Lopes down Aggies at home

Thursday, January 10

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

New Mexico State

New Mexico St.

Grand Canyon

1/10/2019 8:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Caldwell, Cephas pace GCU

By: Sarah Woodward

For the second consecutive season, Grand Canyon head coach Nicole Powell and her women's basketball team defeated New Mexico State on the home hardwood, as the Lopes outlasted the Aggies 54-51 on Thursday night at GCU Arena.

The pair of redshirt senior power forward AJ Cephas and freshman guard Taylor Caldwell paced the Lopes (4-9, 2-1 WAC) on both ends of the court. Cephas recorded her second double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Caldwell tallied a career-high 15 points while adding five boards and a team-best three assists.

For the fourth time this season, the Lopes headed to the halftime locker room with a lead. This time, it was 28-24 edge by holding New Mexico State (9-6, 1-1) scoreless on seven attempts outside the arc in the first half and by scoring nine fasbreak points.

The Lopes extended their lead in the third quarter, when NMSU tied the score three times but could not take a lead. GCU outscored the Aggies by three to lead 45-38 after 30 minutes of play.

Cephas stretched that lead to nine by opening the fourth quarter with a jumper but New Mexico State was unwilling to back down, bringing the score within two, 53-51, with 1:20 to play. NMSU's final possessions went scoreless with a Cephas steal, two missed free throws and an inbound turnover with 1.8 seconds remaining.

Caldwell previously had drained a free throw with two seconds remaining for the final points of the three-point victory.

GCU shut out the Aggies from the 3-point line, as NMSU went 0 for 13 beyond the arc and shot only 35.1 percent overall from the field.

Lopes senior guard Kavita Akula added nine points on the night while freshman point guard Laura Piera scored four, including a jump shot in the lane that gave the Lopes a 53-47 lead with 2:22 remaining. Junior power forward Da'jah Daniel grabbed nine rebounds in 20 reserve minutes.

The Lopes return to GCU Arena on Saturday, looking to extend the conference streak to three against Texas-Rio Grande Valley. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. (Phoenix time).