Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball at South Carolina on November 3, 2025 at TBA
W Basketball
TBA
at South Carolina
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Thursday, December 19
Phoenix, Ariz.
6 p.m.
Grand Canyon
4-5,0-0WAC
58
vs
57
UC Santa Barbara
4-7,0-0Big West
1
2
3
4
F
UC Santa Barbara
16
19
13
9
57
Grand Canyon
16
11
12
19
58
Photo by: Elizabeth Tinajero
Last-second Daniel shot earns win
12/19/2019 9:28:00 PM | Women's Basketball, Paul Coro
GCU ends game on 10-2 run to win at home
Grand Canyon senior Da'jah Daniel never had made a game-winning shot in her basketball life when the ball came her way Thursday night with the Lopes trailing and 3.2 seconds remaining in the game.
GCU sophomore guard Laura Piera inbounded a perfect pass to a posting Daniel, who pivoted with a dribble and made the post-up winning shot over two defenders. It was a game-winning moment that took a series of clutch plays from several Lopes players to rally from a nine-point, fourth-quarter deficit and beat UC Santa Barbara 58-57 at GCU Arena.
 A year ago, Daniel was a reserve trying to find her role with GCU after transferring from Trinity Valley Community College in Texas. Now, she is the WAC's leading rebounder, the Lopes' leading scorer and the go-to option with the game on the line.
"I'm very blessed and very happy that my coaches do trust me to put me in these positions," Daniel said after her third double-double in the past four games. "It feels good to win as a team."
Daniel said that because GCU needed much more than her 10-point, 10-rebound, two-block performance to overcome a 55-48 hole in the final three minutes.
The 10-2 close to the game began with 2:59 remaining with Lopes sophomore guard Venla Varis using a Daniel screen to make a 3-pointer on her first shot of the second half. Freshman point guard Jada Holland rubbed her defender off another Daniel screen to nail a pull-up jumper and cut the UCSB lead to 55-53 with 2:04 to go.
Piera, playing in front of family visiting from Spain, drew a charge with 46 seconds remaining and GCU freshman guard Tavia Rowell capitalized with a go-ahead 3-pointer, her first one since opening the game with a pair of 3s.
Piera denied a drive by tying up the ball but the Lopes returned possession to the Gauchos on another tie-up with 8.4 seconds to go. UCSB guard Danae Miller scored on a drive for a 57-56 lead with 3.2 seconds to go but GCU used a time out to advance the ball to frontcourt.
Lopes head coach Nicole Powell designed a play that started with multiple-screen action at the 3-point arc while Daniel turned from the top of the key to head to the left block, where she banged with UCSB 6-4 center Ila Lane and sealed her for a post-up toward Piera. The Gauchos put 6-2 freshman Nyalam Thabach in the game for the first time to apply tall pressure on the sideline inbound but Piera, at 5-8, stepped left to deliver a bounce pass from her strong side.
"I thought, 'Da'jah can make that,' " Piera said. "I don't know how to describe the feeling when her shot went in. It's the best feeling. We got the win but one win is nothing. We have to get more wins because these two wins give us more confidence."
The one-point win followed Monday's 53-51 clutch home win against UNLV and needed more than last-second Daniel heroics.
GCU (4-5) defended UCSB (4-7) into missing 12 of its final 15 shots and only put the Gauchos on the line for five free throws in the game.
"They buckled down great on both ends of the floor," Powell said. "If we can get them to play with that kind of intensity, sense of urgency and focus for four quarters, I think we can be pretty good. They deserve this win and fought hard for it but we still have a lot of room to grow. We'll keep things in perspective and keep winning."
Â
GCU sophomore guard Laura Piera inbounded a perfect pass to a posting Daniel, who pivoted with a dribble and made the post-up winning shot over two defenders. It was a game-winning moment that took a series of clutch plays from several Lopes players to rally from a nine-point, fourth-quarter deficit and beat UC Santa Barbara 58-57 at GCU Arena.
 A year ago, Daniel was a reserve trying to find her role with GCU after transferring from Trinity Valley Community College in Texas. Now, she is the WAC's leading rebounder, the Lopes' leading scorer and the go-to option with the game on the line.
"I'm very blessed and very happy that my coaches do trust me to put me in these positions," Daniel said after her third double-double in the past four games. "It feels good to win as a team."
Daniel said that because GCU needed much more than her 10-point, 10-rebound, two-block performance to overcome a 55-48 hole in the final three minutes.
The 10-2 close to the game began with 2:59 remaining with Lopes sophomore guard Venla Varis using a Daniel screen to make a 3-pointer on her first shot of the second half. Freshman point guard Jada Holland rubbed her defender off another Daniel screen to nail a pull-up jumper and cut the UCSB lead to 55-53 with 2:04 to go.
Piera, playing in front of family visiting from Spain, drew a charge with 46 seconds remaining and GCU freshman guard Tavia Rowell capitalized with a go-ahead 3-pointer, her first one since opening the game with a pair of 3s.
Piera denied a drive by tying up the ball but the Lopes returned possession to the Gauchos on another tie-up with 8.4 seconds to go. UCSB guard Danae Miller scored on a drive for a 57-56 lead with 3.2 seconds to go but GCU used a time out to advance the ball to frontcourt.
Lopes head coach Nicole Powell designed a play that started with multiple-screen action at the 3-point arc while Daniel turned from the top of the key to head to the left block, where she banged with UCSB 6-4 center Ila Lane and sealed her for a post-up toward Piera. The Gauchos put 6-2 freshman Nyalam Thabach in the game for the first time to apply tall pressure on the sideline inbound but Piera, at 5-8, stepped left to deliver a bounce pass from her strong side.
"I thought, 'Da'jah can make that,' " Piera said. "I don't know how to describe the feeling when her shot went in. It's the best feeling. We got the win but one win is nothing. We have to get more wins because these two wins give us more confidence."
The one-point win followed Monday's 53-51 clutch home win against UNLV and needed more than last-second Daniel heroics.
- Holland scored 13 of her team-high 15 points in the second half and set a rebounding season high (seven) for the second consecutive game.
- In addition to the game-winning assist, Piera made two defensive stops in isolation in the game's final minute.
- GCU sophomore forward Kennedi Shorts sparked the fourth-quarter comeback with three consecutive outstanding plays, when she scored on an offensive follow, blocked a UCSB shot and grabbed another offensive rebound to earn free throws.
GCU (4-5) defended UCSB (4-7) into missing 12 of its final 15 shots and only put the Gauchos on the line for five free throws in the game.
"They buckled down great on both ends of the floor," Powell said. "If we can get them to play with that kind of intensity, sense of urgency and focus for four quarters, I think we can be pretty good. They deserve this win and fought hard for it but we still have a lot of room to grow. We'll keep things in perspective and keep winning."
Â
LOPES WIN! Da'jah Daniel puts it up for a 58-57 win over UC Santa Barbara! #LopesUp pic.twitter.com/qEuLDMdLu8
— GCU Women's Basketball (@GCU_WBB) December 20, 2019
Team Stats
UCSB
GCU
FG%
.404
.392
3FG%
.412
.400
FT%
.800
.800
RB
36
31
TO
11
10
STL
7
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Women's BasketballPG
/ Women's BasketballPG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ 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