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 15
Las Vegas, Nev.
2:30 p.m.
Grand Canyon
vs
(3) Stephen F. Austin
Stage is set; GCU plays Stephen F. Austin in WAC semifinal
3/14/2024 7:59:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Lopes look to make WAC Tournament final for 3rd time in 4 years
Friday, March 15 | 2:30 p.m. | WAC Tournament semifinal | Orleans Arena | Las Vegas, Nev. |
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#3 STEPHEN F. AUSTIN
LADYJACKS (21-11) |
vs. | #2 GRAND CANYON LOPES (24-7) |
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| WATCH: ESPN+ | STATS: View | ||||
LAS VEGAS – Grand Canyon touched down in Las Vegas on Wednesday afternoon, and after two days of prepping for the biggest game of the season, the Lopes have their opponent for Friday afternoon's WAC Tournament semifinal round.
Second-seeded GCU (24-7) will take on third-seeded Stephen F. Austin (21-11) at 2:30 p.m. in Orleans Arena for a spot in Saturday's 10:30 a.m. championship game. The meeting is the teams' third this season and second in the past three games with the Lumberjacks winning the first two. The GCU-SFA winner will face the winner of the other Friday semifinal between top-seeded California Baptist and fifth-seeded UT Arlington.
The regular season was one to remember for the Lopes, turning in the most wins in a regular season in the program's Division I history. Their 13 home victories tied for second most all-time, while their 11 road victories tied for most in a single campaign.
Senior Tiarra Brown became the first Lope ever to be named to an All-WAC postseason team three times and first to earn two first-team honors, which she did in consecutive seasons. Brown also joined GCU junior guard Trinity San Antonio on the All-Defensive Team for back-to-back seasons with multiple Lopes on the defensive side of the awards. Graduate forward Laura Erikstrup, who transferred from San Diego this past offseason, garnered Sixth Woman of the Year honors, highlighting GCU's depth.
Friday's matchup is a rematch of the 2022 WAC Tournament final, which the Ladyjacks won 74-57. GCU is 4-3 since the 2020-21 season in the WAC Tournament, winning at least one game in each tournament during that stretch. A difference this season is the double bye that the Lopes earned after a 16-4 conference record to finish second in the WAC Resume Seeding System. Stephen F. Austin reached the semifinal round by defeating Tarleton State 70-58 in a Thursday quarterfinal.
GCU thrives on its lockdown defense and transition baskets off turnovers. It is 23-3 in games it has allowed an opponent to less than 70 points, but 1-4 in games the opposition has scored 70 or more points. The Lopes boast the 17th-best scoring defense in the nation, allowing 55.9 points per game, but are coming off back-to-back games allowing 85 points.
The Lopes' lineup is not new to the WAC Tournament spotlight. Four starters (Brown, San Antonio, senior forward Olivia Lane and junior guard Naudia Evans) each started on their respective teams in last year's tournament. Fifth-year guard and 2019-20 WAC Newcomer of the Year Jada Holland has yet to play a WAC Tournament game, with the 2020 tournament being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stephen F. Austin has won three of its past four games, falling to Utah Tech in its regular-season finale before a 12-point victory in Las Vegas on Thursday over the Texans. GCU and SFA stack up in familiar territories defensively, as the Ladyjacks joined the Lopes as one of two teams to have multiple people on the five-person All-WAC Defensive Team. The Lumberjacks' Destini Lombard was named WAC Defensive Player of the Year with teammate Kyla Deck also earning a spot on the defensive squad.
Tipoff from Orleans Arena is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. with the game being shown on ESPN+. Tickets to the game can be found here.
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