The Dixie State women's basketball team is set to host No. 23 Hawai'i Pacific on Saturday and Holy Names on Monday in the team's final home games of the 2017-18 season. Saturday's game will serve the team's annual "Think-Pink" Cancer Awareness game, while Monday's game will serve as the team's "Senior Night".
Both games are slated for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff inside the Burns Arena. Live coverage is scheduled on television (CEC-TV – TDS Channel 22), radio (Radio Dixie 91.3), and internet (YouTube.com/DixieStateAthletics), with Keric Seegmiller providing play-by-play. Live stats will also be available at www.sidearmstats.com/dixie/wbball.
SENIOR NIGHT: Dixie State will honor four seniors on Monday, including Ashlee Burge (Riverton, Utah/Herriman HS), Gabrielle Cabanero (Las Vegas, Nev./Valley HS), Matti Ventling (Las Vegas, Nev./Las Vegas HS), and Kristin Baldwin (Thatcher, Ariz./Thatcher HS).
ALL-TIME VS. HAWAI'I PACIFIC: Saturday's game marks the 20th meeting between Dixie State and Hawai'i Pacific. The teams first met on Jan. 8, 2006 in Honolulu with DSU winning the inaugural matchup, 65-56. The Trailblazers won the next five matchups before HPU earned its first victory of the series, 91-78, on Feb. 20, 2010 in Honolulu. The Sharks have won seven of the last 12 matchups, including a 76-73 decision in Honolulu on February 3. DSU holds an 11-8 overall series lead, including a 5-3 mark inside the Burns Arena.
ALL-TIME VS. HOLY NAMES: Monday's game marks the ninth meeting between Dixie State and Holy Names. The teams first met on Feb. 14, 2013, in Oakland. The Hawks defeated the Trailblazers, 76-65, to earn the first victory in the series. DSU responded by winning the next seven matchups, including a 78-66 win in Oakland on January 15. DSU holds a 7-1 series lead, including a 4-0 mark inside the Burns Arena.
KNOW YOUR FOE: Hawai'i Pacific enters Saturday's matchup with a 22-2 overall record and a 16-1 mark in PacWest play. The Sharks hold sole possession of first place in the PacWest and are ranked No. 23 in the WBCA Coaches poll. HPU has won its last 18 games. Four HPU players average double-figure scoring, including junior guard Janessa Manzano (12.3 ppg), senior forward Jessi Reeves (12.1 ppg, 7.3 rpg), freshman forward Alysha Marcucci (12.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg), and redshirt junior guard Samantha Lambrigtsen (11.5 ppg).
Holy Names enters the weekend with a 4-21 overall record and a 3-14 mark in PacWest play. The Hawks will travel north to San Rafael, California, to battle Dominican on Friday before Monday's contest against Dixie State. Sophomore forward Onjalise Hilliard-Carley leads the Hawks, averaging 11.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, while junior guard Ariana Hernandez (8.2 ppg) sits on the double-figure scoring bubble.
DOUBLE-FIGURE FRENZY: Ashlee Burge (Riverton, Utah/Herriman HS) (17 points), Keslee Stevenson (Willard, Utah/Box Elder HS) (15 points), Mariah Martin (Sandy, Utah/Alta HS) (12 points), Kristin Baldwin (Thatcher, Ariz./Thatcher HS) (11 points), Taylor Moeaki (American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS) (11 points), and Maile Richardson (American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS) (10 points) each eclipsed the double-figure barrier in the 88-86 win over Fresno Pacific on January 26, marking the first time in the program's NCAA Division II era with six players in double figures in a single game.
INSIDE THE BURNS: Since joining the NCAA Division II ranks in 2006-07, Dixie State has recorded an 89-47 (.654) record inside the Burns Arena, and has won 10 or more games at home three times (2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11) including perfect home records in 2008-09 (11-0) and 2010-11 (12-0).
PACK THE BURNS: Dixie State women's basketball set a new program single-game (home or away) attendance record on January 8 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.
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.
LAST TIME OUT: Dixie State rolled to its largest margin of victory of the season on Saturday with a 72-52 triumph over Hawai'i Hilo inside the Burns Arena.
The Trailblazers had to shake off a slow start as the Vulcans opened a 10-4 lead in the first five minutes of the game. DSU trimmed the deficit to one-point on two different occasions in the first quarter when Maile Richardson (American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS) and Tramina Jordan (Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial HS) each knocked down a triple, but UHH responded both times to take a 16-12 lead.
Dixie State clamped down defensively in the second quarter, holding the Vulcans to just nine points in the frame. Meanwhile, DSU poured in 20 points during the quarter, led by seven points by Ashlee Burge (Riverton, Utah/Herriman HS), to take a 32-25 lead into the halftime break.
The Trailblazers picked up where they left off in the third quarter, scoring the first 16 points of the frame to build a 48-25 lead. DSU connected on four triples during the stretch, including two treys by Keslee Stevenson (Willard, Utah/Box Elder HS). The Vulcans countered with an 11-0 run to trim the lead to 48-36 before DSU ended the frame with three free throws to push the lead back to 51-36.
The teams traded baskets through the first half of the fourth quarter before Dixie State pulled away for good with a 12-4 run over the final five minutes of the game to push the score to the final tally of 72-52.
Dixie State shot 41 percent (25-of-60) from the field, 32 percent (10-of-31) from 3-point range, and 70 percent (12-of-17) from the free throw line. Jordan led three DSU players in double figures with 13 points, while Matti Ventling (Las Vegas, Nev./Las Vegas HS) added 11 points and Richardson finished with 10 points.
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 (Las Vegas, Nev./Las Vegas HS) (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 (Morgan, Utah/Morgan HS) (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 (Thatcher, Ariz./Thatcher HS) and junior forward Maile Richardson (American Fork, Utah/American Fork HS).
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 (Willard, Utah/Box Elder HS), and Morgan Myers (St. George, Utah/Desert Hills HS), and forward Shandi Bastian (Sigurd, Utah/Richfield HS).
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 take their final PacWest road trip next week with games at Biola (February 22) and Point Loma (February 24).
