WAC play begins Saturday at Southern Utah

Saturday, January 4

Cedar City, Utah

2 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Southern Utah

Photo by: Jayden Todd

1/3/2025 10:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Lopes enter 2025 on 11-game winning streak

By: Nick Macdonald

Saturday, Jan. 4 \| 2 p.m. \| America First Event Center \| Cedar City, Utah

	SOUTHERN UTAH THUNDERBIRDS (2-11, 0-0 WAC)	vs.	GRAND CANYON LOPES (13-2, 0-0 WAC)

WATCH: ESPN+ \| STATS: LINK

THIS GAME

The 2024-25 conference slate begins Saturday afternoon at Southern Utah, the first of 16 WAC games on the Lopes' schedule.
GCU has won 11 straight games, extending a program Division I-era record and holding the nation's eighth-longest active winning streak. GCU's all-time record for wins in a row is 17, last set during the 2010-11 campaign.
The Lopes are 28-10 in WAC play since the 2022-23 season, coming off a 16-4 regular-season conference campaign.
It is only the fourth road contest of the season for GCU, which hosted seven straight games in December. Three of the next four Lopes games are on the road.

STORYLINES

GCU's win over Northern Arizona on Dec. 29 completed a perfect December, going 8-0 and extending a winning streak of 11 games to be the longest in the program's D-I era.
Alyssa Durazo-Frescas is the nation's top 3-point scorer, ranking first in 3-pointers made (60) and 3-pointers made per game (4.0). She has made three or more 3s in seven straight games, notching four or more 3s in four of those contests. She set a GCU single-game record with nine makes from beyond the arc Dec. 27 vs. Park Gilbert.
GCU is sixth in the country with a 49.5 field goal percentage. The Lopes have shot 50% or higher in seven straight games and have done so nine times this season. Four players are shooting 50% or better this season, led by graduate Laura Erikstrup, who is 17th in the nation at 60% from the floor.
One of the best passing teams in the nation, GCU is 13th in the country with 19.1 assists per game. The Lopes have dished out 20 or more assists 10 times this season, including six times over the last seven games. Trinity San Antonio is 10th in the nation with 83 assists, ranking 15th with 5.9 per contest.
Defensive dynamic duo Trinity San Antonio and Tiarra Brown are No. 1 and 2 in the WAC in steals this season, tallying 42 and 40, respectfully. San Antonio has 18 steals over her last five games played, while Brown has 15 in a five-game stretch.
Three of the WAC's top 10 scorers hail from GCU, led by Durazo-Frescas, who is second in the league with 229 points on the season. Erikstrup (third) has 226 points, while San Antonio (sixth) has 198.
Head coach Molly Miller ranks fifth among active coaches in winning percentage (.837) with nine of more seasons of coaching. She trails only Geno Auriemma (UConn), Kim Caldwell (Tennessee), Kim Mulkey (LSU) and Jeff Hans (Northern Kentucky).
The Lopes are 60-12 at Global Credit Union Arena since Miller took the helm in 2020. GCU has won at least 12 home games in each of her first three seasons in Phoenix and tied the Division I-era record for most home wins in a season (13) on Feb. 24, 2024.

LAST TIME THEY MET

The Lopes completed a sweep with its second win over Southern Utah during the 2023-24 season on Feb. 10, 2024, with a 77-61 victory in Cedar City, Utah.
GCU held the Thunderbirds to five first-quarter points and recorded 26 fourth-quarter points to seal the victory late.
Trinity San Antonio and Tiarra Brown each scored 12 points and each dished out four assists. Laura Erikstrup went 4 of 5 from the field with three steals off the bench.

SCOUTING THE THUNDERBIRDS

Southern Utah opens conference play after a 2-11 nonconference slate.
It is the fourth of four straight at home games for the Thunderbirds, who last played away on Dec. 7. GCU has not played a road game since a Dec. 5 win at Arizona.
Sydney Gandy has 29 made 3s on the season to rank third in the WAC. Her 91 3-point attempts and 2.23 3-pointers per game also rank third in the conference.
Southern Utah's 23.2 3-point attempts per game are 75th in the nation and fourth in the WAC.
The Thunderbirds hold a 0.92 assist/turnover ratio, second highest in the WAC.

WHAT'S NEXT?

GCU returns home for one WAC game next week on Thursday, Jan. 9, vs. Utah Valley.
After five games in an 11-day stretch in December, GCU has two games in an 11-day stretch to open WAC play.