Upcoming Event: Women's Basketball at South Carolina on November 3, 2025 at TBA
W Basketball
TBA
at South Carolina
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Wednesday, March 8
Las Vegas, Nev.
9 p.m. MT / 8 p.m. PT
Grand Canyon
21-9,12-6WAC
85
vs
80
(11) Seattle U
6-24,5-13WAC
1
2
3
4
F
Seattle U
16
19
22
23
80
Grand Canyon
17
15
18
35
85
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Resolve takes over in 4th to advance to WAC semis
3/8/2023 11:54:00 PM | Women's Basketball, Paul Coro
GCU trails most of game but sets tourney record for FTs, season 4th-quarter scoring high
LAS VEGAS – Trailing for 24 consecutive minutes of a do-or-die game could have revealed the vulnerability of the Grand Canyon women's basketball team. Instead, it showed the Lopes' resiliency.
GCU decided it is too close to its goal to turn back now, defeating Seattle U 85-80 in a Wednesday night WAC Tournament quarterfinal at Orleans Arena by saving its highest-scoring quarter of the season for when the Lopes needed it most.
GCU (21-9) broke a 17-year-old WAC Tournament record with 34 free throws made, most of which came in a resilient 35-point fourth quarter with 18-for-21 free throw shooting. The Lopes advance to a Friday semifinal against Southern Utah (21-9), the regular-season WAC champion that needed a miraculous buzzer-beater to eliminate New Mexico State earlier Wednesday night.
"Playing from behind is never easy, but we've done it a few times this year," GCU head coach Molly Miller said. "It was good to see us come on the other side, where we could persevere. Gut-check time in the fourth quarter. A big fourth quarter for us, scoring 35 points. That's huge for this team to know we have the capability to do that."
The Lopes trailed from the first minute of the second quarter until GCU sophomore guard Naudia Evans made a brilliant defensive read to set up sophomore guard Aaliyah Collins' fastbreak layup, which gave the Lopes a 71-69 edge with 3:12 to go.
Evans was on the opposite side of the court from the ball when she saw GCU teammates double-team the ball and anticipated Seattle U's escape pass, stealing it from behind the intended Redhawk and sending it ahead for Collins to zoom for the layin.
It was part of an 8-0 Lopes run that was capped by Collins feeding freshman Alaina Harper in the post, where she capped her 11-point tourney debut with a score that put the Lopes ahead 75-69 with 1:08 remaining. From there, GCU closed out the win by making 10 of 12 free throws to maintain a lead at four points or more in the final minute.
Once the final buzzer sounded, Evans walked toward her celebratory teammates with her head shaking but not in disbelief.
"It was, 'They thought we were going home; they thought they had it,' " Evans said. "Not tonight."
The Lopes eventually dashed the Cinderella hopes of the Redhawks, who put together their two best offensive performances since Dec. 10 to upset UT Arlington on Monday and extend GCU on Wednesday.
Three Seattle U players fouled out within 2 1/2 minutes of each other, leading to the Redhawks losing their lead after the first two exited.
GCU entered the fourth quarter trailing 57-50 with Seattle U going 8 for 16 on 3-pointers, but the Lopes limited the Redhawks to taking (and making) only one more 3-pointer in the fourth.
Momentum swung in a hurry in the fourth quarter with Lopes junior forward Tiarra Brown's opening attack, where she hung airborne for a scoring finish. Evans followed with a
backcourt steal, one of her game-high four, and fed graduate power forward Evan Zars for a 3-pointer that narrowed the lead to two in the quarter's first 23 seconds.
GCU's pressure defense rattled Seattle U into six turnovers in the fourth quarter's first five minutes and 20 for the game.
"We knew our defense needed to create our offense, so we wanted to get in advantage situations from a turnover or speed them up," Miller said. "They're just a determined group. You can be down but never out."
A pivotal play followed in which GCU committed a foul on defense while Seattle U's Mya Moore picked up an intentional foul for throwing an elbow into Zars' head, knocking her woozy and disqualifying Moore.
That turned into a four-point possession with two free throws by Evans, who finished with 14 points, 10-for-10 free-throw shooting and five assists, and a putback by Harper to pull within one. On the next possession, Harper rolled for a 3-point play off Evans' feed to tie the game at 67-67 with 4:10 to go.
"Naudia's the best person to set a screen for because she knows how to set it up," said Harper, the 6-foot-3 Wisconsin native who posted the first consecutive double-digit scoring games of her season. "Even when I don't think the pass is going to come, she's going to get the pass there somehow."
Collins led GCU's scoring with 15 points and added three assists, but the Lopes also received 13 points from junior power forward Olivia Lane and nine points in 17 gutty minutes from junior guard Sydney Palma, who is not at 100 percent after returning from a knee injury for minimal playing time last week.
The L
opes converted more 3-point plays (four) than 3-point shots (three), but Palma sank two of the 3s.
"She willed us in that fourth quarter," Miller said of Palma. "I think we really fed off her. Her leadership has been so valuable."
Seattle U (6-24) took its largest lead at 51-42 with three minutes remaining in the third quarter, which closed with Peyton Howard scoring on three consecutive trips. Redhawks guard Taliyah Clark posted a game-high 22 points, fueled by 5-for-7 3-point shooting with her last one coming on the first play of the second half.
"We gave Grand Canyon everything we could," said Seattle U head coach Suzy Barcomb, whose team lost 78-43 at GCU with four players out ill on Feb. 18. "Molly just had a few more chess pieces than I did to pull the ball out at the end.
"(The first meeting) was the first time those first-year players had been in GCU's environment. Kind of loud. Kind of crazy. (The Havocs) were in our heads."
With the Havocs making their presence known in Las Vegas too, the Lopes do not need to dig deep to find motivation for Friday's semifinal at 3 p.m. (Phoenix time). The Lopes will only be eight days removed from a 71-63 loss at Southern Utah in which a 10-point, fourth-quarter lead disintegrated. The Thunderbirds also won 63-60 on Jan. 25 at GCU Arena.
"That's definitely motivation for our team," Miller said. "They're veteran, though. They don't beat themselves. It's going to be a great battle, as it has for the past two games. We just need to prepare our minds, rest our bodies and hopefully come in with a little bit of revenge factor."
GCU decided it is too close to its goal to turn back now, defeating Seattle U 85-80 in a Wednesday night WAC Tournament quarterfinal at Orleans Arena by saving its highest-scoring quarter of the season for when the Lopes needed it most.
GCU (21-9) broke a 17-year-old WAC Tournament record with 34 free throws made, most of which came in a resilient 35-point fourth quarter with 18-for-21 free throw shooting. The Lopes advance to a Friday semifinal against Southern Utah (21-9), the regular-season WAC champion that needed a miraculous buzzer-beater to eliminate New Mexico State earlier Wednesday night.
"Playing from behind is never easy, but we've done it a few times this year," GCU head coach Molly Miller said. "It was good to see us come on the other side, where we could persevere. Gut-check time in the fourth quarter. A big fourth quarter for us, scoring 35 points. That's huge for this team to know we have the capability to do that."
The Lopes trailed from the first minute of the second quarter until GCU sophomore guard Naudia Evans made a brilliant defensive read to set up sophomore guard Aaliyah Collins' fastbreak layup, which gave the Lopes a 71-69 edge with 3:12 to go.
Evans was on the opposite side of the court from the ball when she saw GCU teammates double-team the ball and anticipated Seattle U's escape pass, stealing it from behind the intended Redhawk and sending it ahead for Collins to zoom for the layin.
It was part of an 8-0 Lopes run that was capped by Collins feeding freshman Alaina Harper in the post, where she capped her 11-point tourney debut with a score that put the Lopes ahead 75-69 with 1:08 remaining. From there, GCU closed out the win by making 10 of 12 free throws to maintain a lead at four points or more in the final minute.
Once the final buzzer sounded, Evans walked toward her celebratory teammates with her head shaking but not in disbelief.
"It was, 'They thought we were going home; they thought they had it,' " Evans said. "Not tonight."The Lopes eventually dashed the Cinderella hopes of the Redhawks, who put together their two best offensive performances since Dec. 10 to upset UT Arlington on Monday and extend GCU on Wednesday.
Three Seattle U players fouled out within 2 1/2 minutes of each other, leading to the Redhawks losing their lead after the first two exited.
GCU entered the fourth quarter trailing 57-50 with Seattle U going 8 for 16 on 3-pointers, but the Lopes limited the Redhawks to taking (and making) only one more 3-pointer in the fourth.
Momentum swung in a hurry in the fourth quarter with Lopes junior forward Tiarra Brown's opening attack, where she hung airborne for a scoring finish. Evans followed with a
backcourt steal, one of her game-high four, and fed graduate power forward Evan Zars for a 3-pointer that narrowed the lead to two in the quarter's first 23 seconds.GCU's pressure defense rattled Seattle U into six turnovers in the fourth quarter's first five minutes and 20 for the game.
"We knew our defense needed to create our offense, so we wanted to get in advantage situations from a turnover or speed them up," Miller said. "They're just a determined group. You can be down but never out."
A pivotal play followed in which GCU committed a foul on defense while Seattle U's Mya Moore picked up an intentional foul for throwing an elbow into Zars' head, knocking her woozy and disqualifying Moore.
That turned into a four-point possession with two free throws by Evans, who finished with 14 points, 10-for-10 free-throw shooting and five assists, and a putback by Harper to pull within one. On the next possession, Harper rolled for a 3-point play off Evans' feed to tie the game at 67-67 with 4:10 to go."Naudia's the best person to set a screen for because she knows how to set it up," said Harper, the 6-foot-3 Wisconsin native who posted the first consecutive double-digit scoring games of her season. "Even when I don't think the pass is going to come, she's going to get the pass there somehow."
Collins led GCU's scoring with 15 points and added three assists, but the Lopes also received 13 points from junior power forward Olivia Lane and nine points in 17 gutty minutes from junior guard Sydney Palma, who is not at 100 percent after returning from a knee injury for minimal playing time last week.
The L
opes converted more 3-point plays (four) than 3-point shots (three), but Palma sank two of the 3s."She willed us in that fourth quarter," Miller said of Palma. "I think we really fed off her. Her leadership has been so valuable."
Seattle U (6-24) took its largest lead at 51-42 with three minutes remaining in the third quarter, which closed with Peyton Howard scoring on three consecutive trips. Redhawks guard Taliyah Clark posted a game-high 22 points, fueled by 5-for-7 3-point shooting with her last one coming on the first play of the second half.
"We gave Grand Canyon everything we could," said Seattle U head coach Suzy Barcomb, whose team lost 78-43 at GCU with four players out ill on Feb. 18. "Molly just had a few more chess pieces than I did to pull the ball out at the end.
"(The first meeting) was the first time those first-year players had been in GCU's environment. Kind of loud. Kind of crazy. (The Havocs) were in our heads."
With the Havocs making their presence known in Las Vegas too, the Lopes do not need to dig deep to find motivation for Friday's semifinal at 3 p.m. (Phoenix time). The Lopes will only be eight days removed from a 71-63 loss at Southern Utah in which a 10-point, fourth-quarter lead disintegrated. The Thunderbirds also won 63-60 on Jan. 25 at GCU Arena.
"That's definitely motivation for our team," Miller said. "They're veteran, though. They don't beat themselves. It's going to be a great battle, as it has for the past two games. We just need to prepare our minds, rest our bodies and hopefully come in with a little bit of revenge factor."
Team Stats
SU
GCU
FG%
.500
.429
3FG%
.529
.333
FT%
.778
.829
RB
29
31
TO
20
15
STL
7
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Pts
14
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
10
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
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