Women's Hoops Loses Close Contest at PacWest Tourney

Friday, March 8

Los Angeles, CA

1:30 PM

Grand Canyon

22-8

No. 3 Academy of Art

22-8

OT 1

Academy of Art

Grand Canyon

3/8/2013 3:46:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Fall to Academy of Art in semifinals

The Grand Canyon University women’s basketball team, who received the No. 2 seed for the inaugural Pacific West Conference Tournament, fell to third-seed Academy of Art, 60-58, in overtime today at the Felix Event Center in Azusa, Calif. The Urban Knights knocked the Antelopes out of the conference tournament, and will play the winner of No. 1 Hawai’i Pacific and No. 4 Dixie State.

GCU is now 22-8 overall on the season, while Academy of Art is also 22-8 following their win.

Click here for postgame audio from head coach Trent May.

In true tournament fashion, the game between the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds went down to the wire.

For the game, GCU shot 36.9 percent (24-for-65) and had three players score in double figures. Deanna Daniels had a team-high 15 points, while Judy Jones had 14 and Jasmine Cannon added 10. Jones also collected her 19^th double-double of the season with 19 rebounds.

The ‘Lopes held a significant advantage in points in the paint, 32-6, and pulled down 47 rebounds compared to 33 for the Urban Knights.

The Urban Knights took an early 10-0 lead in the first two and a half minutes of the game after going 4-for-5 from the field, two of which came from behind the arc. Justine Johnson drained a three-pointer with 17:19 on the clock to put GCU on the board and jumpstart a 9-0 run for the ‘Lopes over the next two minutes.

Academy of Art built their lead back to 18-13 with just under 12 minutes to play in the first half as they made four of their first five three-point attempts. The ‘Lopes knotted the score at 18 on a three-point jumper by Cannon with 10:53 on the clock, but the Urban Knights used a 4-1 run to take a 22-19 lead with five and a half minutes remaining.

Both teams were held scoreless for next two minutes before the ‘Lopes made it a 22-21 game with just over five minutes in the half. GCU took their first lead of the game, 24-23, on a Jones layup at the 2:20 mark. The ‘Lopes scored the final two points and held the Urban Knights scoreless from the field for the final seven minutes of the half as they carried a 26-23 lead into the locker room.

The ‘Lopes shot 35.5 (11-for-31) from the field in the first 20 minutes, led by Jones with nine points. GCU held the advantage in rebounds, 23-19, as they also cooled the hot-shooting Urban Knights to a 32.1 (9-for-28) field goal percentage.

Academy of Art scored first in the second half, tying the score at 26 via their fifth three-point basket, and reclaimed a 30-26 lead in the first three and a half minutes. GCU then used a 5-1 run to tie the score at 31 with 13:10 on the clock.

The score was tied three more times over the next four minutes and neither team led by more than two points until the Urban Knights claimed a 42-38 advantage with eight minutes remaining. Continuing with the trend, the game went back and forth for the next five minutes as the teams found themselves tied once again at 48.

GCU scored four of the next seven points of the game to take a narrow 52-51 lead at the 1:50 mark. Academy of Art made it 53-52 with 48 seconds to play and made one of two free throws to extend it to two points just 18 seconds later.

Maylinn Smith tied the score at 53 with under two seconds remaining, her first basket of the game. The Urban Knights made a three-pointer at the buzzer, but the officials waved off the shot to force overtime. It marked the second time in two contests that the teams have played extra minutes.

GCU shot better in the second half, making 42.3 percent of their shots (11-for-26), but were only able to make two shots in overtime.

The teams exchanged baskets in the first two minutes of the extra period, as Academy of Art held a one-point lead, 59-58. That score held the Urban Knights made one of two free throws with 30 seconds to play. GCU had a chance on their half of the court, but were unable to score as the clock wound down.

GCU will now await their fate for the NCAA Tournament, as the 64-team field will be released on Sunday at 7 p.m. (Arizona time) on NCAA.com. GCU was fifth in the latest poll released this week.

AAU 60, GCU 58 OT