Home finale puts WAC title on line

Saturday, March 9 \| 2 p.m. \| Global Credit Union Arena \| Phoenix, Ariz.

	CALIFORNIA BAPTIST LANCERS (25-3, 17-2 WAC)	at	GRAND CANYON LOPES (24-6, 16-3 WAC)

WATCH: ESPN+ \| STATS: View

If you are a basketball fan with interest in a game that settles a conference championship, the only regular-season game remaining on the NCAA women's basketball schedule with such implications will be at Grand Canyon on Saturday.

For the Lopes, the stakes are even heavier with their 2 p.m. game against California Baptist at Global Credit Union Arena carrying a chance for GCU's first WAC championship.The Lopes (24-6, 16-3 WAC) can tie the Lancers (25-3, 16-2 WAC) for first place if GCU wins to split the teams' season series.

Molly Miller and team

The game offers a scene with a dramatic confluence of conference title implications, a revenge game for GCU and Senior Night for Lopes players Tiarra Brown, Shay Fano, Jada Holland, Olivia Lane and Sydney Palma.

"We've come too far just to come this far," GCU head coach Molly Miller said, repeating the week's theme for her players. "What a season, 24 wins, the most in the program's D-I history. But we've come too far just to be OK with what we've accomplished."

In Miller's fourth season at the help of the Lopes, they have posted three consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in the history of a program that began in NAIA in 1988. But since joining the WAC in 2013, GCU has been unable to raise a WAC women's basketball banner, although Miller has put the Lopes on the precipice with their three winningest Division I-era seasons, two WAC Tournament championship game appearances and regular-season WAC finishes of second, third and fourth.

GCU lost 71-65 at CBU on Feb. 17, when the Lancers took a 10-0 lead and stretched the gap to as much as 14. GCU wiped away all of the lead but gave it back with a 7-0, half-ending run by the Lancers, who never trailed again despite WAC Player of the Year frontrunner Chloe Webb fouling out with 5:48 to go.

Phoenix, AZ Nov. 25 , 2023: GCU gets a 63-40 win over Nicholls in the GCU Classic at GCU Arena.

Phoenix, AZ Nov. 25 , 2023: GCU gets a 63-40 win over Nicholls in the GCU Classic at GCU Arena.

"It means a lot, not just for the get-back but to make history," said Brown, a 5-foot-9 forward who holds the GCU Division I-era career records for rebounds (553), steals (195) and blocked shots (78) and ranks second in points (1,126). "Senior Night, possibility to make history, beat CBU. So it's a really big night, not just for seniors, but the whole team. We've got to stay composed. We are coming together as a team after a loss and fixing what it has to be fixed. We are all locked in."

The plot thickens for Palma and junior guard Trinity San Antonio, who both transferred from CBU (Palma in 2022 and San Antonio in 2023). They combined to go 6 for 17 from the field in the teams' first meeting to be in line with the Lopes' 36% shooting, well shy of their WAC-leading 45% shooting this season.

Phoenix, AZ Dec. 27, 2023: Grand Canyon Antelopes takes down Arizona Christian 115-41 at Global Credit Union Arena . Photo David Kadlubowski/GCU

Phoenix, AZ Dec. 27, 2023: Grand Canyon Antelopes takes down Arizona Christian 115-41 at Global Credit Union Arena . Photo David Kadlubowski/GCU

"I know it's my ex-team, and they know I'm an ex-player," said San Antonio, who leads a balanced attack in points per game (11.3) and steals per game (2.3). "Point blank, period, we know what it is. I'm just not paying too much mind it to it, because the more emotion I play with, the worse I play. When I take out my emotions, I'm more level-headed. I can make more conscious decisions."

CBU has a star in Webb, a 5-foot-8 guard who averages 21.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game. The Lancers rank in the national top-10 averages for defensive rebounds (31.9 per game, second), 3-pointers made (9.8 per game) and assists (19.1 per game).

The 3-point arsenal is a big part of why CBU ranks 14th nationally for scoring at 80.1 points per game. GCU counters with the nation's No. 14 defense, holding opponents to 54.9 points per game.

"If you can hold a team well below their average, you've got a good shot at winning," Miller said. "So for us, it's got to continue to be that defensive mentality. And then we understand what offensive execution will look like against this team. Now, it's about finishing those plays."

The teams will be the WAC Tournament's top two seeds next week in Las Vegas, putting them on a collision course to potentially meet again the following Saturday morning for a nationally televised conference championship game. But beyond the national ESPN+ audience for this Saturday's game at GCU, the Havocs and Lope Nation are expected to show up far more than the crowd of 687 fans that CBU drew for the initial first-place battle.

"You can't story-write this any better," Miller said. "This is the top two teams fighting for a piece of a regular-season championship. What a great opportunity to get a good crowd and have our home environment behind us for an electric environment for what's at stake."

Saturday, March 9 | 2 p.m. | Global Credit Union Arena | Phoenix, Ariz.

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Players Mentioned

Tiarra Brown

Shay Fano

Jada Holland

Olivia Lane

Sydney Palma

Trinity San Antonio

Grand Canyon University Athletics