Grind sets up giant 4th for GCU, Scott

Saturday, December 5

Phoenix, Ariz.

1 p.m.

Grand Canyon

3-0,0-0WAC

Loyola Marymount

1-2,0-0WCC

Loyola Marymount

Grand Canyon

The Lopes defeat LMU 76-54 and move to 3-0 on the season.

12/5/2020 5:17:00 PM | Women's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

Freshman center scored 26 of 29 points in 2nd half

By: Paul Coro

Three victorious games into this Grand Canyon women's basketball era, the Molly Miller style and its effects are becoming apparent.

On Saturday, the Lopes' pressure matched their Division I-era opponent turnover record (28) that they set in the first two games. GCU's budding star, freshman center Katie Scott, scored 26 points in the second half, including 15 in the final six minutes. The Lopes' relentless ways paid off to outscore Loyola Marymount 24-6 in the fourth quarter of a 76-54 victory at GCU Arena.

The Lopes are off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2013, as Miller's winning ways continue in her first GCU season of a 183-17 career.

The final score looks dominant and it felt more like it than the tightly contested scoreboard of the first three quarters indicated. Between lopsided fouls and quality missed shots, GCU could not shake LMU despite only trailing for four minutes of the game.

"We've got this," Miller told her team during a second-half time out.

"The system works, especially in the fourth quarter," Miller said after the game. "If you're in the game that fourth quarter, typically if you've been pressing all game and really running and trying to push tempo and push pace, that'll pay off for you."

The Lopes were shooting 31% entering the fourth quarter, but they led 52-48 because the turnover and rebounding advantages had given them 29 more shots.

It set the stage for Scott to go to work, as she had begun to do in the third quarter with consecutive and-one finishes in the post to take the lead for good. GCU still only led 55-50 entering the final six minutes, when Scott made 6 of 7 shots from the perimeter for 15 points during a 19-2 Lopes run.

"It can be as close as it possibly can be for three quarters, but in the fourth quarter that's when we kill teams," Scott said of Miller's halftime message. "They're dog tired. They have been having to withstand our pressure the entire four quarters. We just keep going. I think it was TC (Taylor Caldwell) who said, 'They didn't have to run a 6:30 mile like us.' We just prepare different than everyone else. We are prepared for a fourth quarter where we go out and dominate."

LMU tried to implement a six-player rotation but wound up in a high-possession battle of attrition that fouled out one Lions player.

Scott, who scored 25 points in Wednesday's win, was accustomed to early blowouts and smaller opponents during her Carl Junction High School career in southwest Missouri. On Saturday, the 6-foot-2 center faced 6-foot-4 Meghan Mandel, a Marquette transfer, and hit her final three 3-point shots to swing the balance.

"So much fun, oh my gosh," Scott said. "You never expect to blow out a team in one quarter alone, but I think that's what we did. That was just a really fun environment and I'm really starting to understand the whole Havoc energy. That was, for me, where it really happened was in that fourth quarter."

Scott was in rarified air during her 26-point second half, but there were other Lopes superlatives.

GCU sophomore guard Taylor Caldwell set a career high for steals (seven), tied a career high for assists (seven) and added 15 points and six rebounds.

"She was making some things happen," Miller said. "In fact, she was the one who started the guard rebounding out of the zone. She crashed really well."

Junior power forward Kennedi Shorts grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds in 21 minutes and matched a career high with three steals. Junior guard Tianna Brown hit two 3-pointers and helped the Lopes outscore the Lions by 24 points in the 25 minutes she played.

"When I subbed her in, I said to her, 'I want you to lock down on defense. You know who they're going to. Lock it down. Every rebound. Be aggressive,' " Miller said of Brown, whose freshman sister, Tiarra, remained out with a hamstring injury. "It was really fun to see her assert herself out there and really make a difference and help our momentum swing honestly."

Lopes junior point guard Laura Piera was a plus-30 in her 35 minutes of action, meaning GCU was outscored by eight points in the five minutes she was out.

GCU held LMU to 38% shooting, putting its opponent shooting at 41% for the opening four-game homestand that ends Wednesday against Northern Arizona.

"You're hoping the opponents' shots will be a little shorter, the cuts will be not as aggressive," Miller said of how GCU's defensive intensity drains opponents. "That was really what was key for us. That fourth quarter, we were able to pull away because we had run so much and defended so hard the prior three quarters."