Lopes down UC Irvine to end nonconference

Thursday, December 23

Phoenix, Ariz.

12 p.m.

Grand Canyon

7-4,0-0WAC

UC Irvine

5-6,0-0Big West

UC Irvine

Grand Canyon

12/23/2021 4:24:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

GCU takes down Anteaters 58-53 at GCU Arena

By: Sierra Smith

The Grand Canyon women's basketball team closed out the nonconference slate with a win over UC Irvine 58-53 at GCU Arena, moving the Lopes' home record to 6-0.

"I really feel like our team has learned from this nonconference," GCU head coach Molly Miller said. "If we dig down deep and we rely on our energy, our defense, then we're going to be in every game and put ourselves in a position to win and that's all you can ask is give yourself a position to be competitive and win ball games."

The Lopes (7-4) had two players score in double figures, led by graduate guard Amara Graham, who had 15 points and four rebounds and junior guard Taylor Caldwell posted 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals.

"She's a threat out there on the floor," Miller said about Graham, who shot 3-4 from 3-point range and a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line. "Obviously when she hits some three's and she's got a good change of pace, she can get to the rim and knock down free throws so we're going to rely on her a lot this year."

GCU out-rebounded UC Irvine 40-35 in Thursday's game, led by seven boards from graduate forward Jay McChristine. The Lopes collected 13 offensive rebounds and scored 15 second chance points.

The Lopes defense held the Anteaters to only 31.5% shooting from the field, including 24% percent from behind the arc.

The first quarter started slow with the first bucket being made three minutes into the game as GCU's McChristine got the scoring going first. The Lopes then went on a 5-0 run with 6:17 left in the first. UC Irvine battled back to take the lead and entered the second quarter ahead of GCU 10-8.

UC Irvine added to that lead, building a 12-8 advantage before GCU went on a 6-0 run, highlighted by a bucket from Graham, to take a 14-12 lead. The Lopes kept that lead for the remainder of the quarter and had a 24-22 advantage heading into halftime. GCU forced seven UC Irvine turnovers in the period and turned them into five points.

GCU started the second half with an 8-0 run, expanding its lead to 32-22 with 6:12 to go in the third. The Lopes held on for the rest of the quarter and entered the fourth quarter with a 44-34 lead. 12 of GCU's 20 third quarter points were scored in the paint.

A strong fourth quarter showing beyond the arc by the Anteaters brought the score within two points, but clutch free throw shooting in the final minute helped the Lopes stay ahead. GCU never trailed in the second half on its way to victory.

"It's a great thing to learn from," Miller said. "This tight game experience is not a bad thing for us so I think there are a lot of lessons learned in that last two minutes, which felt like 22 minutes."

The Lopes begin WAC play next Thursday, Dec. 30, at Chicago State.

"We've learned a lot about each other," Miller said. "This is a new group trying to play together, the strengths and weaknesses of one another. I think for us, moving into conference, we're going to do a lot of digging in this break of what works, what doesn't work, we need to scrap some things, we need to maybe emphasize some of our strengths so it'll be fun to now go into conference play with two wins and hopefully we can use that momentum."