Road play continues at Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin

Thursday, February 9

Huntsville, Texas

5:30 p.m. (MST)

Grand Canyon

Sam Houston

2/8/2023 11:37:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Lopes face pair of top-5 teams in WAC resume seeding system

By: Nick Macdonald


Grand Canyon Lopes (16-6, 8-3 WAC)	at	Sam Houston Bearkats (11-10, 7-4 WAC)	Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks (19-4, 9-2 WAC)
		Thursday, Feb. 9 5:30 p.m. (Phoenix time)	Saturday, Feb. 11 1 p.m. (Phoenix time)
Game Notes		Watch Live Stats	Watch Live Stats

With seven games remaining in the regular season, Grand Canyon embarks on a crucial stretch with games at Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin, who are in the top five of the WAC Resume Seeding System at Nos. 1 and 5, respectively. The Lopes enter Thursday night's game ranked third in the system used to see the WAC Tournament.

5 NOTES ABOUT THE LOPES

GCU ranks fourth in the nation in steals per game (13.0), eighth in turnovers forced per game (21.6) and 29th in 3-point percentage defense (27.4%). The Lopes have forced 15-plus turnovers in 18 of 22 games this season.
Junior forward Olivia Lane notched a career-high 26 points at New Mexico State on Saturday, going 8 of 12 from the field and 10 of 12 from the free throw line while adding six rebounds in the win. Lane has scored in double figures 12 times this season and nine times in WAC play.
The Lopes rank fourth in the conference in rebounds per game (38.7) and third in offensive rebounds per game (13.6). Against WAC competition, the Lopes are 6-1 when grabbing 38-plus rebounds. It has pulled down double-digit offensive boards in 19 of 22 games this season.
Sophomore guard Naudia Evans ranks first in the conference in assist/turnover ratio (2.0 to 1). She has had 11 games with four or more assists, while her 66 assists are first on the team and 12th in the WAC.
Head coach Molly Miller ranks third in the nation in winning percentage (.855), tallying a 236-40 record in six seasons at Drury and four at GCU. She trails UConn head coach Geno Auriemma (.884) and LSU head coach Kim Mulkey (.861) among active head coaches who have competed in at least four seasons.

IN HER OWN LANE

Since coming back Dec. 8 from on offseason injury, junior forward Olivia Lane has made an impact on the glass and in the scoring column for the Lopes. A 69-62 overtime victory over New Mexico State added to that testament on Jan. 19, when she pulled down 19 boards and scored 16 points.
The 19 rebounds tied for second in the GCU Division I era for a single game. She is one of 25 players this season to record 16 points and 19 rebounds, but the only player to do so off the bench.
In Saturday's game against New Mexico State, Lane notched a career-high 26 points on 8-of-12 shooting with six rebounds. She also shot 10 of 12 from the free throw line, improving her percentage against WAC teams to 84.1%.
For the season, Lane is averaging 11.9 points and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 48% from the field and 82% from the free throw line. She has recorded double-digit points in nine of 11 conference games and five or more rebounds in six of those games.

COLLECTING THE OFFENSIVE BOARDS

GCU enters the road trip third in the conference and 58th in the country in offensive rebounds per game, averaging 13.6 per contest.
In conference play, the Lopes have gathered double-digit offensive boards in 10 of 11 games played, with seven games of 13 or more. For the season, 19 of 22 games played have resulted in a double-digit offensive rebounding effort.
In WAC play, 33.4% of its rebounds are offensive. Four players have double-digit offensive boards in conference action, including Emma Krueger (26), Evan Zars (26), Olivia Lane (23) and Tiarra Brown (20).

SCOUTING REPORT

Winners of their last three straight, the Bearkats are 11-10 overall and 7-4 in the conference. They hold a 5-3 record in Huntsville.
As of Feb. 7, Sam Houston is fifth in the WAC resume seeding system. The top four teams get a first round bye in the WAC Championship Tournament.
Sam Houston is one of the top rebounding teams in the country, ranking 28th in rebounds per game (41.5) and fourth in offensive rebounds per game (17.3). During the current three game winning streak, the Bearkats have totaled 40+ rebounds in each game with double digit offensive rebounds.
Madelyn Batista ranks third in the WAC with 8.0 rebounds per contest. Seventy one of her 167 rebounds are on the offensive glass and she has recorded six double digit rebound games, including the last three games played.
Chyna Allen is Sam Houston's leading scorer at 13.7 points per game. Allen is shooting 35.3% from three and is the team leader in assists with 57.
Since Jan. 19, Sam Houston has won five of six games with its lone loss at home to Stephen F. Austin.
Stephen F. Austin enters Saturday with the league's highest overall winning percentage with a 19-4 record and 9-2 conference mark. As of Feb. 7, it is first in the WAC resume seeding system, 3.00 points higher than second place Southern Utah.
One of two conference losses by the Ladyjacks this season came in Phoenix against GCU. The victory for the Lopes was the first in the series (3 total games) as Saturday's matchup is the second since the WAC Championship final in Las Vegas in March of 2022.
SFA ranks fifth in the country in field goal percentage (48.6%) and has shot 40% or higher in all but two games this season. It is also first in the WAC in three point percentage (34.7%), with 13 games shooting 30% or better from deep. The Ladyjacks entered Phoenix as the league's best three point shooting team and were held to 4-of-20 from three (20%), tied for second lowest of the season.
Jordan Harrison is first in the WAC - and top 35 in the nation - in assists (113) and assists per game (4.9). She is also third in the conference in steals (56) and steals per game (2.43).
Aiyana Johnson leads SFA in scoring with 13.5 points per game. She is shooting 53.1% from the floor and 71.9% from the free throw line. Johnson has tallied 18 double digit scoring games and recently scored 28 on the road vs. Tarleton.