Lopes fall to Aggies 81-65

Thursday, January 12

Phoenix, Ariz.

7:00 P.M.

Grand Canyon

9-6, 1-1WAC

New Mexico State

11-6, 3-0WAC

NM State

Grand Canyon

1/12/2017 9:08:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Jake Hernandez

PHOENIX – The Grand Canyon women's basketball team fell to New Mexico State 81-65 on Thursday night to fall to 9-6 (1-1 WAC) on the season.

Marina Laramie dropped a team-high 23 points (9-of-18), adding six rebounds. Brie Mobley earned her second double-double of the season with 17 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

How it happened
After falling into a 14-point deficit in the 1st Quarter, the Lopes turned it around offensively as they opened the 2nd Quarter on an 11-0 run to cut the Aggies' lead to 20-17.

In the first half, Marina Laramie turned things around for Lopes as she recorded 11 points off 4-of-9 shooting. Laramie and Brie Mobley (8) accounted for 19 of GCU's 29 points before the break. Headed into the locker room, the Lopes shot 40.7 percent compared to New Mexico State's 48.3 percent.

After the break, the Lopes turned up the offense, hitting 64.7 percent of their shots in the 3rd Quarter. Led by Laramie's 12 points, the Lopes were able to cut the Aggies' lead to 52-50 with less than three minutes to go in the period. After a 6-0 run by the NM State, the Lopes headed to the final quarter down 62-55.

In the 4th Quarter, the Lopes lost their rhythm offensively as they struggled to find the net in the first five minutes. The Aggies stepped up their defense giving GCU problems and went on an 8-0 run to improve their lead to 70-57. While the Lopes continued to fight back during the remaining minutes of the game, NM State's lead proved too tough to overcome as the Lopes suffered just its second loss of the season at GCU Arena.

Led by Laramie's 23 points (9-of-18), the Lopes shot 43.3 percent from the field. Mobley added 17 points and 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Jessica Gajewski dropped 10 points (4-of-10), including two 3-pointers.

Four Aggies scored double-digit points, including: Salas (23), Moriah Mack (18), William (17) and Brianna Freeman (13). New Mexico State shot 51.8 percent on the night and hit 90 percent (18-for-20) from the free throw line.

Lopes Quotes
Head coach Trent May
"The first quarter got away from us quickly. You hope you don't have a start like that. I think we overcame some things but could not get that corner turned in times we sure wanted to. We kept thinking here us our chance, we are making our runs. Little things happen like, and-1 fouls, missed free throws and things you just hope don't happen but they do."

Lopes Notes

Grand Canyon opened the second quarter on 11-0 run to cut the Aggies' lead to 20-17.
Mobley (8) and Laramie (11) account for 19 of GCU's 29 points in the first half.
Laramie recorded 12 points in the 3rd Quarter.
Three Lopes score double-digit points, including Laramie (23), Mobley (17) and Gajewski (10).
Mobley earned second double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds. GCU now has nine on the season.

Up Next
Grand Canyon will host UTRGV at GCU Arena on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 2:00 p.m. MST as the Lopes continue conference play.