Week of 3 home games tips Monday vs. Montana

Monday, November 20

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Montana

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Phoenix, AZ Nov. 16 , 2023: GCU falls to Oregon 64-56 at GCU Arena. Photo David Kadlubowski/GCU

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

11/19/2023 11:47:00 AM | Women's Basketball

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Lopes look to rebound after tough battle with Oregon

By: Nick Macdonald

Monday, Nov. 20 \| 6 p.m. \| GCU Arena \| Phoenix, Ariz.

	MONTANA LADY GRIZ 0-2	at	GRAND CANYON LOPES 2-1

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THIS GAME

The Lopes continue a stretch of five straight home games with the second on Monday night vs. Montana.
It is the second consecutive season the Lady Griz and Lopes have met, with GCU prevailing 71-63 last year behind 19 points from Olivia Lane in Missoula.
GCU has not dropped back-to-back home contests since Jan. 31 and Feb. 10, 2022. Since that loss, the Lopes are 17-5 at GCU Arena.
The Lopes are 1-1 against Big Sky teams since last season and have two scheduled in Montana and Idaho this season.

THREE IS KEY

GCU has made 25 3-pointers through its first three games, matching its total through three games last season and is averaging 8.3 made 3s per game, the second-highest average in the WAC.
The Lopes are shooting 35.7% from deep, leading the conference with three players shooting over 33% (minimum five attempts). Senior guard Naudia Evans leads the team and is second in the WAC with a 42.1% mark from 3-point range on 8-of-19 shooting.
On the defensive side, GCU's 3-point defense sits at 31.1%, third best in the WAC. The Lopes limited Oregon to 3-of-14 accuracy from behind the arc last Thursday.
Since last season, Lopes head coach Molly Miller's team is 9-1 when making eight or more 3-pointers in a game.

STORYLINES

Coming off her second straight double-double vs. Oregon, junior guard Trinity San Antonio is first in the WAC in assists (19), assists per game (6.3), rebounds (28), rebounds per game (9.3) and third in assist/turnover ratio (1.9). She is the only player in the conference to have two double-doubles so far this season.
GCU enters Monday with the second-best assist/turnover ratio in the conference (0.84). Against Oregon, it turned the ball over nine times, tied for the lowest amount of turnonvers in a single game under Miller. Its 14.3 turnovers per game are third lowest in the league.
Graduate forward Shay Fano is 41 points away from 1,000 for her career. Fano is averaging 6.0 points and 3.0 rebounds per game this season and is coming off a 10-point performance against the Ducks.
Thursday's night contest against Pac-12 opponent Oregon drew 2,136 fans, the third most for a women's basketball game at GCU Arena in program history. The top three crowds for a women's basketball game have all come within the last two seasons.
Head coach Molly Miller ranks fourth among active coaches in winning percentage (.844) with eight-plus seasons of coaching. She trails only Kim Caldwell (Marshall), Geno Auriemma (UConn) and Kim Mulkey (LSU).
The Lopes are 38-9 at GCU Arena since Miller took the helm in 2020. GCU has won at least 12 games at home in each of her three seasons in Phoenix, including a season-high 13 last year. The Lopes have 17 games at home this season, including six of the first seven regular-season contests.

SCOUTING REPORT

The Lady Griz enter Phoenix 0-2 and play in their first road contest of the season.
The two losses at home have come against tough competition, losing 83-70 to Gonzaga (No. 3 in Mid-Major Top 25) and 61-49 to Washington State.
Gina Marxen leads the Big Sky with a 55.6 3-point percentage. She is 5 of-9 from 3 and scored 11 points vs. Gonzaga.
MJ Bruno leads the team with 10.0 points per contest. Dani Bartsch has pulled down 21 rebounds so far this season for an average of 10.5 per game, second best in the Big Sky and 37th in the nation.

LAST TIME THEY MET

GCU won, 71-63, in Missoula Dec. 8, 2022. The game was back-and-forth with Montana taking a two point lead into the fourth quarter before GCU outscored the Lady Griz 25-15 over the final 10 minutes.
Senior Olivia Lane, who saw her first game action after recovering from injury over the off-season, scored 19 points in 13 minutes in her GCU debut. Graduate Sydney Palma scored a game-high 22 points on 5-of-7 from three point range. Junior Naudia Evans had 7 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.
The Lopes shot 81% from the free throw line on 17-of-21 shooting, the fourth highest free throw percentage last season.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Lopes stay home and host the annual GCU Classic presented by Talking Stick Resorts.
GCU's first game of the Classic is Friday vs. Fresno State with the second contest happening Saturday vs. Nicholls. Both games are scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
Eastern Illinois will play Nicholls in Friday's first game at noon and also go head to head with Fresno State on Saturday at noon.