After three consecutive weeks on the road, the Dixie State women's basketball team opens its home schedule Tuesday as the Storm host Westminster in a non-conference matchup.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Mountain Time, as the Red Storm try for their first home-opener win since 2012. Live coverage is scheduled on television (TDS Cable Channel 22), radio (X 91.3 FM), and Internet (SouthernUtahLive.com), with Keric Seegmiller providing play-by-play.
"We're excited to return home this week and for our hometown crowd to have the opportunity to see us play," Head Coach Jenny Thigpin said. "We have had a lot of experience and lessons learned while out on the road."
ALL-TIME VS. WESTMINSTER: Tuesday's game marks the fourth meeting between Dixie State and Westminster and their first meeting since 2007. The Griffins won the inaugural matchup, played in St. George at the Burns Arena on Dec. 1, 2006. The next two matchups were played in Salt Lake City, Utah, with Westminster earning an 82-73 victory on Dec. 18, 2006 and a 69-55 win on Dec. 4, 2007. The Griffins lead the all-time series with a 3-0 mark.
KNOW YOUR FOE: Westminster currently holds a 1-1 overall record. The Griffins, a first-year member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, opened the season in Durango, Colo., at the Skyhawks Regional Challenge. Westminster fell to Fort Lewis College, 76-43, but responded the following day with a 66-28 win over Adams State.
The Griffins are led by senior guard and Rutgers transfer Natalie Parsons. Through two games, Parsons is averaging 17 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. Freshman guard Denise Gonzalez and junior guard Riley Reidhead are also contributing eight points each per game.
HOME, SWEET HOME: Dixie State returns to St. George for its first home game of the season after playing on the road for three consecutive weeks, a stretch that included two games in Alaska and two exhibition games against Division I programs in Utah. Since joining the NCAA Division II ranks in the 2006, the Red Storm are 74-27 inside the Burns Arena, including a 7-2 mark in home-openers.
LAST TIME OUT: The Dixie State women's basketball team dropped its final exhibition game of the season Saturday, 77-63, on the road at Utah State. The Storm started fast, taking an 11-2 lead in the first quarter, as junior guard Aliya Davis (Everett, Wash./Woodcreek) nailed a trey and scored twice more to key the DSU run. The Wolverines responded, pulling to within one point, but the Red Storm refused to relinquish the lead and finished the opening period with a 16-14 lead.
The second quarter seemed to be a carbon copy of the first, with the Storm pushing the lead back to eight points at 22-14 after a jumper from redshirt freshman Tramina Jordan (Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial). Utah Valley would cut the lead to two points with four minutes remaining in the period, but couldn't get any closer in the first half. The teams traded baskets for the final four minutes of the half, and the Storm took a 31-28 into the break.
Utah Valley came alive in the third quarter and took its first lead of the game at 34-33 with 7:46 remaining in the period. The Wolverines stretched the lead to 58-50 at the end of the third and pushed the lead to as many as 16 points in the fourth quarter, holding off the Storm for the win.
Dixie State shot forty percent (25-of-62) from the field, 27 percent (6-of-22) from beyond the arc, and a perfect 100 percent (7-of-7) from the free throw line. Two Red Storm players finished in double figures, led by senior center Taylor Mann (Castle Dale, Utah/Emery), who finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double. Senior guard Chermayne Moore (Pinole, Calif./Hercules) added 10 points and three assists, while Davis and Jordan each finished with nine points.
YEAR TWO FOR THIGPIN: Head Coach Jenny Thigpin begins her second season at the helm of Dixie State women's basketball. She took over last season just two weeks before the season started, following the departure of Catherria Turner. Thigpin was named interim head coach in November, until the "interim" was dropped in January and she became the permanent head coach. Prior to her arrival at Dixie State, Thigpin spent two seasons as an assistant at Pacific West Conference member Fresno Pacific and four years coaching at Buchanan High School in Clovis, Calif. As the head coach at Buchanan in 2009-10, she led the team to a 22-7 record (the most wins in school history), reaching the final four of the Central Section playoffs.Thigpin is joined by Adam Ross who returns for his second year as an assistant at Dixie State, and new assistant Teddy Fletcher, entering his first year at DSU.
2015-16 ROSTER: The Storm return four starters from last year, led by senior center Taylor Mann (Castle Dale, Utah/Emery), who averaged 11.4 points and nine rebounds per game, and senior guard Leslie Tademy (Phoenix, Ariz./South Mountain) (7.5 ppg). Tademy led the Storm in assists in the 2014-15 season with 136 assists (5.2 per game). Also returning is senior guard Chermayne Moore (Pinole, Calif./Hercules) (7.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg) and senior forward Brianna Jessop (Hyrum, Utah/Mountain Crest) (4.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg).
Five sophomore reserves also return in guards Shantel Roberts (Rialto, Calif./Miller) (2.4 ppg), Sandria Bolden (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman) (2.1 ppg), and Gabrielle Cabanero (Las Vegas, Nev./Valley) (2.0 ppg), forward Nishiki Washington (Nagasaki, Japan/Miura) (3.2 ppg, 2.3 rpg), and center Ashlee Burge (Riverton, Utah/Herriman) (1.4 ppg, 1.6 rpg). Additionally, the Storm welcome back redshirt freshman guard Tramina Jordan (Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial).
Three junior college transfers join the Storm in junior guards Tomorie Sangster (Vacaville, Calif./Will C. Wood ), Aliya Davis (Everett, Wash./Woodcreek), and Cassidy Carrillo (La Mirada, Calif./St. Paul). Sangster played at Napa Valley College, averaging 10.8 points, 4.4 assists, and 3.8 rebounds per game in two seasons. Davis played two seasons at Sierra College, where she averaged 6.6 points per game. Carrillo played at Cerritos College, averaging 8.3 points and two rebounds per game in two seasons for the Falcons.
Freshman guard Raynie Maynes (Salome, Ariz./Salome) represents the only new freshman joining the team in 2015-16. Maynes comes to Dixie State after redshirting last season at the University of Great Falls, and is the younger sister of former Dixie State guard Taylor Maynes (Salome, AZ/Salome).
STORM PICKED NINTH IN PACWEST POLL: Dixie State was picked to finish ninth in the Pacific West Conference preseason coaches poll released in October, after finishing in the same spot with a 7-13 record in conference action last year. California Baptist was picked to win the PacWest, followed by Azusa Pacific, Academy of Art, Fresno Pacific, and Point Loma in the Top-5.
UP NEXT: Dixie State returns to the road for two games against Western State Colorado and Colorado Mesa at the CMU Thanksgiving Tournament in Grand Junction, Colo. The Storm will battle the Mountaineers on Friday at 1 p.m. and the Mavericks on Saturday at 5 p.m.
