Women’s Basketball opens RMAC play Saturday at Westminster

Trailblazers begin first season as a member of the RMAC

DSU Women's Basketball at Westminster College
Date/Time	Saturday, Dec. 1 - 5:30 p.m. - Behnken Field House - Salt Lake City, Utah
Game Notes	Dixie State (PDF) , Westminster
Live Video	Westminster Live Video (Stretch Internet) YouTube
Live Stats	Westminster Live Stats
DSU Social Media	@DixieAthletics (Twitter score updates) Facebook \| Instagram
Hashtags	#DixieBlazers #RMACwbb

After opening the season with three games at home, the Dixie State women's basketball team hits the road for its Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opener on Saturday at Westminster in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The game will tip off inside the Behnken Field House at 5:30 p.m., with live radio coverage scheduled on Radio Dixie 91.3 FM. Keric Seegmiller will serve as play-by-play announcer, while Drayson Ball will offer analysis and color commentary. The Westminster sports information staff will also provide live video streaming at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/westminster/ and live stats at www.westminstergriffins.com.

ALL-TIME VS. WESTMINSTER: Saturday's game marks the seventh overall meeting, and the first matchup as conference foes, between Dixie State and Westminster. The Griffins won the inaugural matchup in St. George on Dec. 1, 2006. The next two matchups were played in Salt Lake City, Utah, with Westminster earning two more victories in northern Utah, before taking a 61-55 victory in St. George during the 2015-16 season and a 69-58 triumph in Salt Lake City during the 2016-17 season. The Trailblazers claimed their first win in the series last season in a 64-62 thriller that saw Taylor Moeaki bury the game-winner with less than five seconds to play. The Griffins lead the all-time series with a 5-1 record, including a 3-0 mark in Salt Lake City.

KNOW YOUR FOE: Westminster enters Saturday's contest with a 2-2 overall record, having claimed victories over Texas A&M International and Missouri S&T. The Griffins are led by senior guard Denise Gonzalez, who was named both the RMAC Preseason Player of the Year and the RMAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Through four games, Gonzalez is averaging 18.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game. Sophomore forward Hunter Krebs also averages 18.0 points per game, while grabbing 7.3 rebounds per game.

NEW SEASON, NEW CONFERENCE: After 11 seasons as a member of the Pacific West Conference, the Trailblazers officially open their RMAC membership on Saturday with their first conference game. Dixie State logged a 112-86 record as a member of the PacWest and finished in second place three times (2010-12). DSU was picked to finish in 10th place in the RMAC preseason coaches' poll.

ON THE ROAD: Since joining the NCAA Division II ranks in 2006-07, Dixie State has recorded a 61-85 (.418) 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 47-50 (.484) conference road record and a 19-16 (.543) record in neutral-site games.

PERFECT PRESEASON: Dixie State recorded the best start since the 2010-11 season, posting a 3-0 mark with wins over Northern New Mexico (93-52), Western Oregon (59-40), and Saint Martin's (107-103 – 3 OT).

DOUBLE-DIGIT FRENZY: For the second time this season, five Trailblazers finished in double figures as DSU defeated Saint Martin's, 107-103, in triple overtime on November 17. Rashel Blazzard led the way with 24 points, while Lisa VanCampen and Ali Franks each set a new career high with 23 points. Mariah Martin added 14 points, while London Pavlica chipped in 13 points.

2018-19 TRAILBLAZERS: Dixie State looks to build on a 12-15 overall record and an 8-12 mark in PacWest play during the 2017-18 season. The Trailblazers enter their first year as a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) in the 2018-19 campaign.

Dixie State returns two starters from the 2017-18 squad, including sophomore guard Mariah Martin (10.5 ppg, 4.6 apg) and senior forward Maile Richardson (7.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg). Three DSU reserves return for the new season, including junior guard Ali Franks (8.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg), sophomore guard Keslee Stevenson (6.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg), and sophomore guard Morgan Myers (2.9 ppg, 2.0 rpg). Redshirt senior forward Lisa VanCampen (7.9 ppg, 8.3 rpg) also returns after redshirting during the 2017-18 season.

The Trailblazers added three transfer players for the 2018-19 season, including junior guards Rashel Blazzard, Madi Loftus, and Deshka Olson.

Blazzard averaged 7.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.9 steals per game at USU-Eastern during the 2017-18 campaign. Blazzard played her freshman season at Westminster College, averaging 7.8 points and 1.0 rebound per game.

Loftus played two seasons at USU-Eastern, where she averaged a team-high 14.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game last season as a sophomore and earned first team All-SWAC honors.

Olson Appeared in 24 games and made one start at Loyola Marymount during the 2014-15 season. She averaged 8.8 minutes and 2.2 points per game and connected on 11 3-pointers.

Junior guard Amy Green also joins the Trailblazers this season for her first year of collegiate basketball. Green averaged 17.2 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.4 steals, and 4.3 assists per game as a senior at Snow Canyon High School, leading the Warriors to the 2012 3A State Championship. She earned Adidas All-American honors and was a McDonalds All-American nominee.

Five new freshman join the ranks this year in guards Kelsea Barker, London Pavlica, and Jaimee Stahlee, along with center Cameron Mooney and forward Lana Olevao.

Barker averaged 14.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.2 steals per game as a senior at Dixie High School. Pavlica averaged 11.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game as a senior at Liberty High School. Stahlee averaged 16.4 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 2.0 steals per game as a junior at Bountiful High School. Mooney averaged 11.3 points and 8.0 rebounds per game as a senior at Skyline High School. Olevao averaged 10.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game as a senior at Highland High School.

COACHING STAFF: Head Coach JD Gustin begins his third 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 third-year assistant Nicole Yazzie (Westminster, 2013), while Utah Sports Hall of Fame Foundation inductee Deb Bennett (BYU, 1977) returns for her second year on the staff as an assistant coach. Jonathan Long joins the staff as an assistant coach for the 2018-19 season after serving last year as a student assistant, while Connor Frith remains as student assistant.

UP NEXT: Dixie State continues RMAC play next week with a trip to South Dakota. The Trailblazers will take on South Dakota Mines in Rapid City on Friday, before heading to Spearfish to battle conference-leader Black Hills State on Saturday.

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