WAC Tournament championship
Saturday, March 12 | 3 p.m. (Phoenix time) | Orleans Arena | Las Vegas, Nev.
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STEPHEN F. AUSTIN
LADYJACKS
(27-4)
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GRAND CANYON
LOPES
(22-8) |
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WATCH:Â ESPN+Â Â |Â Â STATS: View |
LAS VEGAS — When it comes to its chances in the WAC Tournament championship, Grand Canyon sees its cup of opportunity has half full against the regular-season champion because it had the job of beating Stephen F. Austin half done when they met for the first time.
The second-seeded Lopes play the first-seeded Ladyjacks in Saturday's title game at 3 p.m. (Phoenix time) at Orleans Arena, where a win to send GCU to its first NCAA Division I tournament feels tangible even with a previous lopsided loss to Stephen F. Austin.
The 61-43 final in the teams'Â first meeting suggest that the Ladyjacks, who are 51-7 over the past two seasons, are the heavy favorites in the rematch. But Stephen F. Austin trailed for the first 24 minutes, missed 14 consecutive shots and committed a season-high 24 turnovers in the Jan. 31 game at GCU.

"Even though we lost that game, it should give us confidence that we can compete with them," Miller said. "If we put two halves together like the first half, then we can do more than compete with them. That's exciting for our team, knowing how well we performed that first half and how well we're performing currently. You want to peak at the right time. Our trending is in the positive direction. Forty minutes of basketball could go either way. At the end of the day, if we play really, really hard with second, third and fourth efforts and a lot of energy, I like our chances."
The title-game matchup pits two of the nation's best pressure defenses with both ranking in the top five for steals per game (GCU in third at 12.9 and Stephen F. Austin in fifth at 12.7). The Ladyjacks rank second nationally by forcing 24.2 turnovers per game with the Lopes not far behind at 22.0.
GCU committed 21 turnovers in the first meeting, made 2 of 23 second-half field goals and shot 24% overall, a Division I opponent season low for Stephen F. Austin.
The Ladyjacks only led Utah Valley 27-26 at halftime of Friday's semifinal but routed the Wolverines in the second half for a 68-42 win with All-WAC second-team guard Zya Nugent scoring 25.
Stephen F. Austin boasts an inside-outside tandem of All-WAC first-team seniors in 6-foot-3 Aiyana Johnson and 6-foot Stephanie Visscher, who each average more than 14 points and almost seven rebounds. Johnson works inside at a 56% shooting clip while Visscher connects on 38% of her 3-pointers.
They are trying to return to the NCAA tournament after winning the Southland Conference last year and nearly upsetting Georgia Tech in overtime of an NCAA first-round game.
GCU has four available players who played in last year's WAC Tournament championship loss, which it avenged Friday by beating California Baptist 64-60. Sophomore
Tiarra Brown, who scored 22 on Friday, is the only Lope who will start both title games but GCU has more championship-game experience with graduate guard
Amara Graham, who is also coming off a 22-point game on Friday.
Graham delivered 15 points and seven rebounds for UT Rio Grande Valley in a 2019 double-overtime loss to New Mexico State in the WAC Tournament championship at Orleans Arena.
"We're one win away from our goal," Miller said. "That's pretty special considering what a long year it has been. Basketball's a grind and these kids have been through a lot. They've weathered that storm and I've been really proud of them for that."
Lope tracks
- GCU is 15-0 this season when holding its opponent to 57 points or fewer.
- Lopes sophomore guard Tiarra Brown is averaging 17.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.7 steals over the past three games with 50% shooting.
- After a no-turnover game in 24 minutes Friday, GCU freshman point guard Ja'Mya Powell Smith has only made two turnovers in the past three games combined.
- Lopes freshman guard Kiyley Flowers has made a steal in all but two games this season. Her 4.3 steals per 40 minutes this season ranks 20th among freshmen nationally.
- Stephen F. Austin has outscored opponents by an average of 20.3 points this season to rank third in the nation for scoring margin.
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