Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus San Diego State on February 4, 2026 , Win , 57, to, 44
W Basketball
vs San Diego State
W 57-44
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: Rachel Sollazzo
More than its 17-win streak, GCU stacks success
1/28/2025 11:50:00 AM | Women's Basketball, Paul Coro
Lopes compile career seasons for dominant run with 14 double-digit wins
It did not take the nation's second-longest active winning streak for Grand Canyon head coach Molly Miller and Tiarra Brown to know about Lopes' wins.
For five GCU seasons, Miller and Brown have been the only Lopes women's basketball constants to stack 104 victories while building more than a win count. They are constructing program success and know what looks and feels different about a 19-2 Lopes team that has won 17 consecutive games with 14 of them coming by double-digit margins.
GCU thrives on a lineup of veteran starters who are each having a career-best season while maintaining a mature mentality to spread the wealth rather than gather it.
"As a coach, you hope what you're speaking in the circles in pregame and postgame is resonating," said Miller, whose career winning percentage (.840) ranks fifth among active NCAA coaches with nine or more seasons.
"But they're having those same conversations in the locker room without coaches. They know how much it means. They know how locked in they need to be. That's what makes us special is that this is a player-led team."
The Nov. 27 starting point of GCU's 17-game winning streak was definitive of the team's selfless culture.
Lopes senior guard Trinity San Antonio, the WAC Preseason Player of the Year with explosive scoring ability, set a GCU record and tied a WAC record with 17 assists against Liberty (now 13-5) in a 79-50 blowout that was a 42-point turnaround from the teams' meeting last season.
During GCU's 17-game winning streak, six Lopes have led a victory in scoring. The Lopes began the season at 2-2 with road losses to quality teams, Oregon and Middle Tennessee State, but Brown said that a mindset shift then began.
"We all know we're a weapon individually," said Brown, the program's all-time rebounding leader and Division I-era points and steals leader. "When we come together and trust each other, it plays well. Everyone supports each other's success."
GCU is winning games by an average margin of 22.9 points during the winning streak, routing teams by more than 20 points on seven occasions and building a 14-0 home record. The streak included wins at Arizona, against Arizona State in downtown Phoenix and against Northern Arizona at home for the first-ever sweep of three in-state Division I opponents.
The Lopes have led by double digits for an entire second half in nine games during the streak, but they also have been tested.
The only game to come down to a final shot was Dec. 5 at Arizona, where they trailed until the nation's leader in 3-pointers made per game, senior guard Alyssa Durazo-Frescas, made a go-ahead 3 with 2:05 to go. The Lopes won 69-66 when the Wildcats missed a last-ditch 3-pointer.
GCU trailed at halftime twice in one road trip (at Abilene Christian and at Tarleton State) and rallied each time, including a 28-point turnaround in one game and winning despite not making a 3 in the other.
As much as the defensive brand of the Lopes has been maintained with 13 steals per game and 21 opponent turnovers per game during the winning streak, the Lopes also are flexing their best offense ever.
GCU has the nation's best shooting percentage since that win against Liberty on Nov. 27 at 51.6%. The Lopes' season-long 49% clip is tied for sixth nationally, just behind Notre Dame and UCLA and just ahead of Texas and Oklahoma State.
The only team with a longer active winning streak than GCU is No. 1 UCLA (20-0). The Lopes are the only mid-major program among the 11 teams with winning percentages better than .900 this season.
"The company we're keeping in the national rankings is pretty impressive," Miller said. "That's a testament to where this program has gotten and where we want to go. We want to be in the conversation of national rankings and dominating wins. We've show this year that we belong."
The Lopes have reached a program-best No. 68 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings on the strength of an all-senior starting lineup that includes four Lopes playing at All-WAC caliber.
The first five's feats:
"It's hard for an individual to think of how much success they could have, but what is better for the team is getting others involved and playing up to everyone's strength," Miller said. "That's been a real asset to our program. It doesn't matter who is scoring as long as we're playing together."
After 116 career starts, Brown is not counting wins or checking individual record books. She returned to GCU, where older sister Tianna also played 2019-22, to be part of the program's first WAC championship.
Told only UCLA has won more consecutive games currently, Brown said. "Oh, really, I didn't know that, and I'm not going to talk about it either. We're like, 'Knock on wood.' If you ask us our record, we don't know. Just stay within ourselves and collective.
"We don't get too far ahead of ourselves. We've been good. We were never a bad team. We just got to the tournament and didn't pull through. We're going to play hard each game as if it's a championship and keep a level head."
For five GCU seasons, Miller and Brown have been the only Lopes women's basketball constants to stack 104 victories while building more than a win count. They are constructing program success and know what looks and feels different about a 19-2 Lopes team that has won 17 consecutive games with 14 of them coming by double-digit margins.
GCU thrives on a lineup of veteran starters who are each having a career-best season while maintaining a mature mentality to spread the wealth rather than gather it.
"As a coach, you hope what you're speaking in the circles in pregame and postgame is resonating," said Miller, whose career winning percentage (.840) ranks fifth among active NCAA coaches with nine or more seasons."But they're having those same conversations in the locker room without coaches. They know how much it means. They know how locked in they need to be. That's what makes us special is that this is a player-led team."
The Nov. 27 starting point of GCU's 17-game winning streak was definitive of the team's selfless culture.
Lopes senior guard Trinity San Antonio, the WAC Preseason Player of the Year with explosive scoring ability, set a GCU record and tied a WAC record with 17 assists against Liberty (now 13-5) in a 79-50 blowout that was a 42-point turnaround from the teams' meeting last season.
During GCU's 17-game winning streak, six Lopes have led a victory in scoring. The Lopes began the season at 2-2 with road losses to quality teams, Oregon and Middle Tennessee State, but Brown said that a mindset shift then began.
"We all know we're a weapon individually," said Brown, the program's all-time rebounding leader and Division I-era points and steals leader. "When we come together and trust each other, it plays well. Everyone supports each other's success."GCU is winning games by an average margin of 22.9 points during the winning streak, routing teams by more than 20 points on seven occasions and building a 14-0 home record. The streak included wins at Arizona, against Arizona State in downtown Phoenix and against Northern Arizona at home for the first-ever sweep of three in-state Division I opponents.
The Lopes have led by double digits for an entire second half in nine games during the streak, but they also have been tested.
The only game to come down to a final shot was Dec. 5 at Arizona, where they trailed until the nation's leader in 3-pointers made per game, senior guard Alyssa Durazo-Frescas, made a go-ahead 3 with 2:05 to go. The Lopes won 69-66 when the Wildcats missed a last-ditch 3-pointer.GCU trailed at halftime twice in one road trip (at Abilene Christian and at Tarleton State) and rallied each time, including a 28-point turnaround in one game and winning despite not making a 3 in the other.
As much as the defensive brand of the Lopes has been maintained with 13 steals per game and 21 opponent turnovers per game during the winning streak, the Lopes also are flexing their best offense ever.
GCU has the nation's best shooting percentage since that win against Liberty on Nov. 27 at 51.6%. The Lopes' season-long 49% clip is tied for sixth nationally, just behind Notre Dame and UCLA and just ahead of Texas and Oklahoma State.
The only team with a longer active winning streak than GCU is No. 1 UCLA (20-0). The Lopes are the only mid-major program among the 11 teams with winning percentages better than .900 this season."The company we're keeping in the national rankings is pretty impressive," Miller said. "That's a testament to where this program has gotten and where we want to go. We want to be in the conversation of national rankings and dominating wins. We've show this year that we belong."
The Lopes have reached a program-best No. 68 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings on the strength of an all-senior starting lineup that includes four Lopes playing at All-WAC caliber.
The first five's feats:
Graduate forward Laura Erikstrup went from averaging 11 minutes last season to developing her low-post game and thriving in transition for career highs in points per game (15.5), rebounds per game (7.1) and field goal percentage (60.6%). Her shooting ranks 14th nationally and tops the WAC.- San Antonio, coming off an Olympic summer for Puerto Rico, also is posting career highs for points per game (14.6), assists per game (5.4), steals per game (2.7) and field goal percentage (49.0%). Her assists and steals averages rank in the national top 30.
- Durazo-Frescas is making a nation-best 4.1 shots from 3-point range per game with 45.6% accuracy on 3s that ranks 12th nationally. Her team-best 15.3 points per game also registers as a career high after starting three seasons at UNLV.
- Brown's career highs include points per game (11.3), assists per game (2.9), steals per game (2.8) and free throw percentage (77.1%). Her steals average leads the WAC and ranks 21st nationally.
- Like Erikstrup, point guard Callie Cooper is a full-time starter for the first time. She is producing career highs for steals per game (2.2) and assists per game (3.3).
"It's hard for an individual to think of how much success they could have, but what is better for the team is getting others involved and playing up to everyone's strength," Miller said. "That's been a real asset to our program. It doesn't matter who is scoring as long as we're playing together."After 116 career starts, Brown is not counting wins or checking individual record books. She returned to GCU, where older sister Tianna also played 2019-22, to be part of the program's first WAC championship.
Told only UCLA has won more consecutive games currently, Brown said. "Oh, really, I didn't know that, and I'm not going to talk about it either. We're like, 'Knock on wood.' If you ask us our record, we don't know. Just stay within ourselves and collective.
"We don't get too far ahead of ourselves. We've been good. We were never a bad team. We just got to the tournament and didn't pull through. We're going to play hard each game as if it's a championship and keep a level head."
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