Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball at South Carolina on November 3, 2025 at TBA
W Basketball
TBA
at South Carolina
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Wednesday, November 14
Greenville, N.C.
5 p.m.
Grand Canyon
1-1
47
at
59
East Carolina
3-0
1
2
3
4
F
Grand Canyon
18
6
9
14
47
ECU
20
14
12
13
59
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Lopes fall short in road test
11/14/2018 7:11:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Freshmen lead offense in 59-47 loss at ECU
GREENVILLE, N.C. – Led by 29 combined points from freshmen Venla Varis and Laura Piera, the Grand Canyon women's basketball team suffered its first setback of the season in a 57-49 loss at East Carolina.
Freshman guard Venla Varis led the Lopes (1-1) with 17 points, shooting 6 of 11 from the field and 5 of 10 from beyond the 3-point arc. Freshman point guard Laura Piera shot 5 of 7 from the field and tallied 12 points to go with a team-high four assists.
Senior center ShaRon Miller added eight points and a team-best 10 rebounds.
ECU (3-0) took an 11-point lead in the first quarter, but the Lopes pushed back and finished the first 10 minutes trailing 20-18.
GCU tied the game at 24 with less than five minutes to play in the first half, but the Pirates went on a 10-point run to establish a hefty halftime 34-23 lead. Piera and Varis tallied eight points apiece in the first half.
The Lopes suffered a scoring drought in the third quarter that was broken by a layup from freshman Carla Balague and followed by a Varis 3-pointer, which brought the Lopes within 13 at 46-33.
Varis went on to make two more 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to bring GCU within seven points, 46-39, but the comeback fell short once ECU closed out the game with a 13-8 run.
The Lopes finish the two-game trip on Saturday with an 11 a.m. (Phoenix time) game at UNC Wilmington (2-1).
Freshman guard Venla Varis led the Lopes (1-1) with 17 points, shooting 6 of 11 from the field and 5 of 10 from beyond the 3-point arc. Freshman point guard Laura Piera shot 5 of 7 from the field and tallied 12 points to go with a team-high four assists.
Senior center ShaRon Miller added eight points and a team-best 10 rebounds.
ECU (3-0) took an 11-point lead in the first quarter, but the Lopes pushed back and finished the first 10 minutes trailing 20-18.
GCU tied the game at 24 with less than five minutes to play in the first half, but the Pirates went on a 10-point run to establish a hefty halftime 34-23 lead. Piera and Varis tallied eight points apiece in the first half.
The Lopes suffered a scoring drought in the third quarter that was broken by a layup from freshman Carla Balague and followed by a Varis 3-pointer, which brought the Lopes within 13 at 46-33.
Varis went on to make two more 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to bring GCU within seven points, 46-39, but the comeback fell short once ECU closed out the game with a 13-8 run.
The Lopes finish the two-game trip on Saturday with an 11 a.m. (Phoenix time) game at UNC Wilmington (2-1).
Team Stats
GCU
ECU
FG%
.391
.400
3FG%
.300
.133
FT%
.385
.818
RB
25
42
TO
20
18
STL
5
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
5
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's BasketballPG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballNon-Conference Schedule Release | GCU Women's Basketball
Monday, August 18
Mic'd Up: Sidney Anderson & Karley Johnson | Women's Hoops
Monday, August 11
Mic'd Up: Kaitlyn Elsholz | Women's Hoops
Monday, August 11
Chats with Jules | Women’s Basketball
Sunday, August 10