No. 17 'Lopes Score Season-High 86 Points, Tie for PacWest Lead

Wednesday, February 22

GCU Arena

4:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

20-3, 12-3

Chaminade

1-20, 1-14

Chaminade University

Grand Canyon

Angelina Dennison was one of five 'Lopes players to score in double-digits on Feb. 22 vs. Chaminade.

No. 17 'Lopes Score Season-High 86 Points, Tie for PacWest Lead

2/22/2012 5:56:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

The No. 17 Grand Canyon University women’s basketball team defeated Chaminade, 86-33, tonight at Grand Canyon University Arena in Phoenix. With the win, the Antelopes improved to 20-3 overall and 12-3 in Pacific West Conference play. GCU is now tied for the conference lead with Cal Baptist. The ‘Lopes have also now hit the 20-win mark in back-to-back seasons.

The SilverSwords fell to 1-20 overall and 1-14 in the conference, while GCU improved to 14-0 all-time against Chaminade. Their 14 wins marks their second-most against a single opponent behind 16 victories against Cal State Los Angeles and Western New Mexico.

Their 53-point margin of victory was the largest this season and largest since a 69-point win on Jan. 27, 2010, also over Chaminade. Their season-high 86 points were also their most since scoring 88 on Feb. 28, 2011 at Chaminade.

“The girls knew that they didn’t play their best basketball to start tonight’s game,” said head coach Trent May. “They wanted to redeem themselves and they did that. The focus and intensity was much better the second half, and I think that allowed them to be more relaxed. It was good to see.”

The ‘Lopes shot 50.8 percent (33-for-65) from the field, the fourth time this season they have shot over 50.0 percent. GCU had five different players score in double-digits, led by Joslynn Frazier's career-high 20 point performance. Jallisa Butler added 12 points and Angelina Dennison, Petrolina Chilaka and Jenna Pearson each chipped in with 10 points. Each of the 12 players used by the ‘Lopes scored in tonight’s contest.

“We knew we really wanted to attack the basket tonight,” added May. “We played great defense in the second half. That translated to more opportunities for us.”

GCU shot 46.2 percent (12-for-26) in the first half as nine different GCU players scored in the first period. Dennison led the team into the locker room with seven points, while Chilaka added six points.

The teams traded baskets and were locked in an 11-11 tie with 10:56 to play after Chaminade made three three-pointers in the first eight minutes. The ‘Lopes then used a 13-2 run over the next five minutes to take a 24-13 lead. GCU outscored the SilverSwords 23-10 over the final 10 minutes of the first half to take their largest lead of that period into the locker room at 34-21.

The ‘Lopes held the SilverSwords scoreless for a total of approximately 10 minutes beginning with 1:18 to play in the first until they scored their first points of the second half with 12:49 to play in the second.

GCU came out of the locker room on fire, as they scored a season-high-tying 51 points in the second half on 53.8 percent shooting (21-for-39), including a 5-for-8 mark from behind the arc. The ‘Lopes scored 19 unanswered points to open the second period, led by Frazier’s eight points during the stretch.

“You want to play a good 40 minutes, but if you don’t play well in the first half, you definitely want to be able to do so in the second,” said May. “The girls did a great job of responding.”

Defensively, GCU held Chaminade to a season-low 12 points in the second half as they shot just 19.0 percent from the field (4-for-21).

The ‘Lopes will next be in action when they embark on their final regular season road trip of the season as they travel to San Francisco, Calif. to take on Academy of Art on Feb. 25. Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m. Arizona time.

“We would like redemption for that loss to Academy of Art,” May said. “We have had a lot of success on the road and hopefully success will continue to breed success. We are not foreign to it and we know we can handle that. There is a lot at stake.”

GCU 86, CUH 33