GCU falls at California

Sunday, December 29

Berkeley, Calif.

8 p.m.

Grand Canyon

5-6,0-0WAC

California

8-3,0-0Pac-12

Grand Canyon

California

12/29/2019 10:12:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Lopes conclude nonconference action with 5-6 mark

By: Mark Oshidari

BERKELEY, Calif. – The Grand Canyon women's basketball team put together good stretches against a formidable California team but lost 72-53 on the road Monday night. It was the final nonconference game for the Lopes as WAC play begins on Saturday.

GCU (5-6) was led by senior power fowrard Da'jah Daniel with 14 points, a season-high 13 rebounds and four blocked shots. Lopes freshman point guard Jada Holland, a local East Bay product, also scored 14 points for the Lopes. Holland attended Bishop O'Dowd High School, located about 12 miles south of the Berkeley campus.

The Lopes, whose three-game winning streak ended, trailed by six points after the first quarter and by 12 points at halftime. Cal (8-3) used a strong third quarter by shooting 64.3% to put the game out of reach. GCU did outscore the Golden Bears 15-14 in the final period.

Another story in the game was the return of Mae Bryant from injury. The Lopes freshman post played 11 minutes and scored five points. GCU also saw the addition of Memphis transfer Manaya Jones, a redshirt junior who played her first minutes of the season. The 6-foot-4 power forward played eight minutes.

Also for the Lopes, sophomore guard Venla Varis made both of her 3-point tries to put her 3-point percentage at 44.4% for the season. Varis also made a second-quarter jumper t cut Cal's lead to 21-19. GCU stayed within two points until there was 6:25 left in the first half, when the Golden Bears began a 13-2 run.

Cal was led by Alaysia Styles with 18 points while Jaelyn Brown added 16 points. The Golden Bears converted 22 for 26 free throws, compared to 10 for 13 by the Lopes.

GCU is back in action when it hosts CSU Bakersfield on Saturday in GCU Arena. The Roadrunners (8-4) posted the best nonconference record in the WAC this season.