Tough enough: GCU heads to WAC title game

Friday, March 12

Las Vegas, Nev.

2 p.m. PT / 3 p.m. MT

Grand Canyon

18-6,8-4WAC

Utah Valley

13-6,10-4WAC

Grand Canyon

Utah Valley

3/12/2021 5:40:00 PM | Women's Basketball, Paul Coro

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Lopes must beat undefeated CBU for NCAA tournament bid

By: Paul Coro

LAS VEGAS – It took a mental and physical struggle to find out just how tough the Grand Canyon women's basketball team can be.

The third-seeded Lopes were the tougher team through a grinder of a game Friday against second-seeded Utah Valley to win 57-54 at Orleans Arena and earn the program's first championship game berth. The Lopes will face top seed California Baptist (23-0) in the Saturday title game at 3 p.m. (Phoenix time) on ESPN+ with a win putting GCU in the NCAA tournament.

"I do have to give credit to our kids and their perseverance through this whole year," Lopes first-year head coach Molly Miller said. "Our goal was to come in and win the WAC Tournament, and we said that from Day 1. Now we've put ourselves in a position to do that, going to the championship game. Couldn't be prouder. Really excited for tomorrow."

Coming out of a three-quarter deadlock, the Lopes (18-6) persevered with relenteless pressure defense to get to their decisive 19-9 stretch over the first 4 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter. GCU junior point guard Laura Piera took the ice bag off her left eye for the blow she took and flexed muscles on the court for when freshman Tiarra Brown drew a foul inside.

Brown and center Katie Scott hardly looked like freshmen, carrying the Lopes' dominant stretch with the fourth quarter's first 10 points.

Scott scored 13 of her game-high 18 points in the fourth quarter, a period that she often WAC Tournament semifinal celebration

has been at her best all season once the GCU defense wears down opponents. Scott broke down Utah Valley with her offensive array of two putbacks, a 3-point play on a post-up, a stepback jumper and a pair of pressure free throws for the 57-54 lead with 18 seconds to go.

"Should I foul and send them to the free throw line, that whole scenario, or should I let it ride with our defense," Miller said she asked herself. "I think we're going to play defense and we're going to lock down. We still pressured the end and they didn't get off a good look. That's a testament to our grit and defensive effort and what we've done all year in terms of pressuring the basketball."

A Lopes defense that lured Utah Valley into a season-high 25 turnovers was great down to the final possession, when the Wolverines had 18 seconds but could only muster a desperation 3-point attempt that was not close at the buzzer.

"We've just prepared ourselves different so we're made for fourth quarters," Scott said. "I think that's where we really shine.

"When buckets aren't coming, shots aren't falling, things aren't going our way and we're not getting the calls we like, we have to rely on our defense and we have to rely on our toughness and those are two things Coach Miller has preached from Day 1. No matter what happens, we can control the controllables and that's how we react and how we play defense. That's what we fall back on and that's what we built our brand on."

GCU sophomore guard Taylor Caldwell, playing hobbled at times in the second half, led that defensive effort by coming within one steal of the WAC Tournament record with six thefts. The Lopes defended All-WAC first-team selection Maria Carvalho into missing her first eight shots and committing a season-high nine turnovers in the game.

"That won us the game, our defensive intensity and effort," Miller said.

For a team predicated on defense, GCU eventually benefited from the first half's stingy style. The Lopes initially fell into an 8-3 hole when Utah Valley was able to feed the post as GCU missed seven of its first eight shots.

But just when the Lopes needed a shot of energy, Piera scored GCU's final seven points of the first quarter to tie the game at 12-12 on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

Piera was winning the point guard battle against Carvalho, who went 0 for 6 from the field with no assists in the first half. GCU still trailed 19-16 with frontcourt players Scott, Kennedi Shorts and Carla Balague all drawing two fouls.

Balague stayed in the game with two fouls and gave the Lopes eight quality first-half minutes after averaging 9.3 minutes per game on the season.

GCU missed nine of its first 10 tries from 3-point range but its trapping and weak-side defensive activity kept creating turnovers and forcing misses to give it a chance for another strong quarter close. The Lopes ended the first half on a 7-0 run, shutting out the Wolverines for the final 4 1/2 minutes of the half while Brown picked up five of the points on a follow and the team's second 3-pointer. Brown finished with 15 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Despite its leading scorer (Scott) going 1 for 5 from the field for two points in eight minutes, GCU held a 23-19 halftime lead because the Wolverines shot 30% from the field, did not make a 3-pointer and committed 11 turnovers in the half.

"We were the aggressors from the first tip and I think it helped us pull away at the end," Scott said.

"I'm someone who loves contact. I thrive off of it. For me, this was a fun little wrestling match a little bit at times. I think our guards showed off their big bodies too."

Because California Baptist (23-0) is in its Division I four-year transition period, it is not eligible for the NCAA tournament even if it wins the WAC Tournament. If the Lancers become tournament champions, Utah Valley would be the WAC's automatic qualifier because it finished second in the regular season despite GCU winning two of three head-to-head meetings.

The Wolverines were 10-4 in WAC regular-season play to be ahead of the 8-4 mark by the Lopes, who were unable to play two games against winless Chicago State because of COVID-19 protocols. Had GCU played and won those games, it would have been the No. 2 seed based on its higher NCAA NET ranking.

"Around the first practice, I told them that this team is going to make history and I truly believe that we have the opportunity to go out and play a really good team tomorrow and compete," Miller said. "Our destiny is in our hands."