4th-quarter comeback defeats Sam Houston

Thursday, February 9

Huntsville, Texas

5:30 p.m. (MST)

Grand Canyon

17-6,9-3WAC

Sam Houston

11-11,7-5WAC

Grand Canyon

Sam Houston

2/9/2023 8:53:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Lane’s putback with 1.5 seconds gives GCU 70-68 victory

By: Nick Macdonald

HUNTSVILLE, Texas – In a game that Grand Canyon trailed by 11 points in the third quarter, the Lopes' bench depth paired with another Olivia Lane 20-point effort as a fourth-quarter comeback gave GCU a 70-68 victory at Sam Houston on Thursday night.

The 20-point effort was the second straight for Lane, who had 26 last weekend in her first GCU start at New Mexico State. The 6-foot-2 junior power forward also had seven rebounds and a team-high three steals while going 6 of 7 from the free throw line.

Lopes freshman guard Ellie Buzzelle and senior forward Dominique Phillips combined for 18 points off the bench, going a combined 8 of 10 from the field. Sophomore guard Naudia Evans (13) and junior forward Tiarra Brown (11) each scored in double digits while graduate power forward Evan Zars had six points and a team-high eight rebounds.

GCU moves to 17-6 overall and 9-3 in the WAC. It joins Southern Utah and Stephen F. Austin as the only teams with nine or more wins in conference play.

Neither team scored until Sam Houston (11-11, 7-5 WAC) hit a 3-pointer in the third minute, but the Lopes led by as much as four before the Bearkats rallied for a 16-15 lead at the end of the quarter.

Sam Houston extended its lead to 27-20 four minutes into the second quarter for its largest lead of the first half. GCU ran off seven straight points to tie it up at 27-27 and ended the half trailing 31-30. The Lopes shot 55% from the floor in the first half and went 2 of 3 from 3-point range.

The teams went back and forth early in the third quarter, when each matched the others' makes as 21 points were scored between them in a three-minute span. Sam Houston pulled away midway through the third and led by as much as 11 points twice, going ahead 55-44 with 36 seconds left in the quarter. Buzzelle and Phillips made back-to-back baskets in the final 30 seconds to cut the lead to 55-47 at the buzzer.

The baskets started a rally from the Lopes, who stormed back to tie the game at 55-55 after an and-one basket from Evans and eventually took the lead with Phillips feeding a Buzzelle layup . Phillips continued the run, making two straight jumpers to put GCU ahead 61-55 with 6:23 on the clock.

After Sam Houston came back to tie it 61-61 off an and-one layup, the game saw more four ties in the final five minutes. Knotted at 68-68, Brown collected a defensive rebound with 31 seconds remaining. After GCU took a timeout in the frontcourt with 10.5 seconds to go, Evans took the inbound and drove to the right block for a jumper that was long with five seconds to go. Brown tipped the rebound toward the middle, where Lane caught it and banked in a layup with 1.5 seconds remaining.

Out of a timeout, Sam Houston missed a 3 at the buzzer to end GCU's 22-13 fourth quarter.

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Bearkats, who entered the game ranked fifth in the WAC Resume Seeding System, with the Lopes in third. GCU extended its win streak to three games.

The Lopes next head to Stephen F. Austin to face the Ladyjacks on Saturday at 1 p.m. (Phoenix time). SFA ranks first in the WAC Resume Seeding System that determines WAC Tournament seeding and is 10-2 in WAC play. One of its losses came at GCU on Jan. 7.