Road conference debut set for Utah Valley

Friday, February 12

Orem, UT

2 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Utah Valley

Photo by: Elizabeth Tinajero

2/11/2021 1:29:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Lopes head to Orem for WAC series with Wolverines

By: Sierra Smith

Friday-Saturday, Feb. 12-13 \| 2 p.m. \| UCCU Center

	UTAH VALLEY WOLVERINES (6-3, 4-2 WAC)	vs.	GRAND CANYON LOPES (13-3, 5-1 WAC)

WATCH: WAC Digital Network \| STATS: View

The Grand Canyon women's basketball team is on the road for the first time since conference play started with a two-game set in Orem, Utah, to face Utah Valley. The series was originally scheduled for March 5-6 but was rescheduled because both teams were available this weekend.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

Lopes continue to lead nationally: The Lopes rank No. 1 in the country for opponent turnovers per game (26.1) and turnover margin per game (plus-10.34). They also rank No. 2 nationally for steals per game (15) and total steals (240) and rank 31st in points per game (76.7). Freshman Katie Scott's 56.5% shooting from the field sits at No. 19 nationally. Sophomore Taylor Caldwell comes in at No. 7 for total steals (50) and No. 13 for steals per game (3.1) while junior Laura Piera follows closely at No. 11 in total steals (48) and No. 16 in steals per game (3.0).
20-plus opponent turnover streak: GCU has forced at least 20 turnovers in all 16 games this season.
Rowell pass makes SC Top 10: Sophomore Tavia Rowell's behind-the-back, no-look pass to set up junior Tianna Brown's layup came in at No. 8 on SportsCenter Top 10 on Saturday night after defeating UT Rio Grande Valley 77-55.

LET'S. GO. 👏 pic.twitter.com/SFTael4lY4
— GCU Women's Basketball (@GCU_WBB) February 7, 2021

SCOUTING

Utah Valley was picked as the preseason favorite to win the WAC.
The Wolverines are coming off a sweep of Chicago State, winning 61-53 and 56-46.
Preseason All-WAC selection Josie Williams was named Player of the Week after averaging a double-double over the weekend.
Williams leads the WAC with 8.8 rebounds per game and also leads the team with 15.4 points per game and 2.1 blocks per game.
Utah Valley leads the WAC in defensive rebounds with 34.6 per game and has a plus-6.4 rebounding margin over its opponents.

LAST TIME OUT

GCU completed the sweep over UT Rio Grande Valley to move to 5-1 in the WAC and 13-3 overall.

Game 1

Four Lopes posted double-digit points, led by freshman Katie Scott's 18 points.
Junior Tianna Brown set a career high with five steals and added a season-high 13 points.
Tavia Rowell's behind-the-back pass to Brown came in at No. 8 on SportsCenter Top 10.

Game 2

Scott put up 21 points, making it her eighth 20-plus point game this season.
Junior Laura Piera posted 16 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Graduate student Ny'Dajah Jackson scored 14 of her 15 points in the Lopes' 30-point third quarter to give GCU the lead for good.

WHAT'S NEXT

GCU is scheduled to travel to Riverside, California, to take on conference leader California Baptist (16-0, 8-0 WAC) on Feb. 19-20 at 3 p.m. (Phoenix time).