Fourth quarter defense seals victory over NAU

Monday, December 19

Phoenix, Ariz.

12:00 P.M.

Grand Canyon

7-4, 0-0

Northern Arizona

4-6, 0-0

Northern Arizona

Grand Canyon

12/19/2016 3:04:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Imani Suber

PHOENIX -- The Grand Canyon women's basketball team collected its fourth-straight victory as they dropped in-state foe Northern Arizona 76-64 Monday afternoon. GCU's defense refused to allow a Lumberjack field goal as NAU failed to score for 5:58 minutes allowing the Lopes to thrive on offense and claim the contest.

Jessica Gajewski led the Lopes in scoring with 31 points posting a career-high. Brie Mobley had a team-leading 11 boards good for a personal-best in her first outing as a Lope, while Laura Marcos-Canedo collected a a team-leading seven assists.

How it Happened
In a first half that was primarily dominated by Northern Arizona, the Lopes trailed for the duration of the half despite outshooting NAU going 40.6 percent from the field and out rebounding the 'Jacks 26-20. GCU opened up the second quarter with a 7-0 run sparked by a trio of free throws from Vanessa Murphy and Casey Rarrick to move the score to 21-20 NAU. The 'Jacks quickly responded putting together a 16-8 run, pushing their lead to 10. After the final media timeout of the half, the Lopes came out with a sense of urgency rattling off back-to-back triples from Rarrick and Gajewski aided by a couple free throws to leave the score at 39-36 at the half.

The Lopes came out like a team possessed in the third quarter, shooting 90. 9 percent from the field. After Gajewski hit the go-ahead shot with a trey putting the Lopes up by one, she went off off going 4-for-6 from long range and 7-of-10 to total 18 of GCU's 28 points in the period, en route to a career high 31 points. At the end of the third the Lopes held their largest lead of the night at 64-55.

In the final frame, NAU would not go quietly as they bounced back with a 7-2 run to come within one at 66-65, but the Lumberjacks field goal at the 5:17 minute mark would be their last. GCU elevated its defense to another level completely shutting down NAU's offense, refusing to allow any 'Jack points for the rest of the game. On the other side of the ball the Lopes offense thrived, scoring nine straight unanswered points sparked by, a Kiara Clark free throw. Clark and Zelor Massaquoi went on to trade baskets, with Clark laying in the Lopes final basket of the day off a perfect dish from Marcos-Canedo. The Lopes cruised to victory in the remaining seconds, picking up their fourth-straight win in a 76-65 finish.

Lopes Quotes
Head Coach Trent May
On the team's performance
"Well there was a really quick foul out burst in the first quarter and I think that got us reeling. Our players don't doubt a whole lot, but there are those moments where you look in their eyes and in that first quarter they were a little doubtful and almost like, 'okay that happened to us? Now what do we do?' "What's so fun to realize is how much our team has stepped up in so many various ways over the past few weeks and just really proud of them, just really staying together. When they have to figure out something that's tough and then they do it and they do it with guts, they do it together. It's just been fun to see. We've had a lot of combinations of players lately and we've had some really step up, Kiara Clark has done a great job in that role, got a start today to help us out. But, it's just really neat to watch them overcome and really battle together. But, super proud of our players, proud of our staff and just couldn't be more thankful for the winning streak that we're on right now and the way the players have stepped up to make that happen."

On Brie Mobley's first game
"When you bring in a new player in our program on our floor today, that's not an easy concept and it's a part of chemistry. The thing about it is when you add a new player there's another chemistry puzzle which you've got to figure out. So really thankful that the girls did a good job with that and Brie did a good job. She hit the boards hard, got 11 boards in her first game and that's huge, that's been a deficiency of ours, so we're thankful for that."

Lopes Notes

Jessica Gajewski notched a career-high 31 points going 12-for-18 from the field and 5-for-8 from beyond the arc. In the third quarter alone, she put up 18 points going 4-for-6 and 7-of-10 in the period.
Gajewski led the Lopes in points for the first time this season and produced her seventh double-figure outing of the year.
For the first time since GCU transition to Division I, two players produced 30-plus point games in the same season. The Lopes have had a player score 30-plus points in a game in Marina Laramie with two and Gajewski with one.
Casey Rarrick notched her fifth double-figure game this season with 17 points going 5-for-11 and 2-for-3 from long range. She also put up a double-figure first half performance with 11 points for the first time this year.
Brie Mobley completed her first career game as a Lope with a team-leading 11 rebounds, posting a career-high mark.
The Lopes shot 50.0 percent from the field in a half for the fourth time this year after reaching the mark in second half and posting a 90.9 percent showing in the third quarter alone.
Laura Marcos-Canedo garnered a career-high five rebounds. She also led the Lopes with seven assists for the third time this season.
Kiara Clark garnered her first-career start as a Lope. She went 3-for-3 for a career-high seven points. She also notched career bests in field goals and field goals made.
The Lopes garnered a season-high 47 rebounds against NAU.
GCU held NAU from scoring for over five minutes marking a team best for the season.

Up Next
The Lopes will enjoy a six day holiday break, before heading to Hawaii for a five day two-game stint as they take on Hawaii on Thursday, Dec. 29. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m. MST. The Lopes will conclude its trip in a New Year's Eve clash with Chaminade on Dec. 31 at 11 a.m. MST.