair of NAIA teams ranked in the top 10 nationally.

Taking a few early lumps could prove helpful later in conference play.

"What better way to prepare than playing teams you'll see in the national tournament?" Jessop said.

One thing on Westminster's agenda is to make good on a second chance to win a tournament title if it successfully defends its conference title and earns a no. 1 seed again this season. The Griffins are still smarting from their championship game loss to Lewis-Clark State at Behnken Fieldhouse and want to replace that bad memory with a good one.