Thunderbirds edge Lopes 63-60

Wednesday, January 25

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

14-6,6-3WAC

Southern Utah

11-7,7-0WAC

Southern Utah

Grand Canyon

1/25/2023 9:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Despite 21 forced turnovers, GCU falls at home Wednesday

By: Nick Macdonald

The Grand Canyon women's basketball team fell in a tight conference battle Wednesday evening, dropping a 63-60 contest to first-place Southern Utah at GCU Arena.

The Lopes (14-6, 6-3 WAC) lost their second consecutive game, as Southern Utah (11-7, 7-0 WAC) extended its winning streak to seven games.

Junior forward Olivia Lane led GCU with 15 points off the bench, along with five rebounds and three steals. Lopes junior forward Tiarra Brown scored 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting while graduate Evan Zars had nine points and a team-high seven boards.

GCU shot 38.5% from the field, including 2-of-12 shooting from 3-point range. The 16.7% clip from downtown was a season low, while its total of 11 free throw attempts was its second lowest. Southern Utah was led by Daylani Ballena with 15 points and four boards while Tomekia Whitman added 14 points with 8-of-8 shooting from the free throw line. The Thunderbirds made 15 of 17 from the charity stripe but were held to 4-of-18 shooting from deep, marking the eighth time in conference play that the Lopes held a team under 30% 3-point shooting.

GCU led by as much as seven twice in the first quarter, including a 15-8 advantage when it ended. Despite the Lopes' strong showing in the second quarter with 20 points, Southern Utah shot 56% from the field and made 3 of 4 shots from 3-point range in the second quarter for 26 points, putting GCU's halftime lead at 35-34.

The Lopes opened the third quarter on an 8-0 run and forced the Thunderbirds into a timeout after four minutes. Southern Utah cut the lead to 43-39 late in the quarter before GCU freshman forward Alaina Harper made a layup and two free throws to take the lead back to eight. The Lopes' lead stood at 47-41 after three quarters.

Southern Utah slowly closed the gap to trail 53-52 with nearly four minutes remaining. Lane converted a layup and freshman guard Emma Krueger made a free throw to put GCU ahead 56-62 with 2:43 to go, but the Thunderbirds found a rhythm, scoring seven straight points to lead 59-56 with 44 seconds on the clock.

Brown made two free throws to cut the lead to one and aided a defensive stand in which sophomore guard Naudia Evans stole the inbound pass. The Lopes followed with a turnover, setting up Southern Utah to put the game out of reach with free throws. The Thunderbirds connected on 7 of 8 free throws in the fourth quarter.

GCU snapped an 11-game streak of double-digit offensive boards, finishing with nine Wednesday among its rebound total of 28, its second lowest of the season. The Lopes entered the contest fifth in the country in steals per game at 13.3 and surpassed it with 14 against Southern Utah. Evans, Krueger, Lane and sophomore guard Aaliyah Collins each had three steals.

The Lopes stay home and host Abilene Christian on Saturday at 2 p.m.