After playing five non-conference games in three different states, Dixie State women's basketball is set to open its Pacific West Conference schedule with games at California Baptist University on Thursday and at Point Loma Nazarene University on Saturday.
Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. Pacific Time (6 p.m. MT) on Thursday at CBU, and 2 p.m. PT (3 p.m. MT) on Saturday at PLNU. Live audio coverage is scheduled for both games on radio (X 91.3 FM) and Internet (SouthernUtahLive.com), with Keric Seegmiller providing play-by-play.
PACWEST OPENER: Dixie State opens its ninth season of PacWest play in 2015-16. The Storm currently hold a 6-2 record in PacWest openers, including a perfect 5-0 mark at home and a 1-2 record on the road. DSU recorded its only road conference opener win last season in a 71-67 victory over Point Loma on Dec. 4, 2014.
ALL-TIME VS. CALIFORNIA BAPTIST: Thursday's game marks the 11th meeting between Dixie State and California Baptist. The teams first met in Riverside, Calif. on Dec. 9, 2006 with the Lancers winning the inaugural matchup, 86-78. The Storm recorded their first win in the series a week later in St. George, defeating CBU 81-59 at the Burns Arena. Since then, the Lancers have won six of out the last eight matchups. CBU owns the overall series lead at 7-3, including a 4-1 mark in Riverside.
ALL-TIME VS. POINT LOMA: Saturday's game marks the seventh meeting between Dixie State and Point Loma. The Storm won the inaugural matchup, 80-63, on Dec. 15, 2012, in St. George. DSU won the next matchup two months later in San Diego, Calif., and the teams have split the last four matchups, winning two games each. The Red Storm hold a 4-2 series lead, including a 3-0 mark in San Diego.
KNOW YOUR FOE: California Baptist enters Thursday's game with a 6-0 overall mark, recording wins over Montana State-Billings, Simon Fraser, Northwest Nazarene, Humboldt State, Cal State L.A., and Cal State Dominguez Hills. The Lancers, tabbed as preseason favorites to win the PacWest, are outscoring their opponents by an average of 25 points per game and have not allowed their margin of victory to dip below 20 points. Five CBU players average double-figure scoring, led by junior guard Cassidy Mihalko (18.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg) and senior forward/center Darsha Burnside (16.5 ppg, 14.5 rpg).
Point Loma currently hold a 5-1 record, picking up wins over Cal Poly Pomona, Northwest Nazarene, Seattle Pacific, and two wins over Cal State Dominguez Hills. The Sea Lions dropped their most recent game, a 60-44 decision to Cal State L.A on Saturday. PLNU is led by sophomore forward Roya Rustamzada (18.2 ppg, 8.0 rpg), junior forward Madison West (15.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg), and sophomore guard Alex Brunk (15.2 ppg, 6.8 rpg). Junior forward Sydney Tonack also averages double-figure scoring with 10.7 points per game.
"We're right where we need to be," head coach Jenny Thigpin said. "We've had a tough preseason, and now we're facing tough opponents in league play. We couldn't ask for a better matchup at this point, especially coming off a tough loss to Colorado Mesa. Our team is hungry for a win."
LAST TIME OUT: Dixie State gave No. 25 Colorado Mesa all it could handle, but the Mavericks did just enough to escape with a 64-61 victory over the Storm Saturday night in the final game of the CMU-hosted Holiday Inn Airport Thanksgiving Classic in Grand Junction.
DSU trailed 34-25 at the half after the Mavericks opened the second quarter with a 13-4 run, which broke an 18-18 deadlock after the first 10 minutes of play. CMU pushed its lead to as many as 14 points at 44-30 midway through the third quarter, but the Storm closed the frame with an 11-4 spurt to cut the deficit in half at 48-41 going into the final period.
Dixie State kept the momentum to open the final stanza and pulled to within three at 48-45 on consecutive jumpers from senior Leslie Tademy (Phoenix, Ariz./South Mountain) and sophomore Nishiki Washington (Nagasaki, Japan/Miura). DSU then got it to within a basket at 50-48 with 8:05 to go after Tademy converted a conventional three-point play.The Mavericks got the lead back up to five at 57-52, but the Storm came back with six-straight points on an Ashlee Burge (Riverton, Utah/Herriman) lay-in, two Washington charity tosses, and senior Taylor Mann (Castle Dale, Utah/Emery) gave Dixie its first lead of the night at 58-57 on a lay-up with 3:09 remaining.CMU came back with a three-point play of its own on its ensuing possession to wrestle the lead back at 60-58. Tademy then got the Storm within a point at 60-59 with a free throw with 1:36 left on the clock, but that would be as close as DSU would get as the Storm managed just one more basket the rest of the way.
Mann led all scorers with a season-high 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting and 8-of-9 from the line, while Washington finished with a career-high 13 points on 5-of-8 from the floor. DSU shot 37.7 percent (20-of-53) from the field, though the Storm hit just 2-of-14 from the perimeter. Dixie State also outrebounded CMU 43-39, including a career-high 10 boards from Tademy to go with six points, while Mann pulled down nine caroms.
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 heads to Flagstaff, Arizona to battle Northern Arizona in its final non-conference game of the season. The game, scheduled for a 2 p.m. Mountain Time tipoff, also marks the last Division I opponent the Storm will face this season.
