The Dixie State women's basketball team makes its first Pacific West Conference road trip of the season this week for games on Thursday and Saturday in southern California. DSU will open the trip on Thursday in Riverside, California, for a matchup with No. 10 California Baptist at 5 p.m. Pacific Time (6 p.m. MT) at the Van Dyne Gymnasium. The Trailblazers will wrap up the trip with a Saturday afternoon matchup at Azusa Pacific at 1 p.m. PT (2 p.m. MT) at the Felix Event Center.
ON THE AIR: Live audio coverage is scheduled for both games on radio (Radio Dixie 91.3 FM) and internet (Southern Utah Live), with Keric Seegmiller providing play-by-play.
ALL-TIME VS. CALIFORNIA BAPTIST: Thursday's game marks the 13th meeting between Dixie State and California Baptist. The teams first met in Riverside, California, on Dec. 9, 2006, with the Lancers winning the inaugural matchup, 86-78. The Trailblazers recorded their first win in the series a week later in St. George, defeating CBU 81-59 at the Burns Arena. Since then, the Lancers have won eight of the last 10 matchups. CBU owns the overall series lead at 9-3, including a 5-1 mark in Riverside.
ALL-TIME VS. AZUSA PACIFIC: Saturday's game marks the ninth meeting between Dixie State and Azusa Pacific. The teams first met on Jan. 12, 2013, in Azusa, California. The Cougars won the inaugural matchup, 66-59, sparking an eight-game win streak in the series, including an 87-61 victory the last time the teams met at the Felix Event Center.
KNOW YOUR FOE: No. 10 California Baptist enters the game with a 9-2 overall record and a 2-0 mark in the PacWest. The Lancers lead the conference in scoring (81.5 ppg), field goal percentage (.464), free throw percentage (.777), and assists (15.8 apg). Cassidy Mihalko, PacWest Preseason Player of the Year, leads the CBU scoring attack, averaging 19.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, while Kamille Diaz (13.6 ppg), Courtney Nelson (12.9 ppg), and Tori Mitchell (10.0 ppg) also average double-figure scoring.
Azusa Pacific enters the week with a 3-6 overall record and a 1-1 mark in PacWest play after defeating Concordia and falling to California Baptist last week. The Cougars will host future PacWest member Biola on Tuesday before the matchup with DSU on Saturday. Abigail Goodsell leads APU in scoring with 14.4 points per game, while Gabrielle Kaiser is close behind with 14.3 points per game, and Tara Casey adds 10.2 points per game.
CAREER NIGHT: Three DSU players recorded a new career-high vs. Concordia-Irvine on Saturday. Junior guard Matti Ventling (Las Vegas, Nev./Las Vegas HS) scored a career-high 18 points, while redshirt sophomore guard Tramina Jordan (Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial HS) set new marks in scoring (16 points) and assists (7). Junior forward Shelby Kassuba (Sammamish, Wash./Skyline HS) pulled down 13 rebounds for the third DSU career-high of the night.
LAST TIME OUT: The Dixie State women's basketball team dropped its Pacific West Conference opener on Saturday in an 89-78 loss to Concordia inside the Burns Arena. Dixie State scored the first four points of the third quarter to cut the CUI halftime lead to 47-46, but the Eagles countered with an 11-2 run to push the lead back to double digits at 58-48. DSU later cut the lead to 62-59 on a Ventling 3-pointer with 4:07 remaining in the period, but the Eagles responded with another 11-2 run to take a 73-61 lead into the final period.
Concordia pushed the lead to a game-high mark of 18 points at 83-65 midway through the fourth quarter. DSU countered with an 8-0 run behind triples from Matti Ventling (Las Vegas, Nev./Las Vegas HS) and Shelby Kassuba (Sammamish, Wash./Skyline HS) to pull to within 83-73 with 5:03 remaining. But the Trailblazers would get no closer, as the teams traded baskets over the last five minutes and CUI clinched the 89-78 victory.
Dixie State shot a season-best 45 percent (29-of-64) from the field, 44 percent (11-of-25) from beyond the arc, and 64 percent (9-of-14) from the free throw line. Ventling led five DSU players in double figures with a career-high 18 points and four rebounds on 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range. Tramina Jordan (Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial HS) finished with 16 points on 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc. Ashlee Burge (Riverton, Utah/Herriman HS) finished with 12 points, while Kassuba and Lisa VanCampen (Morgan, Utah/Morgan HS) added 10 points each.
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 three reserve players from last year's squad, including junior guards Sandria Bolden (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman HS) (3.8 ppg) and 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 sophomore 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 Notre Dame de Namur (December 17) and Point Loma (December 19).
