Lopes roll Chaminade in final contest of 2016

Saturday, December 31

Honolulu, HI

2:00 P.M.

Grand Canyon

8-5

Chaminade

1-9

Grand Canyon

Chaminade

12/31/2016 2:26:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Imani Suber

HONOLULU - The Grand women's basketball program defeated Chaminade 85-55 Saturday afternoon in their final contest in Hawai'i.

Brie Mobley led the Lopes with 19 points and 11 rebounds good for a double-double.

How it Happened
The Lopes and Silverswords went back and forth for the duration of the quarter as Chaminade had an answer for nearly every Lope basket. Deep into the first period, Chaminde took the slight edge off a jumper, before Vanessa Murphy banked the go-ahead bucket in the paint to put GCU back on top at 19-18. With 10 seconds to go in the quarter, the 'Swords hit a three to get back on top, leaving the score at 22-21.

While the Lopes kept battling from behind, they quickly started to apply the press, creating opportunities on offense. GCU engineered a 7-0 run led by a Gajewski triple to extend its lead to 28-24 midway through the period. The 'Swords remained pesky, sticking around before GCU went back on a 11-6 run capped off by a Bloom layup from Mobley to end the half at 40-34.

GCU started the second half on fire, netting baskets on four-straight possessions, led by three-straight Mobley scores to go up 49-36 early in the period. The Lopes went on to put up 22 points, shooting 53.5 percent, led by Mobley's eight points. The 'Swords did fight back securing baskets on back-to-back possessions, but the Lopes wouldn't have it as they left the score at 62-45 to end the third.

The Lopes continued its red hot offense as Rarrick rained down treys to continue the Lopes momentum with a 71-48 lead. GCU went on to ball for the rest of the game off a complete performance from the bench that added 49 points to the total. The Lopes team work and energy led them to their final victory of 2016 as they defeated the 'Swords 85-55.

Lopes Quotes
"I really like what their coach does. He always has his players playing hard. I have a lot of respect for their program. We did settle in and sometimes you can't overlook anybody and sometimes you think that might be the cause and they came out competing right from the jump and it takes a lot to get in a groove. We were able to do that in the second half and I'm proud of our girls for executing the style of standards that we're preaching on both sides of the floor. So, they did a really good job. We hit the shots we really needed to hit and just really shared the ball well."

Up Next
GCU returns to Phoenix to host Arizona Christian for its final non-conference contest on Wednesday, Jan 4. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. MST.