Lopes cruise 97-46 in GCU Classic finale

Saturday, November 26

Phoenix, Ariz.

2:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

5-0,0-0WAC

Lindenwood

0-5,0-0OVC

Lindenwood

Grand Canyon

11/26/2022 5:12:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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GCU begins season 5-0 for 1st time in program history

By: Nick Macdonald

For the third time this season, the Grand Canyon women's basketball team saw at least 12 players score with five reaching double digits as the Lopes defeated Lindenwood 97-46 on Saturday in the GCU Classic finale.

The win at GCU Arena gave the Lopes their first 5-0 start to a season in program history after Saturday's 61% percent shooting performance.

"This is the goal, and we just want to build from here," GCU head coach Molly Miller said. "I know we have a tough one coming up (Wednesday vs. Arizona State). We're going to celebrate this one for a second and then learn a lot, hopefully, in the next couple days about how we can keep this train moving forward."

Lopes freshman forward Alaina Harper led all scorers with 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting, gathered four boards and made her first career 3-pointer in 17 minutes. Graduate forward Evan Zars (15 points), junior guard Sydney Palma (11), junior forward Tiarra Brown (10) and sophomore guard Aaliyah Collins (10) each tallied double digits in the 51-point rout.

"Being a freshman, I have a lot of great upperclassmen to help get me that confidence on the court," said Harper, a 6-foot-3 product of Hartland, Wisconsin. "I really owe it all to my teammates because they really believe in me even when I don't believe in myself sometimes."

It was the second game this season that the Lopes pocketed at least 20 steals with seven players getting two or more steals for a 20-steal total.

Lindenwood led 5-4 before GCU scored 13 straight to go up 17-5 with 2:14 left in the first quarter. GCU stepped on the gas in the second quarter, scoring 31 second-quarter points and led 52-21 at the break. It was the third time this season that the Lopes scored at least 30 in a quarter.

GCU's defense forced 27 turnovers while the offense turned those turnovers into 36 points. The Lopes entered the game second in the WAC in 3-pointers per game at 9.0 and matched that against the Lions after converting 11 a day earlier.

The fifth straight win broke a program record for consecutive victories to open a season. GCU is averaging 84.2 points, 39.4 rebounds and 18.8 steals per game.

GCU next hosts Arizona State on Wednesday in the Battle for State Forty Eight. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. with the live broadcast on Fox10 Xtra (Ch. 45, Cable 9) and ESPN+.