Lane's 16 points, 19 boards pace OT win vs. NMSU

Thursday, January 19

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

New Mexico State

Photo by: Taylor Hansen

1/19/2023 9:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score

GCU takes winning streak to 6 with Evans' team-high 17 points, Brown's 15-point return

By: Paul Coro

The Grand Canyon women's basketball team found out how difficult it is to beat the Lopes on Thursday night.

The roles flipped on GCU, which found out what it is like to overcome turnover issues and outscore an opponent on fewer shots. The Lopes almost did so twice, nearly putting the game away in regulation before GCU used overtime to beat New Mexico State 69-62 for its sixth consecutive victory.

The Lopes (14-4, 6-1 WAC) won their fourth consecutive game in the series with the Aggies on the strength of junior power forward Olivia Lane's 16 points and 19 rebounds, the second-highest board total of GCU's Division I era, and junior forward Tiarra Brown's 15 points off the bench despite not practicing this week. GCU, averaging a plus-5.5 turnover margin, overcame committing five more turnovers than its opponent with a defense that allowed one make on the Aggies' last nine shots.

"We were gutting it out and persevering," Lopes head coach Molly Miller said. "We never really gave up when adversity struck."

Lane exemplified that with how she cleaned the glass while delivering her sixth consecutive double-digit scoring game.

Despite a 77-game career, the 6-foot-2 North Dakota transfer topped her personal best (17) and came within three of the GCU Division I-era record of 22, set by Da'jah Daniel four years ago. Lane also was within one rebound of the WAC season high.

She is one of 25 players in the nation to have at least 16 points and 19 rebounds in a game this season but is the only one to do in a reserve role.

"We knew they were going to be physical, so we knew we had to bring it with our mental game," Lane said. "I just had the mindset of knowing they were going to be pushing, so just go get those boards."

GCU never trailed in the fourth quarter but did give back a 60-52 lead when New Mexico State (9-10, 4-3 WAC) went on an 8-0 run over the final 3:10 of regulation.

After committing 18 turnovers in regulation to help the Aggies get 10 more field goal attempts at that point, the Lopes only made one overtime turnover and followed Brown's lead. She won the jump ball to essentially assist on sophomore guard Aaliyah Collins' layup and scored the next trip on an up-and-under move to start GCU's 9-2 overtime.

Brown had not played since last Thursday, when she only played 10 minutes and spent the past week in concussion protocol until she was cleared before the game. Pairing her and Lane as reserves made for a powerful bench that outscored the Aggies reserves 35-13.

""I'm sure glad we had her tonight," Miller said of Brown. "As her game matures, she's doing a better job of her pivots and her balance. She would've gone in there reckless her freshman year, but now she can rise up and shoot those jumpers. She has better patience at the rim."

GCU sophomore guard Naudia Evans scored a team-high 17 points with 12 coming in the second half. Brown came off the bench for the first time this season but showed readiness with a one-foot pull-up to beat the shot clock and a pivoting lane score on her first shots.

"I told myself to let the game come to me because I didn't get to go through the scout as much," said Brown, who made 6 of 11 shots. "I just focused on the normal things we do with certain actions. In overtime, we just knew we had to pick the intensity up because we dropped it."

New Mexico State hit its season average of 11 steals per game but had difficulty scoring with GCU keeping the Aggies to the perimeter. New Mexico State shot 38.7% from the field and committed three overtime turnovers.

Lopes freshman guard Emma Krueger picked up two steals on the Aggies' first three overtime possessions to help send GCU to a dominant finish.

GCU shot 47.1% from the field but thrived on outscoring New Mexico State 17-8 on free throws. Lane accounted for nearly half, going 8 for 10 for half of her points.

"Our guard play wasn't the best, so we were trying to get it inside and I think Liv did a great job of stepping up today," Miller said of Lane's 15th career double-double. "When someone's getting 19 rebounds, you know they are scrapping down there. That's an effort statistic.

"She's relentless in her pursuit for her rebounds."

The win pulls the Lopes within a half-game of first-place Southern Utah in the WAC standings, even while playing without injured guard Sydney Palma. GCU will face her former team, California Baptist, on Saturday in Riverside.

On Dec. 31, the Lopes defeated the Lancers 70-60 without Palma, but CBU's Trinity San Antonio returned fully from injury since then. She scored 19 in the Lancers' 72-58 win against Seattle U on Thursday night.

"CBU is a lot different than when we played them the first time with some kids coming back from injury," Miller said. "San Antonio has had a lot of success in these last couple games. The game is going to be a lot on who takes care of the ball."

But GCU is also evolving into a different team with the impact of Lane, who is a post tandem with graduate Evan Zars. After completing a knee injury rehabilitaiton, Lane has come off the bench for 11 games and averaged 11.0 points and 5.3 rebounds in 16.6 minutes per game.

"I've never been happier playing basketball, honestly," Lane said.