Balanced attack pushes GCU past Middle Tennessee

Saturday, December 30

Phoenix, Ariz.

2 p.m.

Grand Canyon

10-3,2-0WAC

Middle Tennessee

10-4,0-0CUSA

Middle Tenn.

Grand Canyon

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

12/30/2023 5:54:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

Brown reaches 1,000 career points on 11-point, 5-rebound, 4-assist, 3-steal, 3-block day

By: Nick Macdonald

December will be a month to remember for the Grand Canyon women's basketball team. After a six-game winning streak carried to Dec. 17 and a record-breaking performance on Dec. 27, the Lopes were faced with their toughest competition to date two days before the new year turned over.

After the final buzzer hit on Saturday, GCU will enter that new year on the upswing of a 68-59 victory over Middle Tennessee at Global Credit Union Arena.

The Lady Raiders entered the matchup No. 51 in the most recent NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings, making them the Lopes' highest-ranked opponent in NET this season. Middle Tennessee (10-4), which made the NCAA tournament last season after a Conference USA championship and a 28-5 record, is the best opponent NET win in the GCU program's history, surpassing last year's win over then No. 54 Stephen F. Austin.

The milestone tracker added another achievement in Saturday's victory as senior forward Tiarra Brown surpassed 1,000 career points. Brown is the second Lopes player this season to achieve the honor, joining graduate forward Shay Fano, who did so on Dec. 2 at UT Arlington. Brown joined head coach Molly Miller's first GCU squad as a freshman in 2020 and now ranks second in the program's Division I era (2013-present) and sixth all-time for points.

"I am so proud of this team right now," Miller said after moving to 10-3. "That is a tough team to play. They do what they do really well, and I thought we blew that up on the defensive end. What an effort by this team, and I am so proud of them."

Brown, who was one of four Lopes in double figures, led the early offensive attack with nine first-half points and her 1,000th point coming off an and-one free throw. She finished the game with 11 points, five rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocks against the College Insider Mid Major poll's No. 7 team.

Junior guard Naudia Evans led GCU with 20 points, making five 3-pointers on eight tries and adding four assists. Senior forward Olivia Lane (12 points) and junior Trinity San Antonio (11 points) each had six rebounds, with San Antonio adding four steals.

The Lopes' well-balanced offense included a 45.3% shooting on field goals, 41.2% on 3-pointers and 86.7% on free throws. GCU made seven 3s and went 13 of 15 from the charity stripe, its second-highest free throw mark of the season.

"I believe in everybody out there on the floor," Evans said. "Everybody hit shots when they needed too, everyone distributed, and we followed the scout. We had a great game plan for this one."

The tried-and-true defense again stepped up when needed, forcing multiple shot clock violations among Middle Tennessee's 16 turnovers. Those turnovers turned into 17 fastbreak points, compared to Middle Tennessee's two points off the fastbreak.

It was a back-and-forth first half as GCU led by as many as nine points (15-6) in the first quarter before the Lady Raiders closed the gap to a 20-17 deficit through one quarter. GCU again led by as many as nine points in the second quarter (28-19) before entering halftime ahead 35-33.

After leading 49-44 at the end of the third quarter, the offense began the fourth on an 8-0 run with 3-pointers from Evans and senior guard Anna Ostlie. Ostlie fueled the fire of the offensive attack with a nothing-but-net 3 at the five-minute mark, putting GCU ahead 62-49. Middle Tennessee answered with baskets, but Lane countered right back as she scored 10 of her 12 points in the second half.

GCU's defense held Middle Tennessee's scorers in check, as the Lady Raiders came into the day with four players in double figures and recorded only two double-figure scorers. It was the eighth time in 13 games that the Lopes held the opposing offense to 60 points or less and ninth time in regulation time.

GCU stays at home and hosts Southern Utah on Thursday as it resumes conference play. The Lopes are 2-0 in WAC action with wins over UT Rio Grande Valley and UT Arlington.