Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus SMU on November 18, 2025 , Win , 76, to, 60
W Basketball
vs SMU
W 76-60
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: Zach Campbell
Defensive rise gets Lopes up for 'Lockdown'
9/28/2022 10:41:00 AM | Women's Basketball, Paul Coro
'Camp Week' starts official practices, including Miller's favorite themed day
The pitter-patter of feet shuffling into position, the slaps of palms intercepting passes and dribbles and the chatter of encouragement and warning on defense is like a joyful cacophony to Grand Canyon women's basketball head coach Molly Miller's ears.
The season truly gets underway each year with "Camp Week," this week's start of official practices with daily themes. But nothing launches GCU women's basketball like "Camp Lockdown."
The sign of signature pressure defense becoming embedded in the Lopes' success is that the players look forward to building its structure as much as Miller now. Returning players know the value of the program's defensive brand to put GCU among the national defensive leaders annually, and the new players signed because of their desire and fit for such a system.
"I am in such a good mood before, during and after Camp Lockdown because it really does focus the entire practice on defense and our style of defense," Miller said. "I love teaching that style, obviously, but I think the team really has bought into that style. It's joyful for me."
Arms wave like windmills and feet move like cartoon characters when the Lopes go through a workout of defensive drills that sets the base for their full-court defensive pressure.
In Miller's first two seasons at GCU, the Lopes ranked second and third nationally in steals per game (13.4 for second in 2019-20, 12.6 for third in 2021-22) while also being in the top 10 each season for opponent turnovers per game (23.3 for fourth in 2019-20, 21.7 for 10th in 2020-21).
So when "Camp Lockdown" began Tuesday, junior guard Tiarra Brown was first in line for the first drill.
"We know what to expect," said Brown, who was Miller's first signee at GCU. "We know how intense it's going to be and it's always fun, so we always looking forward to it. With all the steals we get and all the records we set every year, we know it's going to pay off later in the season."
It is how Brown's two GCU teams have gone 40-17, but the system also is evolving. With 10 new players this season, the Lopes have a roster that suits Miller's system more. But GCU also will tweak its use of the pressure, being strategic about varying the packages and the timing.
When senior forward Dominique Phillips made a Valley homecoming last year as a transfer from Nevada, she had seen how aggressively GCU plays and heard about how it practices.
"But I still didn't know what to think about," Phillips said of last year's "Camp Lockdown." "Now, I'm more prepared. This year, it's hard and aggressive, but it's exciting because we know what to do. The new players are hungry because they see with their eyes how aggressive we are.
"We're in a learning curve and our defense is not easy to learn. But we're on our way."
For the 10 new players, Miller introduces "Camp Lockdown" in the pre-practice huddle as her favorite day, the one that establishes a style that has put GCU in the WAC Tournament championship game twice.
"This year, it's getting us over the hump," Miller said.
Preceding "Camp Lockdown," there was a transition offense day ("Camp Go"). There will be ensuing days for shot creation ("Camp Buckets") and hustle plays ("Camp Grit"). The Lopes have even incorporated delivering pizzas to "Camp Elliott," where students camp out in front of GCU Arena for up to four days to get seats for Midnight Madness.
It will end with "Camp Fun" when the team makes a weekend trip to the lake, but days in the GCU Basketball Practice Facility are no day at the lake. It can be hard to tell that when sophomore guard Aaliyah Collins, a transfer who was All-WAC second team for Chicago State last season, is all smiles and cheers while trying to continually turn a dribbler's direction over 94 feet of court.
"Defense always gets me in a good mood," Collins said. "When we have our offensive days and defensive days, I'm always in a better mood for defensive days, which is weird because everybody loves offense. But defense is my bread and butter."
Those newcomers' length and height changes GCU's ability to trap, fly and play position-less basketball. Miller commends the skill level of her new players, but also credits the newcomers' examples for carrying over what has been established into this new team's workouts. It is heard in how players shout out screen coverages and felt with how they lunge to deny backdoor passes.
"As much as we wanted this day to get here, now I'm like, 'We need more days,' " Miller said. "There's a lot of promise with this team. We're just going to have to develop more chemistry together.
"They have messed up in the first two days a lot and that's OK. They're still fun to coach. When they mess up, there's no pouting or bad body language. They have just as much energy and effort. We don't want to coach effort. This team is constantly wanting to do right."
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The season truly gets underway each year with "Camp Week," this week's start of official practices with daily themes. But nothing launches GCU women's basketball like "Camp Lockdown."
The sign of signature pressure defense becoming embedded in the Lopes' success is that the players look forward to building its structure as much as Miller now. Returning players know the value of the program's defensive brand to put GCU among the national defensive leaders annually, and the new players signed because of their desire and fit for such a system.
"I am in such a good mood before, during and after Camp Lockdown because it really does focus the entire practice on defense and our style of defense," Miller said. "I love teaching that style, obviously, but I think the team really has bought into that style. It's joyful for me."Arms wave like windmills and feet move like cartoon characters when the Lopes go through a workout of defensive drills that sets the base for their full-court defensive pressure.
In Miller's first two seasons at GCU, the Lopes ranked second and third nationally in steals per game (13.4 for second in 2019-20, 12.6 for third in 2021-22) while also being in the top 10 each season for opponent turnovers per game (23.3 for fourth in 2019-20, 21.7 for 10th in 2020-21).
So when "Camp Lockdown" began Tuesday, junior guard Tiarra Brown was first in line for the first drill.
"We know what to expect," said Brown, who was Miller's first signee at GCU. "We know how intense it's going to be and it's always fun, so we always looking forward to it. With all the steals we get and all the records we set every year, we know it's going to pay off later in the season."
It is how Brown's two GCU teams have gone 40-17, but the system also is evolving. With 10 new players this season, the Lopes have a roster that suits Miller's system more. But GCU also will tweak its use of the pressure, being strategic about varying the packages and the timing.
When senior forward Dominique Phillips made a Valley homecoming last year as a transfer from Nevada, she had seen how aggressively GCU plays and heard about how it practices.
"But I still didn't know what to think about," Phillips said of last year's "Camp Lockdown." "Now, I'm more prepared. This year, it's hard and aggressive, but it's exciting because we know what to do. The new players are hungry because they see with their eyes how aggressive we are.
"We're in a learning curve and our defense is not easy to learn. But we're on our way."
For the 10 new players, Miller introduces "Camp Lockdown" in the pre-practice huddle as her favorite day, the one that establishes a style that has put GCU in the WAC Tournament championship game twice.
"This year, it's getting us over the hump," Miller said.
Preceding "Camp Lockdown," there was a transition offense day ("Camp Go"). There will be ensuing days for shot creation ("Camp Buckets") and hustle plays ("Camp Grit"). The Lopes have even incorporated delivering pizzas to "Camp Elliott," where students camp out in front of GCU Arena for up to four days to get seats for Midnight Madness.
It will end with "Camp Fun" when the team makes a weekend trip to the lake, but days in the GCU Basketball Practice Facility are no day at the lake. It can be hard to tell that when sophomore guard Aaliyah Collins, a transfer who was All-WAC second team for Chicago State last season, is all smiles and cheers while trying to continually turn a dribbler's direction over 94 feet of court."Defense always gets me in a good mood," Collins said. "When we have our offensive days and defensive days, I'm always in a better mood for defensive days, which is weird because everybody loves offense. But defense is my bread and butter."
Those newcomers' length and height changes GCU's ability to trap, fly and play position-less basketball. Miller commends the skill level of her new players, but also credits the newcomers' examples for carrying over what has been established into this new team's workouts. It is heard in how players shout out screen coverages and felt with how they lunge to deny backdoor passes.
"As much as we wanted this day to get here, now I'm like, 'We need more days,' " Miller said. "There's a lot of promise with this team. We're just going to have to develop more chemistry together.
"They have messed up in the first two days a lot and that's OK. They're still fun to coach. When they mess up, there's no pouting or bad body language. They have just as much energy and effort. We don't want to coach effort. This team is constantly wanting to do right."
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