The Grand Canyon University women's basketball team (14-2, 6-2) is set to face Chaminade (0-13, 0-7) tonight in Honolulu at 8 p.m. Arizona time. The Antelopes own a perfect 12-0 record all-time against the SilverSwords and are currently riding a 17-game win streak in games played in Hawai'i. Follow the action live at www.gculopes.com.
VS. CHAMINADE: GCU is 12-0 against Chaminade. The teams last faced off on Feb. 28, 2011 in Honolulu in an 88-48 ‘Lopes victory. The 12 wins against the SilverSwords are tied for fourth-most versus a single opponent behind 16 wins against Cal-State Los Angeles and Western New Mexico and 13 wins against Notre Dame de Namur. Chaminade is 0-13 overall and 0-7 in the conference.
TIME TO GET AWAY: The ‘Lopes will play the second of their four games as part of a two-week Hawaiian trip at Chaminade tonight with tipoff slated for 8 p.m. Arizona time. Upon returning from Hawai’i, the ‘Lopes will hit the road again to face off against Cal Baptist on Feb. 11.
ALOHA!: Since entering the PacWest in 2006, the ‘Lopes have posted a 24-1 record when playing in Hawai’i, as they went 6-0 in 2006-07, 5-1 in 2007-08, 4-0 during the 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons and are 1-0 so far this season. Additionally, GCU has won 17 consecutive contests in Hawai’i. Their lone loss came at Hawai’i Hilo on Jan. 18, 2008 (83-77). Overall since joining the conference, GCU is 46-5 against the Hawai’i teams.
LAST TIME OUT: GCU defeated BYU-Hawai’i, 74-51, on Saturday in the first of four games on their Hawaiian road trip. The ‘Lopes improved to 6-0 on the road after shooting 42.4 percent from the field and outrebounding their opponent (44-32) for the 15
th time.
Jallisa Butler scored a career-high 21 points and also led the team with nine rebounds.
Maylinn Smith added 13 points and
Joslynn Frazier chipped in with a season-high-tying 10 points.
FEELING AT HOME…ON THE ROAD: The ‘Lopes are 6-0 on the road this season and have won 13 consecutive regular season road games (11 consecutive conference road games) dating back to last season. GCU is averaging 67.7 points-per-game away from home this season and since last season, are averaging 73.8 points-per-game on the road. Comparatively speaking, GCU is averaging 61.4 points-per-game at home this season.
GETTING IT GOING EARLY: The ‘Lopes have outscored the opposition 532-345 in the first half of their 16 regular season games and have scored at least 35 points in the first half seven times. The ‘Lopes scored a season-high-tying 45 first-half points on Dec. 9, 2011 vs. Cal State Stanislaus and Jan. 28 at BYU-Hawai’i. GCU has allowed a season-low 13 first half points three times this season. The ‘Lopes have trailed at the half in only one of their games (Jan. 24 vs. HPU) and posted a season-best 30-point advantage (43-13) heading into the locker room on Jan. 11 vs. Dominican.
AMONG THE NCAA’S BEST: The ‘Lopes rank among the best NCAA Division II schools in a number of categories: first with a 30.8 defensive field goal percentage and with 48.1 points-per-game-allowed; third with a 12.7 rebounding margin and 18
th with a 14.9 scoring margin. Individually, Maylinn Smith’s 92.0 free throw percentage ranks third.
PACWEST STAT SPEAK: Among PacWest teams, the Antelopes’ 72.9 free throw percentage is second to Notre Dame de Namur’s 79.1 percent, while their 40.5 shooting percentage and 32.8 three-point percentage are the third-best marks behind Hawai’i Pacific’s (42.9; 34.4) and Cal Baptist’s (41.6; 33.1). GCU leads the conference with a 12.6 rebounding margin. The ‘Lopes also own the longest win streak this season at nine games. Individually, Jallisa Butler ranks second in the conference with a 62.5 field goal percentage and 10.7 rebounds-per-game.
SMITH KEEPS SCORING: Sophomore guard/forward Maylinn Smith has recorded double-digit scoring in 15 games this season, including a career-high 22 point performance against Simon Fraser on Dec. 19. Her 15.5 points-per-game average is fourth in the PacWest.
BUTLER’S IMPACT: Jallisa Butler has set career-highs in both rebounds and points this season with 19 boards on Dec. 10 at San Francisco State and 21 points on Jan. 28 at BYU-Hawai’i. She has been named PacWest Conference Women’s Player of the Week twice: for Dec. 5-11 and Jan. 16-22.
CONFERENCE PLAY: The Antelopes are in the midst of 17 consecutive PacWest Conference contests and are 6-1 during the stretch. Dating back to last season, GCU has won 11 consecutive regular season conference road games. Since joining the conference in 2006, the ‘Lopes have posted a 73-12 mark overall and have won 15 games three times: in 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2010-11.
IN THE POLLS: GCU opened the season ranked 14
th in the
USA Today/ESPN Division II Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll and moved up to ninth in the poll released on Nov. 29 after posting a 4-0 mark to start the season. The ‘Lopes are currently 11
th in the poll.
More notes.