Defense keys resilient road win

Monday, December 14

Cheney, WA

1 p.m.

Grand Canyon

5-1,0-0WAC

Eastern Washington

0-4,0-2Big Sky

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Grand Canyon	23	24	14	23	84
Eastern Wash.	15	22	17	24	78

Photo by: Aaron Stanley

12/14/2020 8:07:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Brown earns double-double; Scott scores 20 for 5-1 Lopes

By: Sierra Smith

CHENEY, Wash. — Grand Canyon women's basketball finished its two-game road trip on a high note with an 84-78 win at Eastern Washington on Monday. The Lopes moved to 5-1 on the season.

Heading into the weekend, GCU was on a 4-0 run for its best start since 2011. After falling for the first time this season by a point on Saturday at Southern Utah, the Lopes bounced back by forcing Eastern Washington into 26 turnovers, 18 of which were in the first half.

"You knew it was going to be a very telling 48 hours after our Southern Utah game," GCU head coach Molly Miller said. "I think this team handled that really well and showed a lot of maturity, resiliency and focus moving forward."

The Lopes' defense came up with 13 steals, including five by sophomore guard Taylor Caldwell in the first half.

"We really took time in scout and film to dissect ourselves a little bit more than Eastern Washington as an opponent," Miller said. "I thought some of those minor fixes, especially defensively, showed up today and helped pull out the victory."

GCU freshman Tiarra Brown had a big weekend after sitting out early in the season for a hamstring issue, scoring a career-high 20 points on Saturday and posting her first collegiate double-double on Monday with 11 points and 10 rebounds in 22 minutes.

"I feel good," Brown said. "Rebounds are very important to the game and I know that contributing to the team and adding another player to the bench is a lot and it means a lot that everyone could work together."

Brown had played 13 minutes this season before logging 43 minutes on the two-game trip.

"Tiarra is practically a walking double-double every time she gets on the court," Miller said. "She is super savvy out there but also plays really hard. She knows how to rebound, defend, score. She can take it to the rim. She can shoot the outside shot. So she's really a major tool for us out there and having her back makes us a better basketball team."

Junior Tianna Brown, Tiarra's sister, smashed her GCU career high for free throws made in a game (four) by going 10 for 10 at the line Monday. In addition to her fourth-best GCU scoring game (12 points), she also had three assists and two steals.

In Saturday's loss, freshman Katie Scott faced foul trouble early and had a difficult time getting into the groove that she had shown previously.

"We know what she (Scott) is capable of and so do other teams, so she's going to have to get used to the double and triple teams," Miller said. "I think she's doing a really good job of awareness of when to kick that thing out or when she's one-on-one, going strong to the basket."

Scott bounced back and put up 20 points against Eastern Washington, making it her fourth 20-plus scoring game in six games this season.

"I think the bounce back was really important for our team and also on an individual basis," Scott said. "Having a rough game before and coming back with a strong 20-point game was a really big confidence booster for me. I attribute a lot of my points to the hard work by my teammates."

Up next, the Lopes are on the road again, playing at Houston Baptist.

"It's hard to win on the road, so when you come out here you can turn around after a devastating one-point defeat and make a statement in terms of how you're able to regroup," Miller said. "The fact that we regrouped and were able to move forward in a quick turnaround gives me confidence that we can do a lot in the short term in terms of correction and talk about that and see that pay off on the floor."

GCU established its pace Monday, scoring 22 fastbreak points.

"I think we need to go out there with the same intensity we would for a home game, and I think that we can do that now that we've gotten used to it a bit more as a team," Scott said. "We need to attack this game like any other game and just play ourselves."