Lopes host pair of top-4 teams in WAC standings

Thursday, January 25

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Stephen F. Austin

1/24/2024 3:24:00 PM | Women's Basketball

GCU aims to keep winning streak alive vs. Stephen F. Austin, UT Arlington

By: Nick Macdonald


Grand Canyon Lopes (16-3, 8-0 WAC)	vs.	Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks (12-6, 6-1 WAC)	UT Arlington Mavericks (9-9, 5-2 WAC)
		Thursday, Jan. 25 6 p.m.	Saturday, Jan. 27 2 p.m.
Game Notes		Watch Live Stats	Watch Live Stats

Grand Canyon enters this week with two pivotal matchups, seeing two teams that rank in the top four of the WAC standings.
Thursday's game against Stephen F. Austin is a meeting of two of the WAC's top three teams, with SFA at 6-1 and tied with California Baptist in second place. while GCU holds firm at 8-0 in first. Saturday marks the second meeting this season between the Mavericks and Lopes, with GCU prevailing 77-48 in Arlington on Dec. 2. UT Arlington has won eight of its last nine games and climbed up to fourth place in the WAC standings.
GCU is 9-2 at home this season and on an eight-game winning streak in games played at Global Credit Union Arena. The last home loss came Nov. 20 vs. Montana.

In her past five games, fifth-year point guard Jada Holland has been a catalyst on the offensive end, averaging 13.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 6.6 assists. She has scored in double figures and has had at least five assists in each of her past five games, with her 5.3 assists per game being a WAC best.
The Lopes hold the best scoring defense in the conference, limiting opponents to 56.1 points per game. GCU has held the opposition to 60 points or fewer 12 times this season, including six times in conference play.
Where the defense has shined, so has the offense. GCU ranks 37th in the nation and first in the WAC in field goal percentage (45.4%). Seven players are shooting higher than 40%, with Laura Erikstrup, Sydney Erikstrup and Olivia Lane all shooting above 50% from the floor.
Junior guard Naudia Evans continues to shine from 3-point range, ranking 24th in the country in 3-point percentage (43.3 %). Evans has made three or more 3s six times this season and leads the team in points (203).
Head coach Molly Miller ranks fourth among active coaches in winning % (.845) with eight or more seasons of coaching. She trails only Geno Auriemma (UConn), Kim Caldwell (Marshall) and Kim Mulkey (LSU).
The Lopes are 46-10 at Global Credit Union Arena since Miller took the helm in 2020. GCU has won at least 12 games at home in each of her three seasons in Phoenix, including a season-high 13 last year. The Lopes have 17 games at home this season.

Three Lopes have passed 1,000 career points this season, and four players have reached 1,000 career points, setting up GCU as one of the few teams with four or more 1,000-point scorers on the same squad.
Jada Holland, Shay Fano, Tiarra Brown and Olivia Lane all surpassed the 1K mark, with Fano, Brown and Lane each doing so this season. Among 1,000-point scorers in the WAC, only three schools have one player each to reach the milestone (Utah Tech, California Baptist, UT Rio Grande Valley).
In all, GCU is one of 10 teams to have four or more 1,000-point scorers on the same squad, joining Louisville, Mississippi State, Kansas, Baylor, Maryland, USC, Tennessee, Memphis and Gonzaga.

Stephen F. Austin is tied for second in the WAC standings at 6-1 and holds a 12-6 overall record. It has won three straight games, with wins over Utah Tech, Southern Utah and Seattle U.
Like GCU, SFA is at the top in steals per game, averaging 10.8 to rank 32nd in the nation and second in the WAC.
The Ladyjacks rank 37th in the nation in assists per game (17.1) and 44th in scoring offense (76.5).
Kurstyn Harden as been one of the conference's best scorers, recording 16.4 points per game to rank second in the league. She is also 22nd in the nation in free throw attempts (109) and 16th in made free throws (90). She owns the conference's best field goal percentage at 56%.
Destini Lombard leads the WAC in assists (77) and is second behind GCU's Jada Holland in assists per game (4.3).
UT Arlington enters the week at 9-9 and 5-3 in WAC play.
Since Dec. 16, the Mavericks have won eight of nine games to bring themselves back to .500.
UTA ranks second in the WAC in free throw attempts per game (19.8) and third in made free throws (14.1).
The Mavericks lead the league in blocks with 3.8 per contest. Adela Valkova is the conference leader with 29 blocks and 1.6 blocks per game.
Avery Brittingham is the WAC leader in rebounds, pulling down 150 this season. She is second in rebounds per contest (8.3) and also ranks second in assists with 72.

The Lopes head on the road for a quick trip to Seattle to play the Redhawks on Feb. 1. They return to host Utah Valley on Saturday, Feb. 3, for Girl Scouts Day.
Live coverage of the Utah Valley contest will be on Fox10 Xtra and ESPN+.