GCU drops first conference game at Dixie State

Saturday, January 8

St. George, UT

5:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

12-2,0-1PacWest

Dixie State

11-1,1-0PacWest

Grand Canyon

Dixie State

Samantha Murphy and Rosalyn Nelson

1/8/2011 7:31:42 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Murphy scores 29 and grabs 11 rebounds

By: Steve Heath

No. 16 Grand Canyon dropped its Pacific West Conference opener at No. 25 Dixie State, 85-72, at Burns Arena in St. George, Utah Saturday.

It put a halt to the Antelopes 11-game winning streak.

“We didn’t have consistent play and playing catch up all night on the road is tough to do,” said GCU coach Trent May.

It was the first time in PacWest history a women’s basketball conference game had featured two ranked teams.

GCU (12-2, 0-1) was led by Samantha Murphy (Phoenix, AZ, Xavier Prep), who went over the 1,700-point mark for her career. Murphy had 29 and now has 1,703 for her career. She also had a career-high 11 rebounds.

“We made a lot of mental mistakes tonight and they’re going to be corrected,” said Murphy. “We’ve got 15 more (conference) games to go and that’s our focus now.”

GCU held a five-point lead, 9-4, early in the first half. Dixie State answered with a 10-1 run. Grand Canyon was able to tie twice, but unable to regain the lead.

Down 11 in the first half, GCU got within one, 53-52, with 14:40 left in the game.

“There were moments we would get back in it, but they had an answer every time,” added May.

After missing its first five 3-point attempts, Dixie State hit six of the next eight from beyond the arc. Off the bench, Veronica Siqueiros went 3-of-3 to help get the Red Storm a first-half lead.

Senior guard Rosalyn Nelson (Phoenix, AZ, Deer Valley) had 15 points, four steals and three assists. Freshman Maylinn Smith (Mesa, Ariz., Mesquite) had 10 points. Stevie Kamp (Mesa, Ariz., Mountain View, Nova Southeastern) had eight points and six rebounds. Kristi Girdley (Aliso Viejo, CA, Aliso Niguel) added seven points.

“At our last timeout, I told them we have every opportunity to win 15 (conference) games. Tonight was not our night,” added May. “We’re going to look ahead for a great week of practice and go to San Francisco to get our first conference victory.”

Breann Hill led Dixie State with 29 points.

Grand Canyon plays at Notre Dame de Namur Jan. 18 at 5:30 p.m.

Box Score