Challenging nonconference schedule unveiled

Grand Canyon head coach Molly Miller and the women's basketball program unveiled its 16-game nonconference schedule that includes home games versus Liberty and Northern Arizona and a road trip to Tucson to play Arizona.

"We have really loaded up our nonconference schedule to challenge this team right out of the gate in November," Miller said. "There will be some competitive stretches that will test the resiliency and toughness of our team, including a three-game MTE (multi-team event) in December to get those extra games in."

The season opens with Benedictine Mesa in an Oct. 30 exhibition at Global Credit Union Arena. The first official game of the 2024-25 campaign is slated for Nov. 4 against Cal State Bakersfield at 4 p.m. at home.=

The Lopes take a long break from playing on their home court and endure two road contests and a neutral site game over an 11-day stretch. GCU's first road contest of the season is at Middle Tennessee, the first of two games in the WAC/Conference USA scheduling initiative.

The Lopes defeated the Blue Raiders at home a season ago, when GCU delivered a rare loss for a Middle Tennessee team that went 30-5 and advanced to the NCAA tournament.

GCU returns to the Valley and plays a neutral-site contest at Footprint Center against Arizona State, the first game of a Nov. 14 Hall of Fame Series doubleheader with a GCU-ASU men's game. The women's matchup is the Lopes' third against the Sun Devils in as many years with each team winning a road game thus far.

Four days later, GCU heads to Oregon, which narrowly won at GCU last season. It is the Lopes' first Big Ten opponent (as a new member) in program history.

GCU returns to Global Credit Union Arena for three straight games, beginning with a rematch against Liberty on Nov. 27 in the second of two WAC/C-USA initiative games. It then hosts UC Santa Barbara (Nov. 29) and Texas A&M Commerce (Nov. 30) in the Women's GCU Thanksgiving Classic presented by Talking Stick Resort.

The Lopes venture an hour and a half south to Tucson on Dec. 5 for a Big 12 matchup against Arizona at McKale Center. It will be the teams' first meeting, with Arizona coming off four straight NCAA tournament appearances.

"Some schedule highlights include playing teams like Middle Tennessee, who knocked off Louisville in last year's NCAA tournament; Oregon, which will be a great road environment in Eugene, and a program-first Big Ten matchup; Arizona, a consistent tournament team and NCAA runner-up in 2021; and Arizona State, who we will meet for the third time at the Footprint Center after a 1-1 series start," Miller said.

From Tucson, the squad returns home for seven straight games beginning with Utah State (Dec. 8) and Westcliff (Dec. 14). In addition to its annual Thanksgiving tournament, the Lopes will host a three-day Women's Christmas Classic presented by Tru by Hilton Phoenix Midtown. GCU opponents include Wright State (Dec. 18), Florida Atlantic (Dec. 19) and Georgia Southern (Dec. 21).

The final two nonconference contests include two in-state programs in Park Gilbert on Dec. 27 and Northern Arizona on Dec. 29. It is the first time playing NAU since the 2021-22 season in Flagstaff.

GCU will face the three Arizona Division I programs in the same season for the first time in program history, becoming the first team of the four to do so.

"Our last nonconference game will complete the matchup rounds of Arizona teams as we host NAU, a WNIT team that went 25-10 last year," Miiller said. "My hope is that playing this caliber of nonconference opponents will prepare us for WAC play and get us competing at a high level."

The Lopes begin conference play Jan. 4 at Southern Utah with its first WAC home game on Jan. 9 versus Utah Valley.

The Lopes finished 24-8 overall and 16-4 in WAC play last season while earning the No. 2 seed in the WAC Tournament. Nine players return from that squad, headlined by 2023 and 2024 All-WAC first-team recipient Tiarra Brown, 2024 WAC Sixth Woman of the Year Laura Erikstrup and 2024 All-WAC Defensive Team player Trinity San Antonio, who competed for Puerto Rico in the Paris Summer Games.

Junior Callie Cooper, sophomore Asha Sra and seniors Krystyna Jeskeova, Anna Ostlie and Sydney Erikstrup return from last year's team that set a Lopes record for home wins in a season with 13.

GCU brings in six new players, including UNLV transfers Alyssa Durazo-Frescas and Nneka Obiazor, who won Mountain West Sixth Woman of the Year last season. Ale'Jah Douglas (Oklahoma State), Bridget Mullings (Utah State), Kaitlyn Elsholz (CSUN) and Lucy Ghaifan (Omaha) are transfer additions, while freshman Naomi White is set to begin her first collegiate season.

Grand Canyon University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Tiarra Brown

Callie Cooper

Alyssa Durazo-Frescas

Kaitlyn Elsholz

Laura Erikstrup

Sydney Erikstrup

Lucy Ghaifan

Bridget Mullings

Nneka Obiazor

Anna Ostlie

Trinity San Antonio

Asha Sra

Naomi White

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