GCU to Participate in Prestigious Tournament

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Challenge
Grand Canyon vs. Southern California
Date: Sunday, Nov. 22
Time: 5 p.m.
Location: Spokane, Wash. – McCarthey Athletic Center

Grand Canyon at Gonzaga
Date: Monday, Nov. 23
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Spokane, Wash. – McCarthey Athletic Center

Grand Canyon vs. West Virginia
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 24
Time: 9 p.m.
Location: Spokane, Wash. – McCarthey Athletic Center

PHOENIX – After three games at home, the Grand Canyon women's basketball team will head out on the road for the first time this season as they participate in the prestigious Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Challenge. The tournament will start in Spokane, Wash. and the Antelopes will play three games in three days against Southern California, Gonzaga and West Virginia.

The Lopes are coming off two impressive wins at GCU Arena, coming back from 14-points to defeat Oral Roberts in overtime on Monday, Nov. 16, and a dominating 77-40 win over Western State on Thursday. Three games into the season and Grand Canyon is once again near the top of the standings in Western Athletic Conference in terms of defense. The Lopes have allowed their opponents to score 59.3 points per game, which is second best in the conference, behind just Texas-Rio Grande Valley.

After tying a GCU school record 19 rebounds, Cheyenne Hedrington is averaging 10.7 rebounds a game, which is third best in the WAC and two other GCU players are in the top-20 in rebounds per game including Zelor Massaquoi in a tie for 13^th place (6.0 rpg) and Dana Jones in 18^th place with five rebounds per contest. After eight assists against Western State Colorado, Courtney Hayes is tied for second place in the conference in assists per game, averaging five this season.

All-Time Series
Grand Canyon will face USC, Gonzaga and West Virginia for the first time in school history.

Scouting USC
The Trojans have started the season 2-0 with victories over Hope International and Santa Clara by a combined 84 points. USC has four of its starting five players averaging double-figures in scoring led by Jordan Adams scoring 19.5 points per game and also a team-high 13 rebounds. Southern California is outrebounding its opponents by 19 rebounds a game and is shooting 47 percent from the field as a team. The Trojans were picked to finish in seventh place in a very competitive Pac-12 Conference.

Scouting Gonzaga
The Zags have been picked to win the West Coast Conference for the third straight season and Shelby Chelsek and Elle Tinkle were both named to the All-ACC preseason team. Gonzaga is 2-1 this season with victories over Air Force and Eastern Washington. Gonzaga lost its second game of the season to Stanford, who is No. 10 in the country. Tinkle is the only player on Gonzaga to average double-digit scoring this season at 12.7 points per game along with 3.3 rebounds a game. Kiara Kudron has been impressive on the boards this season, leading the team with 9.7 rebounds per game.

Scouting West Virginia
The Mountaineers have been an offensive scoring machine this season in their 2-0 start averaging 86.5 points per game. West Virginia is outrebounding its opponents by 14.5 rebounds per game and WVU has four players pulling down four or more rebounds in each game. Bria Holmes, was named to the Wooden Award Preseason Top-30 list that highlights the early front-runners for college basketball's most prestigious honor. This season, Holmes leads the team with 16 points per game along with six rebounds and four assists per game, shooting 70.6 percent from the field.

Grand Canyon University Athletics

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