Road Win At Nevada Gives GCU 7-2 Mark

Tuesday, December 10

Reno, NV

12 p.m.

Grand Canyon

7-2

Nevada

4-6

Grand Canyon

Nevada Wolf Pack

GCU senior Asha McDonnell was 5-for-5 from the field and had a season-high 11 points in GCU's 75-55 win over Nevada Tuesday.

Photo by: Darryl Webb

12/10/2013 3:17:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Grand Canyon improved to 7-2 with its second true-road win in as many tries, defeating the University of Nevada 75-55 in front of a record crowd of 4,307 at Lawlor Events Center in Reno Tuesday afternoon.

"Sometimes you find it easy to say things in a 20-point win, but God is good in wins and He's good in a loss and there's something special about this basketball team," said GCU coach Trent May. "These girls know how to prepare. They know how to compete and it's always done together."

The Antelopes led the Wolf Pack (4-6) for all but the game's first basket. Trailing 2-0, August Touchard opened GCU scoring with a 3-pointer and the Antelopes never lost the lead. Deanna Daniels scored on a lay-in 29 seconds prior to the halftime buzzer to give GCU its biggest first-half lead, 32-26.

It was all GCU in the second half. Back-to-back Touchard 3-pointers quickly upped the advantage to 42-30 and a jumper in the paint from Kaitlyn Petersen forced a Nevada timeout at the 16:13 mark with GCU leading 44-30.

Out-rebounded by 11 in the first half, GCU nearly erased that margin in the second, winning the board battle 26-16 (42-43 for game) in the final 20 minutes. GCU committed just 11 turnovers to Nevada's 19.

Judy Jones and Johnna Brown led GCU statistically. The pair scored nine each to lead the 'Lopes in the first half. Brown finished with a team-best 15 with eight rebounds. Jones had her fourth double-double of the season, tying Brown for the team lead, with 14 points and 13 rebounds – most by a GCU player this season. She also had six assists and four steals.

"(Jones) had a monster game," said May. "We had a very efficient game from the entire group. (Nevada) beat Wake Forest and lost close games to BYU and Utah. This was a great win for our program today and I couldn't be more proud of my staff and the work they do daily to make our program better."

Off the bench, Asha McDonnell went 5-for-5 from the field and had a season-best 11 points. The 6-4 McDonnell did most of her work against Nevada's 6-8 Mimi Mungedi, who led the Wolf Pack with 15, but only scored four in the second half.

"With our personnel, anyone on any day can have a big game," said May. "Today, it was Asha McDonnell. She had a huge game against a much-taller player than she's ever played against, and much taller than we'll probably see in a long time."

Daniels also had 11 points and five rebounds. GCU had four double-figure scorers. Nevada had four players averaging double figures, but only two hit twin-digits Tuesday. The 5-10 forward also did some of the defensive work against Mungedi. "Again, she did a lot of the dirty work and really battled a girl that was about a foot taller than her," added May. "She did the little things for us all day."

Touchard finished with nine points and Justine Johnson, who had been out for two weeks, added eight in 23 minutes played. Point guard Petersen had seven points and five assists along with her second straight game without a turnover. May also credited the junior with a strong effort on the defensive end.

Grand Canyon will play next Friday and Saturday in Monroe, La., at the Clarion Warhawk Classic Presented by Cypress Inn. The Antelopes take on host Louisiana-Monroe 6 p.m. Friday. They will play either East Carolina or Alcorn State Saturday at a yet to be determined time.

GCU 75, UNR 55