Offense continues to click as Lopes defeat UCSB

Friday, November 29

Phoenix, Ariz.

2:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

4-2,0-0WAC

UC Santa Barbara

4-3,0-0Big West

UC Santa Barbara

Grand Canyon

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

11/29/2024 6:09:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

L. Erikstrup, San Antonio combine for 34 points to beat Gauchos

By: Nick Macdonald

Off the heels of a 51% shooting performance versus Liberty on Wednesday, Grand Canyon once again capitalized on its offensive possessions against UC Santa Barbara in the Talking Stick Resort Thanksgiving Classic, recording a 47% clip from the field and winning 69-58 for its third home vitory of the season.

News and Highlights

Lopes leading scorers Trinity San Antonio and Laura Erikstrup combined for 34 of the Lopes' 69 points. San Antonio finished with 16 points and six assists, giving her 23 assists in her last two games.
Erikstrup finished two rebounds shy of a double-double, totaling 18 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a steal. The graduate has scored 15-plus points in three of six games this season.
GCU shot 40% or better in every quarter, including 47% or higher in the first and third quarters. It is the third game this season – all at home – that the Lopes have shot 47% or better.
The defense once again controlled the tempo, forcing 21 turnovers and scoring 24 points off them. In two games this week, GCU has forced 48 turnovers.

"It's good to take this one away, especially with a turnaround mentality," Lopes head coach Molly Miller said. "It was a quick turnaround and a short scout, but I thought we did a good job coming out in the third quarter, like we should."

GCU (4-2) jumped out to a 10-4 lead through the first three minutes of play and led 14-7 at the media timeout. UC Santa Barbara (4-3) scored eight straight out of that timeout, only for GCU to score nine straight to lead 23-15 after one. The 23 points in the first quarter were the most this season for the Lopes.

The Lopes led by as many as 13 points twice in the second quarter, but the Gauchos responded with an 11-2 run and trailed by only four with 2 1/2 minutes left in the half. GCU went into halftime leading by six, shooting 46% in the first half and making 7 of 9 attempts from the free throw line.

While GCU's 3-point shooting was off (3 of 16, a season low for made 3s), the duo of Erikstrup and San Antonio combined with graduate Nneka Obiazor's post play as the dominating factors throughout the contest. The trio combined to shoot 54% from the floor as Obiazor finished with 13 points and three boards.

UCSB stayed within two or three possessions in the early third quarter, trailing by five at the midway point. A Laura Erikstrup layup and a 3-pointer from her twin, Sydney, was a momentum-swinging combination as GCU led by 11 after three quarters.

Both teams scored 16 points in the final quarter, the first eight for the Lopes coming from San Antonio. GCU pocketed 10 steals, four by graduate Tiarra Brown and three from San Antonio. The duo, who earned All-WAC Defensive Team honors a season ago, were each in the top five for steals per game in the WAC heading into the weekend.

"With these past two games, a lot of it is fouling adversity," Miller said. "We're better when Trin is on the court, and she knows that. When we get into foul trouble, we play with different lineups and may get out of rhythm a little bit, but it's about playing a clean game of basketball. It's still very early in the season, and you're going to have some ups and downs and everything in between, but it's nice to learn during victory."

GCU had a season-low 15 fouls, including only two in the first quarter.

The Lopes are now 10-1 all-time in the Thanksgiving tournament at GCU, including a 7-0 record in the past four seasons.

GCU resumes the Talking Stick Resort Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday with a 2:30 p.m. contest versus East Texas A&M. The matchup is the first ever in program history and the final game of the four-game event. Seattle U will face UC Santa Barbara at noon.