The Dixie State women's basketball team opens its 2017-18 campaign this weekend with two games at the Western Oregon D2 Shootout in Monmouth, Oregon. The Trailblazers open the weekend with a Saturday afternoon matchup with host-school Western Oregon at 2 p.m. Pacific Time (3 p.m. MT). DSU will close the weekend with a Sunday afternoon showdown with Saint Martin's at Noon PT (1 p.m. MT).
Live coverage will be provided by the Western Oregon sports information staff, with live video streaming and live stats available at portal.stretchinternet.com/wou.
ALL-TIME VS. WESTERN OREGON: Saturday's game marks the fifth meeting between Dixie State and Western Oregon, but just the second matchup between the teams in Monmouth, Oregon. The Trailblazers earned a 97-85 victory in the inaugural matchup on Nov. 19, 2010, in Monmouth. The win sparked a three-game win streak for DSU in the series, winning in 2011 (83-76, St. George, Utah) and again in 2013 (88-78, Las Vegas, Nevada). WOU earned its first victory in the series on Dec. 18, 2014, a 66-53 win at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Dixie State holds a 3-1 series lead, including a 1-0 mark in Monmouth.
ALL-TIME VS. SAINT MARTIN'S: Sunday's game marks the second matchup between Dixie State and Saint Martin's, although the squads still have not met on either team's home floor. The teams first met in a neutral-site game at Western Oregon on Nov. 20, 2010. The Trailblazers earned a 70-56 win in the inaugural matchup, finishing the weekend with a 2-0 record after defeating Western Oregon the day before.
KNOW YOUR FOE: Western Oregon returns five starters from its 2016-17 squad, which finished with an 8-19 overall record and a 4-16 mark in GNAC play. The Wolves were picked to finish ninth in the GNAC Preseason Poll. Preseason All-GNAC selection Sydney Azorr leads the returners, and averaged 10 points per game last season. In all, WOU returns its top six scorers from last season.
Saint Martin's begins a new era in the 2017-18 season, welcoming in first-year coach Christy Martin. The Saints finished the 2016-17 season with a 5-23 overall record and a 1-19 mark in GNAC play. SMU was picked to finish in 11th place in this year's GNAC Preseason Poll. Senior forward Elin Johansson will lead the SMU charge this season. Johannson averaged 13.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game last season, earning All-GNAC honors and Preseason All-GNAC honors this season.
2017-18 ROSTER: Dixie State returns five starters from the 2016-17 squad, including redshirt junior guard Tramina Jordan (Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial HS) (11.0 ppg, 3.7 apg), senior center Ashlee Burge (Riverton, Utah/Herriman HS) (9.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg), senior guard Matti Ventling (9.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg), and sophomore guard Ali Franks (8.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg). Senior forward Lisa VanCampen (7.9 ppg, 8.3 rpg) will redshirt during the 2017-18 season. Senior guard Gabrielle Cabanero (Las Vegas, Nev./Valley HS) (4.2 ppg, 1.6 rpg) also returns for her final season in a DSU uniform.
The Trailblazers added two transfer players for the 2017-18 season, including senior center Kristin Baldwin and junior forward Maile Richardson.
Baldwin averaged a double-double as a junior at BYU-Hawaii during the 2016-17 season, scoring 12.0 points per game to go with 10.9 rebounds per game to land All-PacWest honorable mention honors. Prior to BYU-Hawaii, Baldwin played two seasons at Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona.
Richardson played two seasons at Utah State-Eastern in Price, Utah. Richardson averaged 8.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game in two seasons for the Eagles, earning All-Scenic West Athletic Conference honorable mention honors.
Five new freshmen join the ranks this year in guards Mariah Martin, Tayor Moeaki, Keslee Stevenson, and Morgan Myers, and forward Shandi Bastian.
Martin averaged 16.8 points, 6.8 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.6 steals as a senior at Alta High School. Moeaki averaged 18.6 points, 3.2 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.2 steals per game as a senior at American Fork High School. Stevenson averaged 15.5 points, 2.7 steals, and 2.0 assists per game as a senior at Box Elder High School. Myers averaged 8.5 points and 3.2 steals per game as a senior at Desert Hills High School. Bastian averaged 10.8 points and 6.1 rebounds per game as a senior at Richfield High School.
COACHING STAFF: Head Coach JD Gustin begins his second season at Dixie State in the 2017-18 campaign. Prior to Dixie State, Gustin served 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 second-year assistant Nicole Yazzie (Westminster, 2013), while Utah Sports Hall of Fame Foundation inductee Deb Bennett (BYU, 1977) joins the staff as an assistant coach.
UP NEXT: Dixie State will play an exhibition game at Utah State on Tuesday at Noon, before returning to the Burns Arena to host Colorado Mesa and Montana State-Northern next weekend.
