Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus San Diego State on February 4, 2026 , Win , 57, to, 44
W Basketball
vs San Diego State
W 57-44
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: Garrett Ohrenberg
Palma follows mom's path to Lopes
10/27/2022 11:20:00 AM | Women's Basketball, Paul Coro
Mother, daughter share same team, position, number
No matter whether the choice was driveway jumpers vs. backyard swings or Grand Canyon vs. anywhere else, Sydney Palma gravitates toward her mother.
Palma was athletic enough to play any sport growing up and had expertise from a mother, Lane, who played college basketball and a father, Doug, who played college baseball. But just as she favored hoops as a kid growing up north of Phoenix in Anthem, she followed her mom's path again when making a college choice in May.
GCU's newest No. 10 at guard is the daughter of its former No. 10 at guard.
Palma transferred this summer to play her final two seasons with the Lopes, just as her mother had done for her final two college seasons. Her mother, then Lane Essenberg, won awards for being the top female student-athlete of a much smaller student body.
"When we were walking around campus, I couldn't even believe that our gym is still standing," said Lane, who played at GCU in 1991-92 and 1992-93. "It's probably some historic site. That's when it really hit me that this is so cool, and then she surprised me because I didn't know she was going to wear my number. You get all sappy and sentimental.
"Then you see the arena and Midnight Madness and it blows you away. We could barely get people to come our games when there was nothing to do on campus. I'm really glad that she has this amazing opportunity, because it's something she'll never forget."
And GCU had an amazing opportunity to add Sydney, who was the WAC 3-point shooting champion (44.7%) for California Baptist when it went 26-1 in 2020-21.
Despite local ties as a 2018 Boulder Creek High School graduate, Sydney ruled out GCU when entering the transfer portal because she had received a technical foul against the Lopes during a WAC Tournament semifinal in March. Upset when she thought she was blindsided on a screen, Sydney talked to the GCU bench before realizing it was her teammate who ran into her.
After the Lopes won, Sydney apologized in the postgame handshake line to GCU head coach Molly Miller, who told her, "Don't worry about it. I love your passion."
"I still thought the bridge was burned," said Sydney, who was making an East Coast visit when the Lopes contacted her.
"It's something we hoped would happen from the get-go and has ended up becoming an opportunity later on," Lane said. "It's a unique and exciting situation for us."
But with her family's urging, Sydney made a decision that valued more than proximity. Her future might include coaching and she found a role model in Miller, who has a similar on-court demeanor and an off-court approach that Sydney wants to emulate.
"I played against Coach Miller for two years and watched her on the sidelines," Sydney said. "I always admired her energy and her competitive fire. I want to have some of Coach Miller in me when I'm a coach – the majority of stuff that she does. It's cool being in a spot where I get to watch someone that I want to be."
That first female role model was her mother, who grew up southeast of Prescott in tiny Mayer, Arizona, and earned her way to Yavapai College, where she met Doug. While he finished college baseball at Cal State Hayward (now East Bay), Lane transferred to the Lopes and spent her time in the lane, playing both guard positions and scoring off penetration.
"Every time I come on campus, I shake my head and think, 'If only it had been like this when I was here,' " Lane said.
Basketball ended for Lane until Sydney came along, and they played P-I-G in the driveway, went to neighborhood courts together and attended Phoenix Mercury and college games. She drove her to practices and games without showing her what she had accomplished until Sydney found a VHS tape of her.
By the time Sydney was in high school, Lane said she was better than her Lopes level of play.
"I just love that Sydney is living hte growth of sport at GCU," Miller said. "She has a firsthand perspective of how far it's come and an appreciation of the women's basketball players before us that we've been able to lean on and build on. It's special for her to don the jersey knowing her mom did years back."
Sydn
ey brings the experience of an 89-game career with 59 starts but gets to tap into old facets of her game, like the knack for getting into the paint that her mother showed in purple.
"I'm able to show more of what I used to do," said Sydney, who played for the AZ Rebels club with Lopes forward Dominique Phillips. "I have more driving lanes now and I can kick out. They give me free range to shoot the 3. They instill an overall confidence in me to play my game the way I want to play it. I'm seen as an option to create a lot on offense."
She is excited to do so while playing on the other side of that notable pressure defense and chasing her first NCAA tournament appearance.
"She's more than a spot-up shooter," Miller said. "She's a really good driver. She finds the open man off penetration or makes the decision to finish at the rim. She's a smart basketball player, so we want to use her in different capacity for our team success. She just gets it, and that's what I love about Syd. She understands the small games inside of the bigger game."
Outside of the basketball part that starts with Tuesday's exhibition home game, Sydney is pursuing a master's degree in Leadership and already took the floor in front of a full GCU Arena – for Midnight Madness.
"You come here and it's like, 'Oh my gosh, everything's so amazing,' " Sydney said. "They really are like one in everything here. I try to tell the girls, 'This place is unique and special, so we need to be thankful because this school does a lot for us.' "
She has the dichotomy of walking by the building, Antelope Gymnasium, where her mother played and the apartments, North Rim, where her mother lived but amid an escalated college experience.
When the games begin, she will play in front of her parents, brother and grandparents with her mother's alma mater and number on her jersey.
"This is the most relaxed and the most that she's enjoyed the game in a long time," Lane said. "Of all the work these kids put in all their life – they've been grinding – it's nice that they get that kind of appreciation. It's going to be a whole different experience for her."
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Palma was athletic enough to play any sport growing up and had expertise from a mother, Lane, who played college basketball and a father, Doug, who played college baseball. But just as she favored hoops as a kid growing up north of Phoenix in Anthem, she followed her mom's path again when making a college choice in May.
GCU's newest No. 10 at guard is the daughter of its former No. 10 at guard.Palma transferred this summer to play her final two seasons with the Lopes, just as her mother had done for her final two college seasons. Her mother, then Lane Essenberg, won awards for being the top female student-athlete of a much smaller student body.
"When we were walking around campus, I couldn't even believe that our gym is still standing," said Lane, who played at GCU in 1991-92 and 1992-93. "It's probably some historic site. That's when it really hit me that this is so cool, and then she surprised me because I didn't know she was going to wear my number. You get all sappy and sentimental.
"Then you see the arena and Midnight Madness and it blows you away. We could barely get people to come our games when there was nothing to do on campus. I'm really glad that she has this amazing opportunity, because it's something she'll never forget."
And GCU had an amazing opportunity to add Sydney, who was the WAC 3-point shooting champion (44.7%) for California Baptist when it went 26-1 in 2020-21.Despite local ties as a 2018 Boulder Creek High School graduate, Sydney ruled out GCU when entering the transfer portal because she had received a technical foul against the Lopes during a WAC Tournament semifinal in March. Upset when she thought she was blindsided on a screen, Sydney talked to the GCU bench before realizing it was her teammate who ran into her.
After the Lopes won, Sydney apologized in the postgame handshake line to GCU head coach Molly Miller, who told her, "Don't worry about it. I love your passion."
"I still thought the bridge was burned," said Sydney, who was making an East Coast visit when the Lopes contacted her.
"It's something we hoped would happen from the get-go and has ended up becoming an opportunity later on," Lane said. "It's a unique and exciting situation for us."
But with her family's urging, Sydney made a decision that valued more than proximity. Her future might include coaching and she found a role model in Miller, who has a similar on-court demeanor and an off-court approach that Sydney wants to emulate.
"I played against Coach Miller for two years and watched her on the sidelines," Sydney said. "I always admired her energy and her competitive fire. I want to have some of Coach Miller in me when I'm a coach – the majority of stuff that she does. It's cool being in a spot where I get to watch someone that I want to be."
That first female role model was her mother, who grew up southeast of Prescott in tiny Mayer, Arizona, and earned her way to Yavapai College, where she met Doug. While he finished college baseball at Cal State Hayward (now East Bay), Lane transferred to the Lopes and spent her time in the lane, playing both guard positions and scoring off penetration."Every time I come on campus, I shake my head and think, 'If only it had been like this when I was here,' " Lane said.
Basketball ended for Lane until Sydney came along, and they played P-I-G in the driveway, went to neighborhood courts together and attended Phoenix Mercury and college games. She drove her to practices and games without showing her what she had accomplished until Sydney found a VHS tape of her.
By the time Sydney was in high school, Lane said she was better than her Lopes level of play.
"I just love that Sydney is living hte growth of sport at GCU," Miller said. "She has a firsthand perspective of how far it's come and an appreciation of the women's basketball players before us that we've been able to lean on and build on. It's special for her to don the jersey knowing her mom did years back."
Sydn
ey brings the experience of an 89-game career with 59 starts but gets to tap into old facets of her game, like the knack for getting into the paint that her mother showed in purple."I'm able to show more of what I used to do," said Sydney, who played for the AZ Rebels club with Lopes forward Dominique Phillips. "I have more driving lanes now and I can kick out. They give me free range to shoot the 3. They instill an overall confidence in me to play my game the way I want to play it. I'm seen as an option to create a lot on offense."
She is excited to do so while playing on the other side of that notable pressure defense and chasing her first NCAA tournament appearance.
"She's more than a spot-up shooter," Miller said. "She's a really good driver. She finds the open man off penetration or makes the decision to finish at the rim. She's a smart basketball player, so we want to use her in different capacity for our team success. She just gets it, and that's what I love about Syd. She understands the small games inside of the bigger game."
Outside of the basketball part that starts with Tuesday's exhibition home game, Sydney is pursuing a master's degree in Leadership and already took the floor in front of a full GCU Arena – for Midnight Madness.
"You come here and it's like, 'Oh my gosh, everything's so amazing,' " Sydney said. "They really are like one in everything here. I try to tell the girls, 'This place is unique and special, so we need to be thankful because this school does a lot for us.' "
She has the dichotomy of walking by the building, Antelope Gymnasium, where her mother played and the apartments, North Rim, where her mother lived but amid an escalated college experience.
When the games begin, she will play in front of her parents, brother and grandparents with her mother's alma mater and number on her jersey.
"This is the most relaxed and the most that she's enjoyed the game in a long time," Lane said. "Of all the work these kids put in all their life – they've been grinding – it's nice that they get that kind of appreciation. It's going to be a whole different experience for her."
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