Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus San Diego State on February 4, 2026 , Win , 57, to, 44
W Basketball
vs San Diego State
W 57-44
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Insider: Lopes near DI lead for 3s
12/5/2019 11:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball, Paul Coro, Lopes Insider Blog
GCU ranks 2nd nationally for 3-point shooting at 47.3%
This season's youthful Grand Canyon women's basketball team has long-range goals, in terms of program growth and this season's strength.
GCU enters a weekend set at Portland State and Portland as the nation's second-ranked 3-point shooting team. The Lopes have made 47.3% of their 3-point shots and led the nation until Holy Cross went 10 fo 13 on Sunday to jump ahead at 48.9%.
"It's been a pleasant surprise," Lopes head coach Nicole Powell said. "That's something that we're always looking for in our recruiting. It's hard to find a coach who doesn't love shooters. I knew we'd be better than last year. It was something we were missing so I'm really impressed with that. I give credit to our kids for working really hard on that. It's been a focus all summer on getting reps and muscle memory."
The long-range accuracy is part of a bigger picture because GCU also ranks seventh in the nation for overall field goal percentage (48.9%) and 20th for assists per game (18.4). The Lopes (2-3) boast the top two WAC playmakers in freshman point guard Jada Holland (7.0 assists per game) and sophomore point guard Laura Piera (6.7 assists per game).
"Our point guards are able to drive and find us on the perimeter and know where we are to get the best shot possible," GCU freshman shooting guard Tavia Rowell said. "It's giving us confidence. It's really exciting to know that lots of shots are going in now because we know we're going to get stronger as we gp and it will get even better."
Holland is adapting from being a pass-first point guard in high school to looking for her shot more and went 5 for 6 on 3s in the past two games. Rowell made three 3-pointers in each of her first two GCU games while sophomore guard Venla Varis caught fire for 10 3s in the past two games, making her 13 for 24 (54.2%) on the season.
"She's more confident this year and stronger," Powell said. "She's come back really fit. In our young group, we're seeing the growth from year to year. I'm really happy with how Venla is playing in all facets of the game. She just looks a lot more comfortable on both sides of the ball."
Sophomore guard Tianna Brown, a transfer from Eastern Arizona College, is another Lopes player who will contribute more to the playmaking and the 3-point shooting in GCU's pick-and-roll offense. Even with a team leaning on mostly freshmen and sophomores, Powell entrusts players to play instinctively and unselfishly off their in-game reads. That has set up their post players with junior Carla Balague at 58.1% from the field and senior Da'jah Daniel at 55.8%.
"We have multiple playmakers playing together and that just opens everything up," Powell said. "It helps when you have versatile players. We're seeing the fruits of that. We've got to get better and cut down on our turnovers but I like how we're playing together. We recruit really unselfish kids and we're see a measure of that with how we share the ball and how many people are contributing. I love the character of our kids. They have the skills and have the talent but also have the unselfishness to want to be good together."
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
GCU enters a weekend set at Portland State and Portland as the nation's second-ranked 3-point shooting team. The Lopes have made 47.3% of their 3-point shots and led the nation until Holy Cross went 10 fo 13 on Sunday to jump ahead at 48.9%.
"It's been a pleasant surprise," Lopes head coach Nicole Powell said. "That's something that we're always looking for in our recruiting. It's hard to find a coach who doesn't love shooters. I knew we'd be better than last year. It was something we were missing so I'm really impressed with that. I give credit to our kids for working really hard on that. It's been a focus all summer on getting reps and muscle memory."
The long-range accuracy is part of a bigger picture because GCU also ranks seventh in the nation for overall field goal percentage (48.9%) and 20th for assists per game (18.4). The Lopes (2-3) boast the top two WAC playmakers in freshman point guard Jada Holland (7.0 assists per game) and sophomore point guard Laura Piera (6.7 assists per game).
"Our point guards are able to drive and find us on the perimeter and know where we are to get the best shot possible," GCU freshman shooting guard Tavia Rowell said. "It's giving us confidence. It's really exciting to know that lots of shots are going in now because we know we're going to get stronger as we gp and it will get even better."
Holland is adapting from being a pass-first point guard in high school to looking for her shot more and went 5 for 6 on 3s in the past two games. Rowell made three 3-pointers in each of her first two GCU games while sophomore guard Venla Varis caught fire for 10 3s in the past two games, making her 13 for 24 (54.2%) on the season.
"She's more confident this year and stronger," Powell said. "She's come back really fit. In our young group, we're seeing the growth from year to year. I'm really happy with how Venla is playing in all facets of the game. She just looks a lot more comfortable on both sides of the ball."
Sophomore guard Tianna Brown, a transfer from Eastern Arizona College, is another Lopes player who will contribute more to the playmaking and the 3-point shooting in GCU's pick-and-roll offense. Even with a team leaning on mostly freshmen and sophomores, Powell entrusts players to play instinctively and unselfishly off their in-game reads. That has set up their post players with junior Carla Balague at 58.1% from the field and senior Da'jah Daniel at 55.8%.
"We have multiple playmakers playing together and that just opens everything up," Powell said. "It helps when you have versatile players. We're seeing the fruits of that. We've got to get better and cut down on our turnovers but I like how we're playing together. We recruit really unselfish kids and we're see a measure of that with how we share the ball and how many people are contributing. I love the character of our kids. They have the skills and have the talent but also have the unselfishness to want to be good together."
Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.
Players Mentioned
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