The Grand Canyon women's basketball team returns home this weekend to host the Thanksgiving Showdown, a four-team tournament at GCU Arena on Friday and Saturday.
The Lopes (1-2) face Indiana State on Friday and LIU Brooklyn on Saturday, while GCU's two opponents will also play UC Irvine.
The Lopes are led offensively by freshman guardÂ
Venla Varis, who averaged 16.0 points on last week's two-game road trip. Varis led the team with 17 points at East Carolina and 15 points at UNC Wilmington in a pair of losses.
Senior center
ShaRon Miller leads the Lopes in rebounding with 9.3 boards per outing, while freshman point guard
Laura Piera has a team-high 22 assists this season.
Admission to all GCU women's basketball games is free.
Scouting Indiana State
The Sycamores are 2-0 with wins at Marshall (62-53) and Saint Louis (60-56). Indiana State has two players averaging double-digit points -- Ashli O'Neal (15.0) and Alexis Delgado (13.5).
Last season, the Sycamores finished 11-19 overall 9-9 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Indiana State lost 69-67 to Southern Illinois in the first round of the MVC Tournament.
Scouting LIU Brooklyln
The Blackbirds are 0-4 and will face UC Irvine before meeting the Lopes in a Saturday afternoon contest. LIU Brooklyn fell to Manhattan 61-46 to start the season. The Blackbirds then went on to lose to Army (57-42), Fairfield (71-43) and Saint Peter's (86-59).
LIU Brooklyn's Brandy Thomas is the only player averaging double digits at 13.5 points per game. She also averages 11.8 boards and has a team-high five blocks on the season.
Last year, the Blackbirds finished 13-18 overall and 8-10 in the Northeast Conference. LIU Brooklyn beat No. 3 Saint Francis Brooklyn 59-56 to advance to the second round of the NEC Tournament, but fell to No. 2 Robert Morris 74-44 to end the season.
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