The Dixie State women's basketball team heads to the Bay Area in California for a stretch of three games in five days, beginning on Tuesday and ending on Saturday. The Trailblazers (0-11, 0-5 PacWest) open the trip at Fresno Pacific in Fresno, California, on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time (6:30 p.m. MT), before heading to San Francisco for a matchup with Academy of Art at 5:30 p.m. PT on Thursday. DSU will close the trip with a Saturday afternoon grudge match with Notre Dame de Namur at 1 p.m. PT, in Belmont, California.

Live audio coverage is scheduled for each game on radio (Radio Dixie 91.3 FM) and internet (SouthernUtahLive.com), with Keric Seegmiller providing play-by-play.

ALL-TIME VS. FRESNO PACIFIC: Tuesday's game marks the ninth meeting between Dixie State and Fresno Pacific. The teams first met on Dec. 8, 2012 in Fresno, California, with DSU earning an 87-64 victory. The Trailblazers won the next four games before FPU earned its first win, a 91-82 victory on Feb. 21, 2015 in Fresno. DSU earned victories in both meetings last year and holds a 7-1 series lead, including a 3-1 mark in Fresno.

ALL-TIME VS. ACADEMY OF ART: Thursday's game marks the 14th matchup between Dixie State and Academy of Art. The teams first met on Jan. 16, 2010, in San Francisco. The Trailblazers won the inaugural matchup, 77-69, sparking a four-game winning streak for DSU in the series. ART-U earned its first victory, 60-59, on Jan. 3, 2012 in San Francisco as the Urban Knights blocked a DSU game-winning layup attempt with two seconds remaining. ART-U has won the last six matchups between the teams, and leads the overall series with a 7-6 mark.

ALL-TIME VS. NDNU: Saturday's game marks the 20th meeting between Dixie State and Notre Dame de Namur. The teams first met on Dec. 12, 2006, inside the Burns Arena. The Trailblazers won the inaugural matchup, 82-49, before NDNU won five of the next eight matchups. DSU holds a 7-2 record in the last nine matchups, but NDNU won the most recent matchup, an 88-82 overtime victory at the Burns Arena on December 17. Dixie State leads the overall series 12-7.

KNOW YOUR FOE: Fresno Pacific enters Tuesday's game with a 3-9 overall record and an 0-4 mark in PacWest play. The Sunbirds are led by redshirt sophomore guard Bree Alvarez (16.7 ppg).

Academy of Art enters the week with a 6-4 overall mark and a 3-0 mark in PacWest play. Junior guard Rodericka Ware (17.6 ppg, 3.9 apg) leads the Urban Knights, who play a non-conference game at Sonoma State on Tuesday before Thursday's matchup with DSU.

Notre Dame de Namur enters the week with a 5-6 overall record and a 3-1 mark in PacWest play. Sophomore forward Jerusha Paine (15.6 ppg, 7.9 rpg) leads the Argonauts, who host Dominican on Tuesday before Saturday's matchup with DSU.

LAST TIME OUT: The Trailblazers dropped their final exhibition of the season on Saturday in a 68-56 loss to Utah Valley in Orem, Utah.

The Trailblazers cut a four-point Utah Valley lead in half to pull within 4-2 after a layup by Lisa VanCampen (Morgan, Utah/Morgan HS) early in the first quarter. UVU responded with a 9-0 run over the next four minutes to push the lead to 13-2. DSU countered with a 7-0 run behind a 3-pointer from Tramina Jordan (Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial HS) and four points from Matti Ventling (Las Vegas, Nev./Las Vegas HS) to cut the lead to 13-9 with 2:37 remaining in the period. The teams traded baskets for the final two and a half minutes, and the Wolverines took a 20-17 lead into the second quarter.

Dixie State tied the game at 20-20 on a Shelby Kassuba (Sammamish, Wash./Skyline HS) trey early in the second quarter, but would not score again for the next five minutes. UVU also went cold during the same stretch, as neither team managed a basket for nearly three minutes. Jordan ended the drought with a 3-pointer to pull DSU to within 25-23 at the 4:22 mark. UVU ended the half on an 11-5 run to take a 36-28 halftime lead.

The Wolverines opened the second half with an 11-3 run to push the lead to a game-high advantage of 16 points at 47-31 with 4:58 remaining in the third quarter. Dixie State countered with a 10-3 run over the next two and a half minutes to pull within 50-41. The game went back and forth over the final 2:18 of the period, and UVU took a 56-46 lead in to the final stanza.

The Trailblazers trimmed the UVU lead to 59-53 midway through the fourth quarter on a layup by Ashlee Burge (Riverton, Utah/Herriman HS), but couldn't get any closer. The teams traded baskets over the final five minutes of the game, and the Wolverines clinched the 68-56 victory.

Dixie State shot 34 percent (19-of-55) from the field, 25 percent (8-of-31) from beyond the arc, and 66 percent (10-of-15) from the free throw line. Jordan and Ventling each finished with 14 points, while VanCampen added 11 points and seven rebounds.

2016-17 ROSTER: Dixie State returns two starters from the 2015-16 squad, led by junior center Ashlee Burge (Riverton, Utah/Herriman HS), who averaged 7.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game and recorded two double-doubles last year. Sophomore guard Tramina Jordan (Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial HS), who started 17 games last year, also returns in 2016-17. Jordan averaged 5.0 points and 1.6 assists as a freshman last season. The Trailblazers return two reserve players from last year's squad, including junior guard Gabrielle Cabanero (Las Vegas, Nev./Valley HS) (1.8 ppg) and senior guard Cassidy Carrillo (La Mirada, Calif./St. Paul HS) (0.9 ppg).

Four junior college transfers join the Trailblazers for the 2016-17 season, including junior forwards Shelby Kassuba (Sammamish, Wash./Skyline HS) and Lisa VanCampen (Morgan, Utah/Morgan HS), junior guard Matti Ventling (Las Vegas, Nev./Las Vegas HS), and junior guard Monique Washington (South Jordan, Utah/Bingham HS).

Kassuba played two seasons at Bellevue College in Bellevue, Washington, where she averaged 17 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and three steals per game as a sophomore. VanCampen spent two seasons at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah, and averaged 7.0 points and 5.9 rebounds per game as a sophomore. Ventling played two seasons at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, Idaho, where she averaged 8.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game as a sophomore. Washington played her freshman year at Clark College in Vancouver, Washington, averaging 2.3 points and 1.9 rebounds per game.

Dixie State also adds one NCAA Division I transfer in senior center Hannah Roberts (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley HS), who joins the Trailblazers after one season at Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Roberts appeared in 15 games at UAPB and made two starts as a junior in 2015-16. Prior to her time at UAPB, Roberts averaged 2.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game in two seasons at Southeast Community College in Milford, Nebraska.

Three new freshman join the ranks this year in twin-sister guards Ali and Kili Franks (Redding, Calif./Enterprise HS) and guard Jaden Gonzales (Plainview, Texas/Plainview HS). The Franks sisters prepped at Enterprise High School in Redding, California. Ali averaged 10 points, four rebounds, and three steals per game, while Kili averaged 15 points, six rebounds, and two steals per game for the Hornets. Gonzales prepped at Plainview High School in Plainview, Texas, where she averaged 16.0 points per game and connected on 66 3-pointers as a senior for the Bulldogs.

COACHING STAFF: Head Coach JD Gustin begins his first season at Dixie State in the 2016-17 campaign. Gustin was announced as the new DSU women's basketball head coach in May 2016, following the departure of former coach Jenny Thigpin. Gustin recently concluded his first season as an assistant coach at Weber State, where he helped lead the Wildcats to a 23-12 record and a runner-up finish in the 2016 Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament.

Prior to Weber State, Gustin spent four years at the University of Utah, serving as director of women's basketball operations from 2011-13 and women's basketball assistant coach from 2013-15. He helped guide the Utes to a runner-up finish in the 2013 Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT).

Before his time at Utah, he served as head women's basketball coach at Westminster College for seven seasons from 2004-11, where he compiled a 146-83 record and led the Griffins to five consecutive NAIA National Championship tournament appearances. He led Westminster to its first-ever NAIA tournament berth in 2006-07, and guided the Griffins to the quarterfinals of the NAIA championships for the first time in school history with a school-record 28 wins in 2010-11. Gustin won three Frontier Conference championships, including a perfect 14-0 conference mark in 2008-09.

Gustin is joined by new assistant coaches Nicole Yazzie (Westminster, 2013) and Brennon Schweikart (BYU-Hawaii, 2013).

NEXT UP: Dixie State returns to the Burns Arena to host Dominican on Wednesday, Jan. 11, at 5 p.m.