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Grand Canyon University Athletics
Pollsters differ on Lopes; Piera honored
10/27/2020 7:31:00 AM | Women's Basketball, Paul Coro
CBU, UVU split preseason favorite title; 2 coaches tab GCU for 1st
The WAC followers do not quite know what to make of what Grand Canyon women's basketball has in store for the conference this season.
For the first season under head coach Molly Miller, GCU received a wide disparity in preseason predictions with the WAC coaches' poll tabbing the Lopes for third place and the WAC media poll putting GCU in sixth place.
To make the prognosis even more divergent, two of the eight opposing WAC coaches predicted that the Lopes would win the conference and one media member also predicted a GCU conference championship.
"As a new coach being new to the league, I don't have a lot of history to compare to when it comes to opponents, but I am excited for our team to proudly represent Grand Canyon University night in and night out with passion, hardwork, determination and effort as we push toward achieving our goals in WAC conference play," Miller said.
The WAC coaches also named Lopes junior point guard Laura Piera to the Preseason All-WAC second team. Piera, who has been a key player for Spain's age-group national teams, started 50 games in her first two GCU seasons. She ranked seventh in the WAC for assists per game (3.3) and 14th for steals per game (1.4) last season.
Piera was one of six underclassmen to be honored on the coaches' first and second teams.
"It is always great to see preseason acknowledgements of athletes, who have worked so hard to make a positive impact on their teams, including our own LP," Miller said of Piera.Â
The Lopes will open conference play with two home games against WAC newcomer Tarleton on Jan. 8-9.
The coaches' and media's votes for the team race were extremely tight. Utah Valley edged California Baptist by two points for top billing from the coaches despite CBU receiving four first-place votes to UVU's two. The teams return last season's top two WAC playmakers – CBU senior and consensus WAC Preseason Player of the Year Ane Oleata and UVU junior Maria Carvalho.
They flipped billing in the media poll with CBU edging UVU by one point, even though it received five of eight first-place votes with UVU getting one of the other three.
GCU was the highest WAC finisher last season, among the teams who are returning. Last season's champion, Kansas City, moved to the Summit League. The Lopes took second place at 10-6 despite receiving predictions to finish seventh by the coaches and eighth by the media. Five players who saw action on that team are returning this season, as well as sophomore Taylor Caldwell after redshirting.
"One of the best things about these particular preseason rankings is that they mean a playing season is right around the corner, and I think we are all anxious to get back out there doing what we love," Miller said.
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For the first season under head coach Molly Miller, GCU received a wide disparity in preseason predictions with the WAC coaches' poll tabbing the Lopes for third place and the WAC media poll putting GCU in sixth place.
To make the prognosis even more divergent, two of the eight opposing WAC coaches predicted that the Lopes would win the conference and one media member also predicted a GCU conference championship.
"As a new coach being new to the league, I don't have a lot of history to compare to when it comes to opponents, but I am excited for our team to proudly represent Grand Canyon University night in and night out with passion, hardwork, determination and effort as we push toward achieving our goals in WAC conference play," Miller said.The WAC coaches also named Lopes junior point guard Laura Piera to the Preseason All-WAC second team. Piera, who has been a key player for Spain's age-group national teams, started 50 games in her first two GCU seasons. She ranked seventh in the WAC for assists per game (3.3) and 14th for steals per game (1.4) last season.
Piera was one of six underclassmen to be honored on the coaches' first and second teams.
"It is always great to see preseason acknowledgements of athletes, who have worked so hard to make a positive impact on their teams, including our own LP," Miller said of Piera.Â
The Lopes will open conference play with two home games against WAC newcomer Tarleton on Jan. 8-9.
The coaches' and media's votes for the team race were extremely tight. Utah Valley edged California Baptist by two points for top billing from the coaches despite CBU receiving four first-place votes to UVU's two. The teams return last season's top two WAC playmakers – CBU senior and consensus WAC Preseason Player of the Year Ane Oleata and UVU junior Maria Carvalho.
They flipped billing in the media poll with CBU edging UVU by one point, even though it received five of eight first-place votes with UVU getting one of the other three.
GCU was the highest WAC finisher last season, among the teams who are returning. Last season's champion, Kansas City, moved to the Summit League. The Lopes took second place at 10-6 despite receiving predictions to finish seventh by the coaches and eighth by the media. Five players who saw action on that team are returning this season, as well as sophomore Taylor Caldwell after redshirting.
"One of the best things about these particular preseason rankings is that they mean a playing season is right around the corner, and I think we are all anxious to get back out there doing what we love," Miller said.
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Coaches' Preseason WAC Player of the Year |
|
| Player | School |
| Ane Oleata, Sr., G | California Baptist |
Coaches' Preseason All-WAC first team |
|
| Player | School |
| Maria Carvalho, Jr., G | Utah Valley |
| Amara Graham, Sr. G | UTRGV |
| Ane Oleata, Sr., G | California Baptist |
| Aaliyah Prince, Sr., G | New Mexico State |
| Josie Williams, Jr., C | Utah Valley |
Coaches' Preseason All-WAC second team |
|
| Player | School |
| Alexa Hoy, Sr., G | Tarleton |
| Soufia Inoussa, So., G | New Mexico State |
| Courtney Murphy, Jr., G | Seattle U |
| Laura Piera, Jr., G | GCU |
| McKenzi Williams, Jr., G | Seattle U |
Coaches' preseason poll |
|||
| Rank | Team (first-place votes) | Points | |
| 1 |
 |
Utah Valley (2) | 57 |
| 2 |
 |
California Baptist (4) | 55 |
| 3 |
 |
GCU | 47 |
| 4 |
 |
New Mexico State (1) | 45 |
| 5 |
 |
UT Rio Grande Valley | 44 |
| 6 |
 |
Seattle U | 29 |
| 7 |
 |
Tarleton | 23 |
| 8 |
 |
Dixie State | 13 |
| 39 |
 |
Chicago State | 11 |
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Media Preseason WAC Player of the Year |
|||
| Player | School | ||
|
California Baptist | ||
Media Preseason All-WAC first team |
|
| Player | School |
| Maria Carvalho, Jr., G | Utah Valley |
| Amara Graham, Sr., G | UTRGV |
| Ane Oleata, Sr., G | California Baptist |
| Aaliyah Prince, Sr., G | New Mexico State |
| Britney Thomas, Sr., F | California Baptist |
Media Preseason All-WAC second team |
|
| Player | School |
| Georgia Dale, Sr., G | California Baptist |
| Caitlyn Harper, So., F | California Baptist |
| Courtney Murphy, Jr., G | Seattle U |
| Josie Williams, Jr., C | Utah Valley |
| McKenzi Williams, Jr., G | Seattle U |
Media preseason poll |
|||
| Rank | Team (first-place votes) | Points | |
| 1 |
|
California Baptist (5) | 61 |
| 2 |
|
Utah Valley (1) | 60 |
| 3 |
|
UT Rio Grande Valley | 56 |
| 4 |
|
New Mexico State (1) | 53 |
| 5 |
|
Seattle U | 41 |
| 6 |
|
GCU (1) | 39 |
| 7 |
|
Tarleton | 23 |
| 8 |
|
Dixie State | 17 |
| 9 |
|
Chicago State | 10 |
Players Mentioned
PG
/ Women's Basketball
PG
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