Stout defense slows Chicago State

Saturday, January 28

Phoenix, Ariz.

7:00 P.M.

Grand Canyon

12-7, 4-2WAC

Chicago State

0-21, 0-7WAC

Chicago State

Grand Canyon

1/28/2017 8:59:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Jake Hernandez

PHOENIX - The Grand Canyon women's basketball team defeated Chicago State, 57-39 on Saturday night. The Lopes improve to 12-7, 4-2 in WAC play with their ninth victory in GCU Arena this season. Thirty-nine was the fewest amount of points the Lopes have allowed this season.

Marina Laramie recorded her fifth double-double of the season with a game-high 23 points (8-for-19) and 10 rebounds. Brie Mobley followed with 14 points (6-of-12) and four boards.

How it Happened
The Lopes got off to a quick 11-0 start in the first five minutes of the contest as Chicago State started the game missing its first five buckets. Defensively, Grand Canyon forced six turnovers in the first quarter off three steals. After the Cougars hit back-to-back buckets, the Lopes responded with a 5-for-6 run, taking a commanding 18-4 lead with less than a minute left in the first quarter.

Outscoring the Chicago State 22-8 in the first quarter, Grand Canyon hit 7-for-13 from the field. Marina Laramie scored 11 points (3-of-5), including 5-for-6 from the free throw line.

With less than five minutes left in the first half, the Cougars hit five-straight field goals, cutting the Lopes' lead to 29-19. Grand Canyon had some turnover issues as well, coughing up the ball eight times in the first half. Solid defense from the Lopes forced 11 Cougar turnovers, including five steals.

At the half, the Lopes headed into the locker room with a 35-23 lead. Laramie lead all scorers with 13 points (4-for-9). Brie Mobley recorded 12 points on a nearly perfect 5-of-6 shooting from the field. On the other side, CSU's Cailin Nix led the team with 10 points (5-for-8).

To start the second half, Laramie recorded five of GCU's seven points as the Lopes led 42-30. Grand Canyon then turned up the offense on a 9-0 run to take a commanding 49-33 lead heading into the final quarter.

Laramie continued to dominate on the court, pulling down her 10th rebound at the 6:41 mark to post her fifth double-double of the season. With five minutes to go in the contest, both teams found trouble scoring keeping the score 54-38 for over three minutes. The Lopes would go on to secure the 57-39 victory over the Cougars.

Lopes Quotes
Head Coach Trent May
"We didn't have too may lulls. We had one a little bit in the second quarter, we just got a little flat and maybe complacent at times. Definitely don't like the turnovers, way too many tonight. We didn't have a lot of pressure and we were just careless with the ball. We didn't do some fundamental things that we knew how to do. We've got to shoot the ball a lot better. We've really got to start being the team that shoots in the high clip because we have the players who can and every coach wants that."

Lopes Notes

Laramie scored 11 of GCU's 22 points in the 1st Quarter.
39 points is the least amount of points allowed by the Lopes this season.
With 23 points and 10 rebounds, Laramie recorded her fifth double-double of the season, marking her 12th career.
Grand Canyon out-rebounded Chicago State 44-27.

Up Next
The Lopes travel for three games, starting with a trip to Bakersfield, Calif. to face conference-rival CSU Bakersfield on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 2:00 p.m. MST. Grand Canyon will continue the road trip to face UTRGV and New Mexico State before returning home for a matchup against Seattle U on Thursday, Feb. 16.