Cephas' 21 tops win in home opener

Friday, November 9

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Incarnate Word

Grand Canyon

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

11/9/2018 9:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score PHOTO GALLERY

GCU beats Incarnate Word 74-63 with Piera's 11 assists

By: <a href="http://gculopes.com/index.aspx?path=coro">Paul Coro</a>

Grand Canyon women's basketball put a nice enough cover on its book for 2018-19 that it looks like the story will get better as they turn the pages of the season.

The Lopes did that with a 74-63 victory against Incarnate Word in their season opener Friday night at GCU Arena.

And the team's new look wasted no time to make that first impression, jumping on the Cardinals with a 10-2 start that it maintained.

In its eight-player rotation, GCU has two returnees who combined for nine points per game last season. The Lopes play four freshmen in that mix but it helps to have a senior like 6-foot power forward AJ Cephas, a Nevada transfer who scored a career-high 21 points Friday in her first GCU game.

Cephas used her interior game to score 16 in the first half, when GCU built a 43-26 lead that it stretched to a 26-point gap in the third quarter. A fourth-quarter letdown gave GCU plenty to talk about in upcoming practices with communication, boxing out and transition defense but emerging with a win was enough for a team coming off an injury-ravaged preseason.

"We need that game experience," GCU head coach Nicole Powell said. "It's easier to say that now because we did finish with the W. It wasn't where we're going to be but we grew and I know we're going to get better from that. Every opportunity we have to grow, we do. Every game or practice with all these new faces is an opportunity to get better. We've got a really committed team and we'll get better."

GCU held Incarnate Word to 31 percent shooting over the first three quarters but gave up too many easy points at the rim and on free throws in the fourth quarter to sustain the blowout.

When the Lopes were flowing, it showed what freshman point guard Laura Piera can create. She recorded 11 assists with three turnovers as GCU outscored Incarnate Word by 18 during her time on the floor.

"She has a special talent," Powell said. "She has a great feel for the game. You really can't teach that and she's just a freshman. She loves the game so much. She has so much room to grow."

GCU freshman guard Taylor Caldwell scored 16 points off the bench, making three of six 3-point tries. Senior teammate Kavita Akula, feeling fitter after hamstring issues last season, added four 3-pointers for her 12 points.

"I feel pretty confident," Akula said. "I'm going to be the leader and tell everybody what I can because there's a lot of young people on the team."

GCU hammered away at Incarnate Word in the post with Cephas, senior ShaRon Miller and freshman Carla Balague, who had a team-high nine rebounds off the bench to go with eight points. That helped to set up GCU's perimeter game in the second quarter, when Akula made three 3-pointers and Caldwell added two.

The Lopes shut out Incarnate Word for five minutes to take a 55-31 lead in a third-quarter stretch that featured one of Cephas' three blocked shots.

"We all have our own strongsuits," Cephas said. "I'm good inside the paint, a little mid-range. Kavi (Akula) with the 3s. Ven (Varis) with the 3s. We all shine in our own ways and Coach knows that so she has good plays to run for each of us.

"We found out that we can be such a great team and have impact in this conference. They picked us fourth (in WAC coaches' and media preseason polls) but I think if we keep working on things, we can finish a lot better."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.