GCU Drops Second Tournament Game to Gonzaga

Monday, November 23

Spokane, Wash.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

2-3

Gonzaga University

4-1

Grand Canyon

Gonzaga

Photo by: Darryl Webb

11/23/2015 8:59:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Josh Hauser

SPOKANE, Wash. – Despite playing to a tie after 10 minutes of action, Grand Canyon dropped its second game of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Challenge. The Lopes fell to Gonzaga 70-44 in front of 5,222 fans at McCarthey Athletic Center on Monday night.

"We played a really good first quarter but the next two got away from us, which proved to be the difference makers in the game," head coach Trent May said. "We have plenty of things to get better at but I am thankful for this experience as it magnifies our weaknesses and should challenge us to fix them."

The Lopes (2-3) lost to the tournament's host, Gonzaga (4-1), a team who advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament last season.

Grand Canyon opened the game with a brilliant first quarter of basketball, playing to a 12-12 tie with the Bulldogs. Courtney Hayes knocked down GCU's first two shots of the game and Dana Jones followed with a pair of buckets of her own to put the Lopes up 9-5. More impressively, the GCU defense held Gonzaga to just 12 points, limiting the Bulldogs to 3-of-12 (25 percent) shooting and forcing six turnovers.

"When we put it together on both ends of the floor we will be tough to beat," May said.

Gonzaga's offense caught fire in the second and third quarters, outscoring GCU 45-17 to pull away from the Lopes. The Zags used an 11-0 run in the second quarter and a 10-0 run in the third quarter to break the game open, taking leads as big as 30 points. The Lopes offense suffered droughts of five and eight minutes in the middle two periods.

GCU put together another good quarter of basketball in the fourth, denying the Bulldogs the opportunity to advance their lead any further. The Lopes outscored Gonzaga 15-13 in the final period.

Jones once again scored in the double digits, leading the Lopes in the scoring column for the second straight game with 12 points. Jones used a 5-for-6 day at the stripe to score over 10 points for the fourth straight game.

Three-point shooting wasn't on GCU's side on the night, finishing 3-for-21 (14 percent) from deep. Gonzaga was able to take advantage of its height, outscoring Grand Canyon 32-14 in the paint.

Grand Canyon will close out the Spokane portion of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Challenge with a Tuesday game versus West Virginia (3-1). Tipoff from the McCarthey Athletic Center is set for 9:00 p.m. MT. The Lopes will conclude action in the tournament with a matchup against Farleigh-Dickinson on Sunday, Nov. 29 in Uncasville, Conn.