Lopes pick up eighth win at home, drop UMKC 75-64

Thursday, January 26

Phoenix, Ariz.

7:00 P.M.

Grand Canyon

11-7 (3-2WAC)

UMKC

6-13 (1-5WAC)

Missouri-Kansas City

Grand Canyon

1/26/2017 9:38:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHOENIX -- The Grand Canyon Women's basketball program secured its eighth victory in GCU Arena this season after dropping UMKC, 75-64 on Thursday night. The Lopes improved to 11-7 on the year and 3-2 in WAC play.

Brie Mobley led the Lopes in scoring (23), rebounds (7) assists (6) and steals (5). GCU also had four score in double-figures in Mobley (23) Marina Laramie (17), August Touchard (14), Jessica Gajewski (11).

How it Happened
Even though both teams got off to a slow start offensively, the Lopes picked it up halfway through the first period to take a six-point lead over the 'Roos. The defense struggled in the second half of the period while UMKC went on a 12-2 run to snag an 18-14 lead going into the second period.

The 'Roos continued to rack up points on the scoreboard, quickly extending their lead to 32-24, before the Lopes turned things around. After kicking it up a notch with four successful three-point shots in the last three minutes of the half, Touchard drained a triple at the buzzer to give the Lopes the slight edge at 40-39 going into the break.

In the third, the Lopes focused on offense and continued to rack up points. They made 100 percent of their free-throws and maintained a narrow lead after a back-and-forth battle. The score jumped to 53-52 in favor of GCU to close out the period.

After Mobley kicked off the fourth period with a triple, the Lopes went on a 13-2 run going into the final three minutes of the game. Despite the 'Roos solid attempt to close the gap, the Lopes defeated UMKC 75-62 at the buzzer.

Lopes Quotes
Head Coach Trent May
"Overall, just praise to the girls. They stuck in there and really battled. The beginning of the game wasn't going the way we wanted to and they dug in and we got a little bit tougher as the game went along. I like the 91.7 percent from the free throw line. I like that a lot, that's something we've been working on, focusing on, the girls did a good job with that. I like our efficiency. You look at the scoring from Brie (Mobley) and August (Touchard) they were very efficient for us. They have to take a lot of shots to get those points, so obviously that's huge. The rebounds, we lost by four, but we had more offensive rebounds and we did a good job of boxing out and making contact when we needed to."

Lopes Notes

Brie Mobley led the squad in scoring (23), rebounds (7) assists (6) and steals (5). Marking the first time a single player has led in four different categories in a single game this year.
August Touchard knocked down a season-high 14 points going 3-of-6 from the field and 2-of-4 from long range. She also tallied four assists.
Lopes shot a near perfect 91.2 percent from the charity stripe going 11-of-12 on the night, good for the best mark this season.
GCU had four Lopes in double figures in Mobley (23) Marina Laramie (17), Touchard (14), Jessica Gajewski (11).
GCU increased their scoring percentage from 40.0 in the first period to 62.5 in the second.
The Lopes made 36.4 percent of 3-pointers compared to 28.6 percent shot by the 'Roos

Up Next
GCU is back in action on Saturday, Jan. 28 as they welcome Chicago State to GCU Arena. Tip is set for 7 p.m. MST. The WAC Game of the Week will be broadcast on CW 6 and streamed live on ESPN 3, the Watch ESPN App.