Dixie State women's basketball is set to a close a 10-day, four-game Bay Area trip this weekend with games at Dominican and Academy of Art. DSU will take on Dominican on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time (6:30 p.m. MT) in San Rafael, California, before concluding the trip vs. Academy of Art on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. PT (2:30 p.m. MT) in San Francisco.

Live audio coverage is scheduled on radio (Radio Dixie 91.3), with Keric Seegmiller providing play-by-play. Live video and stats will also be provided by the DUC and ART-U sports information staff. Links for both can be found at DixieStateAthletics.com.

ALL-TIME VS. DOMINICAN: Thursday's game marks the 16th meeting between Dixie State and Dominican. The teams first met on Nov. 18, 2006, in Belmont, California. The Penguins won the inaugural matchup, 74-55. The Trailblazers responded by winning the next seven matchups in the series before Dominican claimed three consecutive victories in the series. The Trailblazers earned a 93-79 inside the Burns Arena in the most recent matchup on January 5. Dixie State holds a 10-5 series lead, including a 5-2 mark in San Rafael.

ALL-TIME VS. ACADEMY OF ART: Saturday's game marks the 16th 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 owned a seven-game win streak in the series before DSU earned a 77-73 triumph on December 2. The Urban Knights lead the overall series by an 8-7 count, including a 4-3 mark in San Francisco.

KNOW YOUR FOE: Dominican enters Thursday's contest with an 11-5 overall record and a 5-3 mark in PacWest play. Junior guard Natalie Diaz (24.8 ppg, 9.9 rpg) and senior forward Sandra Ikeora (21.8 ppg, 14.8 rpg) lead the PacWest in scoring, while Ikeora is also the leading rebounder. Freshman guard Julia Razo (10.4 ppg) also averages double-figure scoring, while junior guard Alanna Scott (9.9 ppg) remains on the double-figures scoring bubble.

Academy of Art enters Saturday's game with a 5-14 overall record and a 4-7 mark in PacWest play. After a 2-14 start to the season, the Urban Knights have won three consecutive games, including an 83-78 win over Dominican. Three ART-U players average double-figure scoring, including Pre-Franz Dominick (16.6 ppg, 12.3 rpg), Helena Orts (16.2 ppg, 8.3 rpg), and Jazzlyn Brewster (15.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg).

PACK THE BURNS: Dixie State women's basketball set a new program single-game (home or away) attendance record on Monday when 1,855 fans packed the Burns Arena for a showdown with California Baptist. The mark shattered the previous home record of 1,218 (vs. BYU-Hawaii, 1/27/11), and marked just the second women's basketball crowd of 1,000 or more fans inside the Burns Arena since becoming a Division II member in 2006.

ON THE ROAD: Since joining the NCAA Division II ranks in 2006-07, Dixie State has recorded a 60-82 (.422) record in true-road games and has logged a winning record on the road three times (2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13). Additionally, the Trailblazers have posted a 46-47 (.494) PacWest road record and a 19-16 (.543) record in neutral-site games.

PACWEST WEEKLY AWARDS: Dixie State earned PacWest weekly awards in three consecutive weeks in late November and early December. Taylor Moeaki (American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS) snagged the first conference honor and was named PacWest Freshman of the Week on November 27. Mariah Martin (Sandy, Utah/Alta HS) earned conference Freshman of the Week honors a week later on December 4, while Kristin Baldwin (Thatcher, Ariz./Thatcher HS) landed DSU's first conference Player of the Week award since the 2015-16 season on December 11.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: Dixie State's 66-62 win over No. 13 Azusa Pacific on December 11 marked DSU's first-ever victory over the Cougars and the team's first win over a ranked opponent since Jan. 8, 2011. Additionally, Dixie State's 6-3 start was the program's best start since the 2012-13 season when the Trailblazers also recorded a 6-3 start.

2017-18 ROSTER: Dixie State returns five starters from the 2016-17 squad, including redshirt junior guard Tramina Jordan (11.0 ppg, 3.7 apg), senior center Ashlee Burge (9.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg), senior guard Matti Ventling (9.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg), and sophomore guard Ali Franks (Redding, Calif./Enterprise HS) (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 (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 (Thatcher, Ariz./Thatcher HS) 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 (Sandy, Utah/Alta HS), Tayor Moeaki, Keslee Stevenson, and Morgan Myers (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS), 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: The Trailblazers return to the Burns Arena to host Fresno Pacific next Friday at 5:30 p.m.