Lopes honor seven on Senior Day

Saturday, March 4

Phoenix, Ariz.

2:00 P.M.

Grand Canyon

15-12, 7-7WAC

CSU Bakersfield

15-13, 10-4WAC

CSUB

Grand Canyon

3/4/2017 4:45:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Imani Suber

PHOENIX -- The Grand Canyon women's basketball team suffered a loss to CSU Bakersfield on Senior Day in a 80-64 finish. The Lopes fought valiantly, but couldn't overcome an aggressive Roadrunner offensive attack.

GCU had three in double figures led by a 25-point Marina Laramie outing on Senior Day. Aniya Baker also had a great performance in her last outing as a Lope collecting 13 points shooting 5-for-11 from the field and 3-for-7 from long range. Laura Marcos-Canedo led the squad with five steals, while Zelor Massaquoi put up 11 points on the day.

How it Happened
Lopes trailed early, struggling to stop a speedy CSUB offense that grabbed the lead. GCU came within two at 14-12 off Massaquoi and Laramie scores. The duo accounted for all GCU points in the first quarter, sharing eight a piece leaving the tally at 24-16 at the end of the first.

GCU didn't have many answers for the Runners in the second quarter as they try to establish the press to slow down the CSUB offense. While both team's traded baskets, GCU cut the lead to 28-24 early in the period. While the Runners struck back, the Lopes weren't phased coming within five off a Laramie layup at 31-26. It was all CSUB for that point on as they engineered 7-1 run to close out the half at 38-37.

While Massaquoi opened up the third quarter with a triple, the Lopes quickly came within eight. While the effort was in full effect, GCU struggled to stop the Roadrunner offense as they continued to convert shots pushing the total to 57-43 to end the third frame.

GCU went into the fourth aggressive and determined. Climbing from 15 down to cut Bakersfield's lead. Led by a Baker fourth quarter performance that included a trio of triples she helped keep the Lopes in the game brining the tally to 74-63 with 1:55 left. But that was the closest GCU would come as Runner free throws in the final minutes handed GCU the 80-64 loss.