No. 15 'Lopes Battle Back, Narrowly Fall to California Baptist

Wednesday, January 2

Riverside, CA

6:00 PM

Grand Canyon

11-4, 3-1PWC

California Baptist

8-2, 2-0PWC

Grand Canyon

California Baptist

Judy Jones

Photo by: Darryl Webb

No. 15 'Lopes Battle Back, Narrowly Fall to California Baptist

1/2/2013 8:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Overcome 12-point deficit in first PacWest loss of the season

The 15^th-ranked Grand Canyon University women’s basketball team fell to California Baptist, 55-53, today in their first Pacific West Conference road contest of the season. The Antelopes are now 11-4 overall and 3-1 in conference play, while the Lancers improved to 8-2 overall and 2-0 in the conference.

Click here for postgame reaction from head coach Trent May.

The loss snapped a 16-game conference road win streak for GCU, who had done so dating back to the 2010-11 season. GCU had overcome a 12-point deficit in the second half to a lead down the stretch, but the Lancers held on for the two-point victory.

Judy Jones posted her 10^th straight double-double with 21 points and 19 rebounds, which also marked her 11^th straight game with double-digit points. The rebounds were also a new season-high for the junior. Chigozie Ekweozor added 10 points for GCU.

GCU was hampered by 27 turnovers, resulting in 19 Lancers points. The ‘Lopes held the advantage in rebounds, 43-32, and used 40 points in the paint in a game that saw seven tied scores and six lead changes. For the contest, the GCU shot 39 percent (23-for-59), but were 0-for-10 from the three-point line.

The Lancers scored the first four points in the game before Jones forced a turnover and drove to the basket to put the ‘Lopes on the board at the 18-minute mark. GCU took their first lead of the game, 8-7, with just under 16 minutes to play, but CBU used a 13-9 run over the next five minutes to build a 20-17 advantage with 11:32 on the clock.

The ‘Lopes knotted the score at 20 with 10 and a half minutes remaining in the first, but the Lancers made four consecutive free throws and drained a three-pointer to build a 27-20 lead with seven minutes to play. GCU made it a four-point contest at 27-23 before CBU used a 10-2 run to extend their advantage to 12 points, 37-25, with 2:31 to play in the half.

GCU made it a single-digit deficit when they used a 4-0 run of their own to pull with 37-29 with 55 seconds on the clock. The ‘Lopes trailed by nine points at the half, 39-30, just the fifth time this season that GCU has not carried a lead into the locker room. The 39 points marked the second-most allowed by the ‘Lopes at the halfway mark this season.

The ‘Lopes shot 40.6 percent (13-for-32) in the first half, led by Jones, who had already posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Jasmine Cannon added five points for GCU. The ‘Lopes carried the advantage in rebounds, 23-17, 15 of which came on the defensive end, but were marred by 15 turnovers in the first 20 minutes.

As they have done for most of the season, the ‘Lopes outscored their opponents in the second half to overcome a deficit that had reached a high of 12 points in the game. GCU’s defense allowed just 16 second half points to the Lancers. The 'Lopes shot 37.0 percent in the second half (10-for-27) while holding the Lancers to a 23.8 percent mark (5-for-21).

GCU opened the second 20 minutes on a 6-2 run to pull within five points at 41-36 with 15 minutes remaining in the contest and utilized a 4-2 run over the next four minutes to make it a three-point ballgame, 43-40, with 10:54 to play.

Jones made it a one-point contest, 46-45, when she successfully converted a three-point play with 7:37 on the clock and the ‘Lopes reclaimed their second lead of the game at 49-48 with six minutes to play. The game went back and forth over the next few possessions until GCU built a three-point lead, 53-50, with three minutes remaining in the game.

The Lancers tied the score at 53, the seventh tie score of the contest, and took the 55-53 lead following a layup with one and a half minutes remaining. GCU called timeout with 1.2 seconds on the clock as neither team had scored over that time, but a Jones three-pointer fell just short at the buzzer.

The ‘Lopes will continue the Southern California swing with a game at Point Loma on Saturday at 2 p.m. (Arizona time). Fans can follow the action via live video by visiting www.gculopes.com.

CBU 55, GCU 53