Completed Event: Women's Basketball at #2 South Carolina on November 3, 2025 , Loss , 54, to, 94
W Basketball
at #2 South Carolina
L 54-94
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Thursday, December 21
Phoenix, Ariz.
2 P.M.
Grand Canyon
5-8
39
vs
38
Santa Clara
4-7
1
2
3
4
F
Santa Clara
11
8
9
10
38
Grand Canyon
13
7
12
7
39
Coro: Clutch finish extends streak
12/21/2017 5:11:00 PM | Women's Basketball, Paul Coro
Lopes get key jumper and blocked shot to edge Santa Clara
A few seconds and a couple points decided how much merriment the Grand Canyon women's basketball team would have during its holiday break.
Senior Brie Mobley's go-ahead jumper and senior Jessica Gajewski's game-saving blocked shot gave GCU a three-game winning streak with a 39-38 victory Thursday at GCU Arena.
The Lopes' defense had to match the difficulty of Santa Clara's West Coast Conference-leading zone defense. GCU won despite 27.3 percent shooting because it made six 3-pointers while keeping Santa Clara to just one and the defense created 19 Broncos turnovers.
"It wasn't a pretty game but I thought we showed a lot of toughness and grit," GCU head coach Nicole Powell said. "Slow, low-scoring games like that are a grind. And I'm really proud of how we maintained our focus, especially on the defensive end."
The Lopes (5-8) never trailed in the fourth quarter until Santa Clara (4-7) took a 38-37 lead on a free throw with 29.6 seconds remaining.
GCU set up a play that it had not run all game to split the Broncos' zone with a double inside screen that Mobley could split for a jumper at the free throw line. Just as Mobley went for the gap, Powell called a time out to reset the play and Mobley missed after the whistle.
She did not miss when it counted. Using senior Jordan Jackson's and freshman's Myra Williams' screens, Mobley dribbled to the same spot and hit her go-to mid-range shot with one Bronco chasing and another rising in front of her.
"That little 15-footer, that's my layup," Mobley said. "Even though it had a few bounces, it felt good. I had confidence in it and it rolled in. This is great momentum going into the break. We leave on a good note and come back feeling good."
The go-ahead shot with 4.1 seconds to go marked Mobley's first points of the fourth quarter. She finished with a game-high 16 points and a team-high 13 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season.
"Brie hit some incredible shots and carried our team to victory again, making a really tough shot when we needed it most," Powell said.
GCU appropriately still had to pull off one more defensive stand to seal the game. With 4.1 seconds, Santa Clara advanced the ball to the frontcourt with a time out and inbounded to Ashlyn Herlihy.
Off the right wing, Herlihy initially beat Gajewski off the dribble but Gajewski recovered to block the potential game-winning layup from behind as time expired.
"I knew the ball was going to her," Gajewski said. "I let her beat me baseline, which I broke one of our rules. I just tried to get back in it so we could get the win and I got the block. I thought, 'I'm not about to be the reason we lose this game. We're not losing.' So I had to do anything I could."
The game opened with Santa Clara blazing to a 6-0 start with three consecutive scores following a GCU miss and two turnovers. After a Powell time out, the Lopes quickly regrouped and went on a 13-0 run that set up GCU to play from in front, albeit tightly, for most of the game.
Mobley and senior point guard August Touchard each played all 40 minutes. Gajewski added 11 points. The Lopes defense kept Herlihy, Santa Clara's leading scorer, to one field goal on five attempts.
"That's a great zone defense," Mobley said. "They need an award for that. It was tough to find the open pockets and it was tough to penetrate. We matched their defensive intensity and that's what kept us in the game because it was hard to score."
GCU returns to action against Arizona Christian at 6 p.m. on Jan. 2 at GCU Arena. Thursday's victory followed a 72-54 win at Northern Arizona and a 59-54 home win against Southern Utah.
"Overall, I'm really pleased with how we finished this stretch of games going into Christmas break," Powell said. "We've steadily improved and I'm looking forward to continuing that growth when we get back together after the holiday break."
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Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
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Senior Brie Mobley's go-ahead jumper and senior Jessica Gajewski's game-saving blocked shot gave GCU a three-game winning streak with a 39-38 victory Thursday at GCU Arena.
The Lopes' defense had to match the difficulty of Santa Clara's West Coast Conference-leading zone defense. GCU won despite 27.3 percent shooting because it made six 3-pointers while keeping Santa Clara to just one and the defense created 19 Broncos turnovers.
"It wasn't a pretty game but I thought we showed a lot of toughness and grit," GCU head coach Nicole Powell said. "Slow, low-scoring games like that are a grind. And I'm really proud of how we maintained our focus, especially on the defensive end."
The Lopes (5-8) never trailed in the fourth quarter until Santa Clara (4-7) took a 38-37 lead on a free throw with 29.6 seconds remaining.
GCU set up a play that it had not run all game to split the Broncos' zone with a double inside screen that Mobley could split for a jumper at the free throw line. Just as Mobley went for the gap, Powell called a time out to reset the play and Mobley missed after the whistle.
She did not miss when it counted. Using senior Jordan Jackson's and freshman's Myra Williams' screens, Mobley dribbled to the same spot and hit her go-to mid-range shot with one Bronco chasing and another rising in front of her.
"That little 15-footer, that's my layup," Mobley said. "Even though it had a few bounces, it felt good. I had confidence in it and it rolled in. This is great momentum going into the break. We leave on a good note and come back feeling good."
The go-ahead shot with 4.1 seconds to go marked Mobley's first points of the fourth quarter. She finished with a game-high 16 points and a team-high 13 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season.
"Brie hit some incredible shots and carried our team to victory again, making a really tough shot when we needed it most," Powell said.
GCU appropriately still had to pull off one more defensive stand to seal the game. With 4.1 seconds, Santa Clara advanced the ball to the frontcourt with a time out and inbounded to Ashlyn Herlihy.
Off the right wing, Herlihy initially beat Gajewski off the dribble but Gajewski recovered to block the potential game-winning layup from behind as time expired.
"I knew the ball was going to her," Gajewski said. "I let her beat me baseline, which I broke one of our rules. I just tried to get back in it so we could get the win and I got the block. I thought, 'I'm not about to be the reason we lose this game. We're not losing.' So I had to do anything I could."
The game opened with Santa Clara blazing to a 6-0 start with three consecutive scores following a GCU miss and two turnovers. After a Powell time out, the Lopes quickly regrouped and went on a 13-0 run that set up GCU to play from in front, albeit tightly, for most of the game.
Mobley and senior point guard August Touchard each played all 40 minutes. Gajewski added 11 points. The Lopes defense kept Herlihy, Santa Clara's leading scorer, to one field goal on five attempts.
"That's a great zone defense," Mobley said. "They need an award for that. It was tough to find the open pockets and it was tough to penetrate. We matched their defensive intensity and that's what kept us in the game because it was hard to score."
GCU returns to action against Arizona Christian at 6 p.m. on Jan. 2 at GCU Arena. Thursday's victory followed a 72-54 win at Northern Arizona and a 59-54 home win against Southern Utah.
"Overall, I'm really pleased with how we finished this stretch of games going into Christmas break," Powell said. "We've steadily improved and I'm looking forward to continuing that growth when we get back together after the holiday break."
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Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
Â
Team Stats
SCU
GCU
FG%
.295
.273
3FG%
.100
.240
FT%
.733
.750
RB
43
29
TO
19
15
STL
10
4
Game Leaders
Pts
16
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
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