Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus San Diego State on February 4, 2026 , Win , 57, to, 44
W Basketball
vs San Diego State
W 57-44
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: Zach Campbell
New additions bring experience to team's mission
6/15/2023 6:45:00 AM | Women's Basketball, Paul Coro
Lopes begin summer workouts with 8 DI transfers, including 3 double-digit scorers
After the third session of summer workouts' first week ended, the Grand Canyon women's basketball team headed to a GCU Arena area with three round tables to have lunch.
All of the Lopes, despite most of them being new, crunched around one table like a team huddle to be together more.
GCU is applying a fast-acting bond despite flipping its roster with eight transfers, four of which have a combined 255 career starts to complement the return of a 21-10 team's top three scorers– guard Naudia Evans, forward Tiarra Brown and center Olivia Lane.
The Lopes are a collection of experiences as much as talents, creating an instant atmosphere of focus and competition because there is no mystery about the goal to claim the program's first WAC championship.
"The theme from the get-go has been that experience is valuable because a lot of these incoming players pick up on things a lot quicker than a younger transfer or freshman," GCU fourth-year head coach Molly Miller said. "Their ability to catch onto things quickly has allowed us to move things along at a good pace. And they have buy-in. They came here for a reason. We're all on the same page with wanting to do our best, but also chase a WAC championship. I think they're really invested into that."
Whether it's confirmation with eye contact and head nods or the intensity of their play, the Lopes' additions are looking like system and culture fits with more enforcements to come.
Trinity San Antonio, an All-WAC first-team guard who averaged 14.1 points for California Baptist last season, is playing with the Puerto Rico national team, just as Laura and Sydney Erikstrup are in Denmark with their national teams. The twins will reunite in Phoenix and bring athleticism to GCU in 6-foot-plus frames after Laura played last season at Arizona State while Sydney was at San Diego.
San Antonio, the Erikstrups, Boise State transfer Anna Ostile and UC Santa Barbara transfer Callie Cooper each have two seasons of eligibility remaining for the Lopes.
"Trinity and Tiarra are two of the top players in the league," Miller said. "Trinity puts our team on a whole new level on both sides of the ball. She's explosive on offense. She's got an explosive first step and a motor that never stops. I'm like, 'Does she get tired?' Defensively, she's got the length and the foot speed to plug right in the system. I think she's going to be a game-changer for us and really fun to watch."
Cooper arrived in Phoenix on Thursday morning and will give the Lopes two playmaking point guards with the return of Jada Holland, who was the 2019-20 WAC Freshman of the Year for GCU and transferred back to the Lopes this summer from San Jose State.
"Callie and Jada will be similar in that they'll be able to run a team, communicate and direct like a true point guard," Miller said.
Another immediate substantial factor will be Shay Fano, a skilled 6-foot forward who also is familiar to Lopes fans as a Utah Valley standout with three-year averages of 10.4 points and 6.8 rebounds.
"You can just tell there's a sense of excitement for all of us," Fano said. "A lot of us are new. We have some really tough returners coming back. Coach Miller recruited some more experienced players, and you can definitely tell when we play and practice.
"I wanted a place where I'd be pushed every single day and a place where I could compete against some of the best players. I've been able to do that here so far, so I'm happy."
Fano averaged 12.2 points and 7.0 rebounds last season for Utah Valley, scoring 17 and adding seven rebounds and three assists in her last GCU Arena visit.
"Shay's very savvy and smart," Miller said. "She can beat you on the inside and the outside. She's a good passer. She can rebound. She's one of those high-IQ basketball players that's going to figure it out really fast."
Kristyna Jeskeova, who followed new Lopes assistant coach Laura Dinkins from Long Beach State, is rehabilitating after knee surgery and is expected to be available for the season. But even in limited work, the 6-foot-2 Czech Republic native is carrying herself like an ideal teammate with impressive work ethic.
That is the type of drive that has impressed Ostile, a Scottsdale Chaparral High School graduate who is having a Valley homecoming after three years at Boise State.
"So far, I love it," Ostile said. "All the girls are super nice and competitive on the floor. We push each other to be better already. We're building chemistry really fast. I love the coaches' energy and their philosophy. I'm super pumped."
Ostile made 39% of her 3-point shots and 81% of her free throws last season and is not done getting better as a shooter.
"She's going to be here sun up to sun down," Miller said. "That's the type of kid she is. She wants it. She wants to work. She has a steadiness to her that's going to be an asset to our team. And she can knock down a shot. When we're playing in practice and she shoots, everyone thinks it's going in."
GCU also makes an in-house addition with Asha Sra, who redshirted her freshman season at GCU, and returns graduate guard Sydney Palma, who was sidelined by a knee injury for 14 of 31 games last season.
Palma, a coach on the floor, can be a connector for a team of players who represented nine schools a year ago. Some of that is taking care of itself, like when Fano and San Antonio talked on FaceTime last week for the first time after two years of being competitive conference foes.
"This is going to be fun," Fano told her.
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All of the Lopes, despite most of them being new, crunched around one table like a team huddle to be together more.
GCU is applying a fast-acting bond despite flipping its roster with eight transfers, four of which have a combined 255 career starts to complement the return of a 21-10 team's top three scorers– guard Naudia Evans, forward Tiarra Brown and center Olivia Lane.
The Lopes are a collection of experiences as much as talents, creating an instant atmosphere of focus and competition because there is no mystery about the goal to claim the program's first WAC championship.
"The theme from the get-go has been that experience is valuable because a lot of these incoming players pick up on things a lot quicker than a younger transfer or freshman," GCU fourth-year head coach Molly Miller said. "Their ability to catch onto things quickly has allowed us to move things along at a good pace. And they have buy-in. They came here for a reason. We're all on the same page with wanting to do our best, but also chase a WAC championship. I think they're really invested into that."Whether it's confirmation with eye contact and head nods or the intensity of their play, the Lopes' additions are looking like system and culture fits with more enforcements to come.
Trinity San Antonio, an All-WAC first-team guard who averaged 14.1 points for California Baptist last season, is playing with the Puerto Rico national team, just as Laura and Sydney Erikstrup are in Denmark with their national teams. The twins will reunite in Phoenix and bring athleticism to GCU in 6-foot-plus frames after Laura played last season at Arizona State while Sydney was at San Diego.
San Antonio, the Erikstrups, Boise State transfer Anna Ostile and UC Santa Barbara transfer Callie Cooper each have two seasons of eligibility remaining for the Lopes.
"Trinity and Tiarra are two of the top players in the league," Miller said. "Trinity puts our team on a whole new level on both sides of the ball. She's explosive on offense. She's got an explosive first step and a motor that never stops. I'm like, 'Does she get tired?' Defensively, she's got the length and the foot speed to plug right in the system. I think she's going to be a game-changer for us and really fun to watch."
Cooper arrived in Phoenix on Thursday morning and will give the Lopes two playmaking point guards with the return of Jada Holland, who was the 2019-20 WAC Freshman of the Year for GCU and transferred back to the Lopes this summer from San Jose State."Callie and Jada will be similar in that they'll be able to run a team, communicate and direct like a true point guard," Miller said.
Another immediate substantial factor will be Shay Fano, a skilled 6-foot forward who also is familiar to Lopes fans as a Utah Valley standout with three-year averages of 10.4 points and 6.8 rebounds.
"You can just tell there's a sense of excitement for all of us," Fano said. "A lot of us are new. We have some really tough returners coming back. Coach Miller recruited some more experienced players, and you can definitely tell when we play and practice.
"I wanted a place where I'd be pushed every single day and a place where I could compete against some of the best players. I've been able to do that here so far, so I'm happy."
Fano averaged 12.2 points and 7.0 rebounds last season for Utah Valley, scoring 17 and adding seven rebounds and three assists in her last GCU Arena visit.
"Shay's very savvy and smart," Miller said. "She can beat you on the inside and the outside. She's a good passer. She can rebound. She's one of those high-IQ basketball players that's going to figure it out really fast."
Kristyna Jeskeova, who followed new Lopes assistant coach Laura Dinkins from Long Beach State, is rehabilitating after knee surgery and is expected to be available for the season. But even in limited work, the 6-foot-2 Czech Republic native is carrying herself like an ideal teammate with impressive work ethic.
That is the type of drive that has impressed Ostile, a Scottsdale Chaparral High School graduate who is having a Valley homecoming after three years at Boise State."So far, I love it," Ostile said. "All the girls are super nice and competitive on the floor. We push each other to be better already. We're building chemistry really fast. I love the coaches' energy and their philosophy. I'm super pumped."
Ostile made 39% of her 3-point shots and 81% of her free throws last season and is not done getting better as a shooter.
"She's going to be here sun up to sun down," Miller said. "That's the type of kid she is. She wants it. She wants to work. She has a steadiness to her that's going to be an asset to our team. And she can knock down a shot. When we're playing in practice and she shoots, everyone thinks it's going in."
GCU also makes an in-house addition with Asha Sra, who redshirted her freshman season at GCU, and returns graduate guard Sydney Palma, who was sidelined by a knee injury for 14 of 31 games last season.
Palma, a coach on the floor, can be a connector for a team of players who represented nine schools a year ago. Some of that is taking care of itself, like when Fano and San Antonio talked on FaceTime last week for the first time after two years of being competitive conference foes.
"This is going to be fun," Fano told her.
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Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Basketball
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/ Women's Basketball
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