Deep shooting puts Lopes at 5-1 in WAC play

Saturday, January 22

Phoenix, Ariz.

2 p.m.

Grand Canyon

12-5,5-1WAC

Sam Houston

5-12,0-6WAC

Sam Houston

Grand Canyon

1/22/2022 4:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

GCU defeated Sam Houston 73-54 at home with Graham's 24 points

By: Sierra Smith

Led by a 64% shooting effort from 3-point range, the Grand Canyon women's basketball team knocked off Sam Houston 73-54 at home on Saturday.

Due to Thursday's game against Stephen F. Austin being postponed to Jan. 31, the Lopes hadn't played since a week ago when they completed the Texas trip sweep at Tarleton but they looked sharp with 9-for-14 shooting from 3-point range and a defense that caused 27 Bearkat turnovers.

"We don't want to have another day off," GCU head coach Molly Miller said. "We had to knock off the rust there after some momentum from those Texas wins. But in a game where it seems like there's a lid on the basket, we missed a lot of layups. Those are fundamental things. We actually practiced some pressure release stuff and we were getting our backdoors. We just couldn't complete the finish, so that was kind of frustrating. But, other than that, I think defensively we did a pretty good job."

The Lopes (12-5, 5-1 WAC) remained one game off the conference lead by putting three players in double-figure scoring on Saturday, when graduate guard Amara Graham led the way with 24 points, six rebounds and two steals. Junior forward Dominique Phillips put up 16 points off the bench and sophomore guard Tiarra Brown helped with 11 points, five rebounds and three steals.

"They shot well," Miller said about Graham and Phillips. "We have to play to our strengths and one of our strengths is getting them the ball on offense. We're doing some things that are isolating them a little bit or looking to get them shots. We've got a lot of confidence when they're shooting it and they're producing offensively."

GCU's defense held Sam Houston to only 35.3% shooting from the field, including one made 3-pointer.

Graham started the scoring by doing what she does best, as she hit the first of four 3-pointers. GCU held Sam Houston from scoring until the 5:33 mark, when the Lopes and Bearkats began fighting back and forth for the rest of the period to a 14-11 GCU lead at the break.

Sam Houston rallied to take a 22-16 lead before GCU went on a 7-0 run, highlighted by a bucket from Phillips, to take a 23-22 lead at halftime. The Lopes dominated in the paint, scoring eight of their nine second-quarter points close to the basket.

GCU surrendered its halftime lead until tying the game at 28-28 and scoring seven more unanswered points to lead 35-28 with 5:44 to go in the third quarter. The Lopes scored 27 in the third to take a 50-39 lead. GCU took advantage of eight Sam Houston turnovers in the quarter, scoring 13 points off takeaways.

The Lopes kept their lead before going on an 8-0 run, finished off by freshman guard Naudia Evans' 3 that grew the lead to 70-51 with 59 seconds to go in the game. GCU fired away from deep in the quarter, knocking down four shots to account for 12 of its 23 points.

GCU forced 27 Bearkat turnovers, making it the 12th time in 17 games that an opponent has committed 20-plus turnovers.

With no game this Thursday, GCU returns to the floor next Saturday for a 2 p.m. matchup against New Mexico State at GCU Arena.

"Typically, we turn around and start probably on a Tuesday preparing for the other team," Miller said. "We're going to have a couple more days of fundamentals, though. We need to pass, catch, make layups, shoot a lot of shots. It's get back to fundamentals and the basics and then we'll get back in to scout probably on Tuesday for New Mexico State."