SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster women's basketball team was selected to finish third in the upcoming 2009-10 basketball season according to a poll of Frontier Conference coaches. Westminster received 38.5 points in the poll, finishing behind Lewis-Clark State and Carroll College. Lewis-Clark received seven first place votes and Carroll College received one.

Westminster is coming off a 27-7 overall record and won the Frontier Conference regular season championship with a 14-0 record. It was the first undefeated conference season in school history. This year the team returns seven players and two starters. Keshia Catten and Michelle Pace lead all returners in scoring at 9.5 and 7.6 points per game respectively last season. Dani Evans and McKenzie Jessop are also back after playing important minutes for the Griffins last season.

Montana State-Northern was picked to finish fourth followed by Rocky Mountain, Montana Tech, University of Great Falls and Montana Western. Teams received seven points for first, six points for second, five points for third, four points for fourth, three points for fifth, two points for sixth, and one point for seventh. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team.

In this year's women's poll, there was one ballot that gave both Carroll and Westminster a second place vote and one ballot that gave both University of Great Falls and Montana Tech a fifth place vote. In the Carroll/Westminster ballot, the points for second and third were added together and divided by two with each team given half of the total. The same formula used for the Tech/UGF fifth/sixth ballot.

Westminster opens the season at William Jessup University on Friday, October 30 in Rocklin, California. The first annual Griffins Nest Hoops Fest night is schedule for Thursday, October 22 at 8:00 p.m.