No. 16 'Lopes Use Offensive Outburst at Home to Defeat BYU-Hawai'i

Monday, February 20

GCU Arena

4:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

19-3, 11-3

BYU-Hawai'i

5-17, 4-10

BYU-Hawai'i

Grand Canyon

Chigozie Ekweozor leads the team with 22 blocks after collecting four more on Feb. 20 vs. BYU-Hawai'i.

No. 16 'Lopes Use Offensive Outburst at Home to Defeat BYU-Hawai'i

2/20/2012 5:52:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

The No. 16 Grand Canyon University women’s basketball team defeated BYU-Hawai’i, 78-52, tonight at Grand Canyon University Arena to improve to 19-3 overall and 11-3 in PacWest Conference play. The Seasiders are now 5-17 overall and 4-10 in conference play.

“It feels really good to have such a good offensive effort tonight, especially after a couple of rough shooting nights for us,” said head coach Trent May. “It was neat to see the girls be comfortable out there. I love that we shared the ball so well tonight. You have to make a basket to get an assist but you can’t get a basket without an assist.”

GCU shot 47.0 percent (31-for-66) for the game and made 10-of-18 three pointers, six of which were made by Jenna Pearson, who finished with a career-high 20 points. Maylinn Smith also added 20 points in the game. Chigozie Ekweozor added four blocks to bring her season-total to a team-high 22 blocks.

“It’s great when you can have somebody come off the bench and step it up,” added May. “Jenna made six three pointers tonight, which is hard to do, but she is very capable of that.”

Several season-highs were set for GCU, as they scored their most points at home, forced a season-high 34 turnovers and finished with a season-high 21 steals.

“They really fed off one another both offensively and defensively tonight,” said May. “We got a lot of transition points that we normally don’t get, which speaks to our awareness and technique. It was a really good game for us all around.”

The ‘Lopes shot 52.8 percent from the field in the first half (19-for-36), including an 8-for-10 mark from behind the arc. GCU forced 19 turnovers from the Seasiders in the first half alone, including collecting 12 steals.

“We had a few days to prepare for tonight and focus on being defensively sound,” May added. ”The girls have great effort, willingness and desire. The little details can go a long way.”

The ‘Lopes used a 13-0 run with just over 12 minutes remaining in the first half to build their lead to 30-19 at the 10:13 mark. GCU went on to lead by as many as 28 on two occasions in the half and took a 51-25 advantage into the locker room. The 51 points marked the most GCU has scored in the first half this season, surpassing the 45-point mark they had previously done twice.

Smith reached double-digit scoring (10 points) in the first six minutes of the game after draining two three-pointers and led all scorers with 18 points heading into the locker room. Pearson added 14 points in the first period after making 4-of-5 three-pointers.

The two teams were evenly matched in the second half, as they both scored 27 points. The 'Lopes and Seasiders both shot 40.0 percent from the field in the second period.

GCU led by as many as 39 points at 76-37 with just under seven minutes to play before the Seasiders outscored the ‘Lopes 12-2 for the remainder of the game.

The ‘Lopes will next be in action when they host Chaminade on Feb. 22 at Grand Canyon University Arena with tipoff slated for 4:30 p.m. Following that contest, GCU will embark on their final regular season road trip of the season when they travel to San Francisco, Calif. to take on Academy of Art on Feb. 25. Tipoff for the game is scheduled for 1 p.m. Arizona time.

GCU 78, BYUH 52