Title-game trip requires beating CBU for 3rd time

WAC Tournament semifinal Friday, March 11 \| 3:30 p.m. (Phoenix time) \| Orelans Arena \| Las Vegas, Nev.

	CALIFORNIA BAPTIST LANCERS (23-7, 13-5 WAC)	vs.	GRAND CANYON LOPES (21-8, 14-4 WAC)

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LAS VEGAS – Before leaving Phoenix, the Grand Canyon women's basketball team was practicing in preparation for the WAC Tournament when head coach Molly Miller interjected with a whistle and an exclamation: "March is our time."

GCU's chance to prove March is its month starts Friday, when its semifinal opponent is the California Baptist team that owned March at the WAC Tournament last year by beating the Lopes in their first championship game appearance.

This time, GCU (21-8, 14-4 WAC) has beaten CBU (23-7, 13-5 WAC) twice during the regular season and placed higher to earn a bye to the semifinals. The third-seeded Lancers, coming off last year's undefeated season, leaned on its returning stars to reach Friday's semifinal by defeating Sam Houston 85-78 on Thursday at Orleans Arena.

Amara Graham Action

"It's always scary when we play CBU coming off the season they had last season," said Lopes graduate guard Amara Graham, an All-WAC first-team honoree.

"They're still a good team. With our momentum of beating them twice in the regular season, we have the same game plan and same mindset that we know we can beat them. Tournament time is usually different basketball, but we're the same team and they're the same team so hopefully we come out with the win again."

A Friday victory in the semifinal at 3:30 p.m. (Phoenix time) would put the Lopes in Saturday's championship game at 3 p.m. (Phoenix time) against the winner of Stephen F. Austin (26-4) and Utah Valley (16-14).

The Lopes defeated the Lancers 61-52 at home on Feb. 5 and won again 75-55 on Feb. 17 at CBU. Graham averaged 20 points with 9-for-12 shooting from 3-point range, but the Lopes defense lived up to its billing by keeping the Lancers to 31% shooting and 39 turnovers in the two games.

"We don't get too caught up in who our opponent was and last year," said Miller, who is 39-15 in two seasons at GCU. "We're just really trying to be in the moment. We're going to have to get the rust off early and get used to our surroundings. We want to leave it all out there from the get-go.

"We hope we can try to wear them down early. That's big for us to come in fresh and use that to our advantage. We want to control tempo and pace."

Only five current players, including injured Taylor Caldwell, played in the championship game loss to CBU last year. The Lopes were made over with Graham, who played eight WAC Tournament games for UT Rio Grande Valley, and three other transfers (Chloe Akin-Otiko, Jay McChristine and Dominique Phillips), as well as the freshman trio of Naudia Evans, Kiyley Flowers and Ja'Maya Powell-Smith.

The Lancers bring back familiar faces with WAC scoring leader Caitlyn Harper, a 6-foot-1 power forward averaging 18.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks, and WAC assists leader Ane Oleata, a 5-foot-4 point guard averaging 7.3 assists and 2.6 steals.

"It's all running through Ane and Harper is going to get her fair share of touches," Miller said of CBU's WAC-leading offense (76.1 points per game). "The other kids are going to make plays when they need to. They're just solid. They don't beat themselves at all. We've got to play a clean game. They're really good in transition still."

CBU capitalized in tempo for 17 shots from 3-point range in its 78-60 championship game win against GCU last year. The Lopes have adjusted their transition defense but still have their pressure brand that has them ranked third in the nation for steals per game (12.9) and seventh for turnovers forced per game (22.1).

"It's going to come down to a possession or two, here or there," Miller said. "String some of those together in your favor and hopefully the result is a win."

WAC Tournament semifinal
Friday, March 11 | 3:30 p.m. (Phoenix time) | Orelans Arena | Las Vegas, Nev.

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Players Mentioned

Chloe Akin-Otiko

Taylor Caldwell

Naudia Evans

Kiyley Flowers

Amara Graham

Jay McChristine

Dominique Phillips

Grand Canyon University Athletics