WAC Tournament journey starts with UTRGV

Wednesday, March 10 \| WAC Tournament \| 9 p.m. (Phoenix time) \| Orleans Arena

	(6) UT RIO GRANDE VALLEY VAQUEROS (6-13, 2-8 WAC)	vs.	(3) GRAND CANYON LOPES (16-6, 8-4 WAC)

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LAS VEGAS – The Grand Canyon women's basketball program's promising future is taking shape with a pair of freshmen leading the scoring and making All-WAC teams and an inexperienced roster turning into one of the nation's best press defenses.

But why wait? The Lopes enter this week's WAC Basketball Tournament with designs on winning the event and a NCAA tournament bid. That goal will take three wins in four days at Orleans Arena, starting with a Wednesday first-round game against UT Rio Grande Valley on ESPN+ at 9 p.m. (Phoenix time).

"The future is bright, but the now is the key emphasis and our focus," GCU first-year head coach Molly Miller said. "We've had a shot to win every game we've played this year so we're saying, 'Why not us for three games?' We've got a really, really good chance. It's not going to be difficult, yes, but nothing worthwhile is easy, as I tell my kids."

GCU-UTRGV

Third-seeded GCU (16-6, 8-4 WAC) defeated sixth-seeded UTRGV 77-55 and 83-73 at home on Feb. 6-7, when the Vaqueros (6-13, 2-8 WAC) were coming out of a quarantine with little practice. The Lopes have not played a game in 11 days entering the tournament, but they have used the time to prepare for the other tournament while other teams prepped for weekend finales.

GCU has established a brand of menacing defense that starts with full-court pressure and continues with relentless, half-court traps and rotations. The Lopes rank fourth nationally for opponent turnovers per game (23.7), right in line with UTRGV averaging 24.5 turnovers against them in the regular-season meetings.

"Teams are going to try to have us figured out a little bit more in terms of the defense, which is fine," Miller said. "You still don't change the course of pressure defense and forcing turnovers. We still want to be us and do what we do really well.

"We're still learning. This is a brand that's still in its infancy. We're continuing to learn and teach way into March so this week was good for us."

In the first two meetings with the Vaqueros, Lopes freshman standouts Katie Scott and Tiarra Brown led the scoring. Scott, picked to the All-WAC first team, made 13 of 24 shots in the two games and averaged 19.5 points. Brown, selected to All-WAC second team, averaged 12.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals against UTRGV. All-WAC honorable mention Laura Piera averaged 13.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 steals with only 1.5 turnovers at the point.

"Every time you're in March, you're going to get the best from everyone and you have to expect that," Scott said. 'It's never the same game as the regular season. We have to be a different team. March us has to be the best us. That's what Coach Miller has been preaching the past couple weeks. We have to elevate our game."

UTRGV boasts All-WAC honorees in second-team pick Amara Graham (17.0 scoring average vs. GCU and 16.1 for the season) and honorable mention Sara Bershers (7.5 scoring average vs. GCU and 14.5 for the season).

The winner will advance to a Friday semifinal at 3 p.m. (Phoenix time) against the winner of Utah Valley-Chicago State.

Undefeated No. 1 seed California Baptist is not able to advance to the NCAA tournament because it is in its third year of a four-year Division I transition period. If CBU wins the WAC Tournament, the conference representative will be Utah Valley as the regular season's second-place team, regardless of who advances to the tournament title game.

The Wolverines (12-5, 10-4 WAC) finished two wins ahead of the Lopes, who were unable to play winless Chicago State this season because of COVID-19 cancellation. Had GCU and Utah Valley tied, the Lopes could have been the No. 2 seed because of a split head-to-head series and GCU's higher NCAA NET ranking.

"We have to go in with a chip on our shoulder that we need this to move forward and go to the Big Dance," Miller said. "We've been working hard in practice. They already know we play good defense, but we just have to build on that. Having a chance to make some history at GCU, why not?"

Wednesday, March 10 | WAC Tournament | 9 p.m. (Phoenix time) | Orleans Arena

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Players Mentioned

Tiarra Brown

Laura Piera

Katie Scott

Grand Canyon University Athletics