The Grand Canyon women's basketball team built a big lead and held on to defeat Southern Utah 69-65 on Thursday night in GCU Arena.
Three Lopes scored in double figures, led by freshman
Jada Holland with 14 points. The point guard also tallied a game-high eight assists. Sophomore guard
Tianna Brown added 11 points while freshman guard
Tavia Rowell chipped in with 10 points on 5-for-9 shooting.
GCU (2-1) dominated the boards 41-27 over Southern Utah (2-1) and the Lopes built a 17-point lead after sophomore guard
Venla Varis hit a jumper with 5:49 remaining in the game.
Southern Utah cut the deficit to 66-63 with 15 seconds left and 67-65 with three seconds to go but Holland followed with two free throws to seal the win.
Lopes senior power forward
Da'jah Daniel scored eight points and collected all 10 of her rebounds in the first half.
Freshman power forward
Mae Bryant added 10 rebounds, including a game-high five offensive rebounds, and six points off the bench.
Southern Utah was paced by Rebecca Cardenas with 18 points and Jessica Chatman with 17 points.
GCU is back in action on Tuesday night when it plays at Montana.