Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball at South Carolina on November 3, 2025 at TBA
W Basketball
TBA
at South Carolina
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Friday, March 10
Las Vegas, Nev.
3 p.m. MT / 2 p.m. PT
Grand Canyon
21-10,12-6WAC
51
vs
64
(2) Southern Utah
22-9,16-2WAC
1
2
3
4
F
Grand Canyon
12
8
17
14
51
Southern Utah
16
15
20
13
64
Southern Utah knocks out GCU
3/10/2023 4:32:00 PM | Women's Basketball, Paul Coro
WAC champs beat Lopes with large FT disparity again
LAS VEGAS – The ending day of the season-long goal was one day sooner than the past or what was desired, but the ache and the anguish of exiting the WAC Tournament was just as stinging for the Grand Canyon women's basketball team in a semifinal as it was in the two previous years' championship games.
The Lopes expected to take the program to the next level this season, but the young team took the lessons to do it in future years instead on Friday when they dropped a 64-51 semifinal to regular-season conference champion Southern Utah at Orleans Arena.
"The future's really bright for this team, although this one stings right now," GCU head coach Molly Miller said after the program's first consecutive 20-win seasons in its Division I era. "It's definitely a springboard for us. This team has one kid exhausting eligibility in Evan Zars. I want to say we have a 365-day leg up for the next time. That's promising for us."
Matching a season low for scoring and setting a season low for free throws, GCU (21-10) could not sustain the a first-quarter lead and wound up being hurt by a large free throw disparity against Southern Utah (22-9) for the second consecutive week.
The Lopes did not shoot a first-half free throw and lost All-WAC first-teamer Tiarra Brown to two fouls after six minutes of action, leading to a 31-20 advantage at the half for the Thunderbirds.
GCU did its usual defensive damage with 20 Southern Utah turnovers but the Thunderbirds outscored them on free throws 13-4 after doing so 30-11 in beating the Lopes last we
ek in Cedar City.
"Tough one for us from the get-go," Miller said. "I mean from the jump. We were a little out of sorts. That's hard to recover from. A lot of credit to them. They're a veteran team and you could tell.
"Having T on the bench – someone who makes our defense go – the majority of the first half was tough on us. We needed to be more physical."
GCU played without graduate center Evan Zars because of a head injury she suffered in the WAC quarterfinal when she was elbowed in the head.
Freshman power forward Alaina Harper replaced her for her second start of the season and delivered her third consecutive double-digit scoring performance after having two previously this season. The 6-foot-3 Wisconsin native went 6 for 11 despite the Lopes shooting 37.3% as a team.
"There's a lot to learn from this game," Harper said. "Small plays compound and get to bigger leads. We wanted this one, but it didn't go our way. We have to learn from it and bounce back."
In addition to going without a free throw attempt until the second half, the Lopes did not make a 3-pointer until the second half. They went 0 for 7 and were 0 for 8 by the time Southern Utah's lead had grown to 46-28 before the first 3-pointer came from sophomore guard Naudia Evans, who scored a team-high 13 points.
GCU never was able to trim the lead to single digits in the second half as Southern Utah 6-foot-3 senior center Megan Jensen matched her season high with 22 points.
"I wasn't going to be outdone by them because I have really good coaches who let me know that I'm better in some ways," Jensen said.
The Thunderbirds' other game-changer in the frontcourt was 6-foot-5 junior center Lizzy Williamson, who blocked three shots and grabbed eight rebounds in the first half to help her team to a 31-20 halftime lead.
"Playing against kids that are three, four years older than Alaina and holding her own, that's such a bright and promising future," Miller said of Harper. "We're really excited that Alaina has flipped the page on her freshman year so quickly because her ceiling is still really high. She made the climb with huge acceleration."
The Lopes missed Zars in that regard after she had reached 1,000-point and 1,000-rebound career milestones this season. Zars still left her stamp on a team that followed up a 22-10 season with a 21-10 season.
"Evan has helped our team, in one year, springboard that winning tradition," Miller said. "She's meant a lot to our program in a short amount of time. Her legacy lives on because what we've built on with her in the infancy stages of our tradition will carry on and she's going to be a part of that forever."
The Lopes' penchant for pressure defense created 20 turnovers from Southern Utah, which made 23 turnovers when it rallied from a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit to beat GCU last week.
The Lopes caused a turnover to open the second half, but the Thunderbirds did not make another in the third quarter as it built a 20-point lead
"They're such a tough defensive team," Southern Utah head coach Tracy Sanders said. "They really put pressure on us. We knew it was coming, but it's one of those things you can't prepare for until you actually see it. Having just playing them, it was fresh in our minds."
GCU will remember the final and how the final three quarters got away from the Lopes after having a 10-7 lead on consecutive Harper post scores against the Thunderbirds, who needed a miraculous, buzzer-beating 3-pointer to get past New Mexico State in Wednesday's quarterfinal.
"I'm very angry," GCU sophomore guard Aaliyah Collins said. "I'm feeling a lot of emotions. That's just going to keep me working in the offseason and I'm going to come out a good player. Honestly, things happen for a reason. Maybe this is what needed to happen and hopefully all of us are going to come back with a bigger punch."
The Lopes expected to take the program to the next level this season, but the young team took the lessons to do it in future years instead on Friday when they dropped a 64-51 semifinal to regular-season conference champion Southern Utah at Orleans Arena.
"The future's really bright for this team, although this one stings right now," GCU head coach Molly Miller said after the program's first consecutive 20-win seasons in its Division I era. "It's definitely a springboard for us. This team has one kid exhausting eligibility in Evan Zars. I want to say we have a 365-day leg up for the next time. That's promising for us."Matching a season low for scoring and setting a season low for free throws, GCU (21-10) could not sustain the a first-quarter lead and wound up being hurt by a large free throw disparity against Southern Utah (22-9) for the second consecutive week.
The Lopes did not shoot a first-half free throw and lost All-WAC first-teamer Tiarra Brown to two fouls after six minutes of action, leading to a 31-20 advantage at the half for the Thunderbirds.
GCU did its usual defensive damage with 20 Southern Utah turnovers but the Thunderbirds outscored them on free throws 13-4 after doing so 30-11 in beating the Lopes last we
ek in Cedar City."Tough one for us from the get-go," Miller said. "I mean from the jump. We were a little out of sorts. That's hard to recover from. A lot of credit to them. They're a veteran team and you could tell.
"Having T on the bench – someone who makes our defense go – the majority of the first half was tough on us. We needed to be more physical."
GCU played without graduate center Evan Zars because of a head injury she suffered in the WAC quarterfinal when she was elbowed in the head.
Freshman power forward Alaina Harper replaced her for her second start of the season and delivered her third consecutive double-digit scoring performance after having two previously this season. The 6-foot-3 Wisconsin native went 6 for 11 despite the Lopes shooting 37.3% as a team.
"There's a lot to learn from this game," Harper said. "Small plays compound and get to bigger leads. We wanted this one, but it didn't go our way. We have to learn from it and bounce back."In addition to going without a free throw attempt until the second half, the Lopes did not make a 3-pointer until the second half. They went 0 for 7 and were 0 for 8 by the time Southern Utah's lead had grown to 46-28 before the first 3-pointer came from sophomore guard Naudia Evans, who scored a team-high 13 points.
GCU never was able to trim the lead to single digits in the second half as Southern Utah 6-foot-3 senior center Megan Jensen matched her season high with 22 points.
"I wasn't going to be outdone by them because I have really good coaches who let me know that I'm better in some ways," Jensen said.
The Thunderbirds' other game-changer in the frontcourt was 6-foot-5 junior center Lizzy Williamson, who blocked three shots and grabbed eight rebounds in the first half to help her team to a 31-20 halftime lead.
"Playing against kids that are three, four years older than Alaina and holding her own, that's such a bright and promising future," Miller said of Harper. "We're really excited that Alaina has flipped the page on her freshman year so quickly because her ceiling is still really high. She made the climb with huge acceleration."
The Lopes missed Zars in that regard after she had reached 1,000-point and 1,000-rebound career milestones this season. Zars still left her stamp on a team that followed up a 22-10 season with a 21-10 season.
"Evan has helped our team, in one year, springboard that winning tradition," Miller said. "She's meant a lot to our program in a short amount of time. Her legacy lives on because what we've built on with her in the infancy stages of our tradition will carry on and she's going to be a part of that forever."The Lopes' penchant for pressure defense created 20 turnovers from Southern Utah, which made 23 turnovers when it rallied from a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit to beat GCU last week.
The Lopes caused a turnover to open the second half, but the Thunderbirds did not make another in the third quarter as it built a 20-point lead
"They're such a tough defensive team," Southern Utah head coach Tracy Sanders said. "They really put pressure on us. We knew it was coming, but it's one of those things you can't prepare for until you actually see it. Having just playing them, it was fresh in our minds."
GCU will remember the final and how the final three quarters got away from the Lopes after having a 10-7 lead on consecutive Harper post scores against the Thunderbirds, who needed a miraculous, buzzer-beating 3-pointer to get past New Mexico State in Wednesday's quarterfinal.
"I'm very angry," GCU sophomore guard Aaliyah Collins said. "I'm feeling a lot of emotions. That's just going to keep me working in the offseason and I'm going to come out a good player. Honestly, things happen for a reason. Maybe this is what needed to happen and hopefully all of us are going to come back with a bigger punch."
Team Stats
GCU
SUU
FG%
.373
.451
3FG%
.188
.313
FT%
.667
.684
RB
27
39
TO
13
20
STL
10
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
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