Lopes turn up defense in first WAC win

Saturday, January 7

Orem, UT

7:00 P.M.

Grand Canyon

9-5, 1-0WAC

Utah Valley

5-11, 0-1WAC

Grand Canyon

Utah Valley

1/7/2017 10:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Imani Suber

OREM, Utah -- The Grand Canyon women's basketball program defeated Utah Valley 62-46, picking up its first WAC win Saturday night. The Lopes put up a stellar defensive performance forcing 20 Wolverine turnovers and out rebounding UVU 37-30 on the glass.

Jessica Gajewski led in scoring with 22 points, while Zelor Massaquoi pulled down 11 boards. Brie Mobley dished out six assists on the night.

How it Happened
The Lopes came out the gate sluggish, allowing Utah Valley to get on the board first. Laura Marcos-Canedo gave GCU the spark they needed after draining a triple. Massaquoi followed after converting an offensive rebound into points to tie the game at 5-5 midway through the first. Utah Valley made few mistakes on offense and left the score at 13-9 to end the first period.

GCU went into the second period with a defensive mindset, forcing 10 turnovers and picking up 15 points off Wolverine miscues. GCU engineered a 13-0 run that included three straight triples from Jessica Gajewski and Casey Rarrick to put the Lopes up 22-13 midway through the second quarter. The Lopes held the Wolverine's scoreless for the duration of the quarter until they banked a field goal at the 1:10 mark. GCU capped off its 22-4 run with a Marina Laramie jumper to leave the score at 32-17 at the half.

The Lopes converted early in the third period after Massaquoi pulled down an offensive board, dishing it to Laramie for the easy bucket to put GCU up 34-21 early. Both team's would go on to exchange possessions without scoring a field goal for over three minutes. Laramie ended the scoring drought with a jumper off a beautiful Aniya Baker pass to extend the lead to 36-21 with under four minutes left in the quarter. The Lopes got their defense back in check denying a UVU field goal for over five minutes. But, the Wolverines finally got the spark they needed, putting together a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to 38-29 deep into the third period. The Lopes ended the period on a high note after Massaquoi converted her own offensive board to leave the score at 38-31.

GCU started the final frame off strong, going on an early run, but UVU started answering the call and continued to close the gap. Midway through the fourth, GCU's Gajewski started to rain triples on the Wolverines to push GCU's lead back up to 15 at 52-37. The Wolverine's remained steadfast converting their possessions to stay within 15, but the Lopes lead proved insurmountable as Gajewski iced the game with a trey as the clock went to 0:00 claiming the first conference victory.

Lopes Quotes
Head Coach Trent May
"At the start we just missed some shots. We missed a lot of easy shots tonight, we didn't have a lot of consistency. We got good looks, you've just got to be able to finish the opportunities that you have which would have put the game out of reach a lot earlier if we would have made some of those. Any opportunity to get the first win in conference play is a big deal, especially on the road. There's a lot of things that we can still get better at, so we've got 13 more games ahead of us and the next one is coming up soon on Thursday. We've just got to get back to work and get better at the little things. Definitely proud of the effort tonight and the girls had the desire to get that win and did a good job in getting it."

Lopes Notes

GCU held an opponent to its second lowest point total in Utah Valley.
GCU picked up a victory in the conference opener for the first time since its transition to Division I.
The Lopes extend their win streak to five against the Wolverines and now lead the all-time series at 6-2.
GCU forced 20 turnovers the third most in a game this year. They picked up 19 points off Wolverine mistakes and tallied 15 turnovers in the first half alone.
Jessica Gajewski tallied her ninth double figure contest with a team-leading 22 points. She accounted for six of GCU's nine triples.
Zelor Massaquoi led the squad with 11 boards tying a season-high. She tallied her fourth double-figure outing in rebounds.
Brie Mobley led the squad with six assists.
Marina Laramie returned to the court after being out due to injury. She put up 12 points with nine rebounds. She rounded out the complete performance with two assists and two steals on the night.