Road stint starts at Fullerton

Saturday, December 4

Fullerton, Calif.

3 p.m. (Phoenix time)

Grand Canyon

Cal State Fullerton

12/3/2021 5:29:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Lopes face Titans for 2nd time ever

By: Sierra Smith

Saturday, Dec. 4 \| 3 p.m. (Phoenix time \| Fullerton, Calif.

	CAL STATE FULLERTON TITANS (3-3)	vs.	GRAND CANYON LOPES (5-1)

WATCH: Livestream \| STATS: View

Grand Canyon women's basketball starts its three-week road stint with Cal State Fullerton on Saturday at 3 p.m. (Phoenix time). This is the second-ever matchup between the Lopes and Titans.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

NATION-LEADING DEFENSE: The Lopes rank No.1 nationally for steals per game (19.2), forced turnovers per game (29.7) and turnover margin (plus-13.67).
UNDEFEATED AT HOME: GCU is 4-0 at home this season, including a 10-game win streak at GCU Arena dating back to Jan. 29, when the Lopes fell to Idaho State.
TRANSFERS MAKE IMPACT: Two Lopes are averaging double figures, led by graduate transfer Jay McChristine with 11.3 points per game. Junior transfer Dominique Phillips follows close behind with 10.7 points per game. McChristine is also averaging a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game, including 4.5 offensive rebounds per game to rank No. 8 nationally.

SCOUTING

The Titans are led by head coach Jeff Harada, who is in his fifth season at Cal State Fullerton.
Lily Wahinekapu is the top scorer for the Titans with 15.7 points per game. She also ranks in the top 60 nationally for multiple stats, including No. 31 in assists per game (5.5), No. 49 in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.54 to 1) and No. 59 in total assists (33).
Two other Titans join Wahinekapu in double-figure scoring, as Ashlee Lewis and Fujika Nimmo each average 10 points per game.
Cal State Fullerton is coming off of a 68-63 win at Pepperdine.
The Lopes and Titans last met on Nov. 24, 2019, when Cal State Fullerton won 80-70 at GCU Arena.

LAST TIME OUT

GCU vs. Park (Ariz.)

The Lopes (5-1) worked through new lineups in a 13-player rotation that included everything from getting a returning star, sophomore guard Tiarra Brown, back in the groove to getting a freshman, forward Kassidy Dixon, her first collegiate minutes after recovering from knee surgery.
Brown made all seven of her shots for a game-high 17 points, her first double-digit scoring game in her fifth game back from an ankle injury. GCU was plus-36 in Brown's 16 minutes.
The GCU bench racked up 65 points, but none of them drew more crowd and bench attention than the eight points from Dixon. The Goodyear Millennium High School graduate also made three steals and grabbed three rebounds in her 11-minute collegiate debut with her family on hand.
GCU's 50-point win outdid earlier 47- and 48-point wins, but the Lopes had a sluggish start when they missed their first three shots and a made a turnover before scoring. They trailed 8-7 after five minutes.
Graduate power forward Jay McChristine helped navigate GCU through that with a seven-point, three-steal first quarter. She finished with 15 points and five steals in 17 minutes.
The Lopes improved defensively as the game went, holding Park to a pair of 10-point quarters in the second half and getting major impact from several freshmen. GCU forced 31 turnovers with 26 steals.
Every GCU player logged less than 20 minutes, but each Lope made the most of her time. Senior forward Kennedi Shorts grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and added a career-high four steals in 18 minutes.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Lopes continue their road slate with Northern Arizona on Thursday and then Liberty and UT San Antonio at the South Padre Island Classic on Dec. 17-18.