Lopes face Gauchos in Santa Barbara on Saturday

Saturday, November 15

Santa Barbara, Calif.

3 p.m. (MST)

Grand Canyon

UC Santa Barbara

11/14/2025 12:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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GCU plays at UCSB for 1st time since 2018

By: Nick Macdonald

Grand Canyon heads west to Santa Barbara, California, and closes out a two-game trip with a Saturday nonconference game at UC Santa Barbara.

AT A GLANCE

Despite a slow start at Oregon on Tuesday night, the Lopes outscored the Ducks over the second, third and fourth quarters and finished with 29 fourth-quarter points for its highest scoring quarter of the season.
Graduate guard Ale'jah Douglas was perfect beyond the arc against Oregon, going 4 for 4 to put her season total at 7 of 12 (58%). Douglas set a career high with 16 points against South Carolina and led the Lopes with 14 points against the Ducks.
Sophomore guard Chloe Mann is GCU's leader in points and assists with a 35% showing from the floor and 90% mark from the free throw line, missing only one of 11 attempts so far this season. Mann was named Mountain West Preseason Newcomer of the Year.
Nearly 30% of the Lopes' rebounds have come on the offensive glass, led by Julianna LaMendola, who had four against Oregon and has a team-high seven on the season. LaMendola finished with 13 points and four rebounds against the Ducks.
The Lopes rank fourth in the Mountain West in bench points per game, averaging just over 21 points from its reserve players. Freshman Ines Zounia, graduate Casey Valenti-Paea and freshman Norah Moo combined for 18 points with six each off the bench Tuesday night.
GCU's nonconference schedule is the toughest in program history, with an average opponent NET of 120 (based on 2024-25), 109 spots higher than the average NET over the last five seasons combined. The Lopes will travel to South Carolina, Oregon and Gonzaga, and they also will travel to Frisco, Texas, to face California and UTSA during Thanksgiving week.

THIS GAME

GCU ends a two-game trip Saturday against Big West opponent UC Santa Barbara on ESPN+.
It is GCU's first game at the Thunderdome since Dec. 2, 2018, and second straight season the Gauchos and Lopes will face after a 69-58 GCU victory in Phoenix last season.
Saturday is the third of six games away from Phoenix in November.

SCOUTING UC SANTA BARBARA

The Gauchos enter Saturday 2-1 overall with a 1-0 home record.
UCSB leads the Big West and ranks 69th in the nation in field goal percentage, shooting at a 46.8% clip from the field.
The team is third in the Big West in 3-pointers made and attempted, making 9.0 and attempting 26.3 per game, ranking top 60 in the nation in both.
Jessica Grant leads the team with eight made 3s, second best in the Big West, and is shooting 57.1% from beyond the arc.
Olivia Bradley is shooting 64.3% from the field with 18 made field goals, both of which are second best in the conference. Bradley is averaging 14.7 points, 4.7 boards, and 1.0 blocks per contest.
The Gauchos last outing was an 89-49 victory at Seattle U. Prior to that, they fell to No. 3 UCLA 87-50 and defeated Cal State Monterey Bay 80-44 in the season opener.

WHAT'S NEXT?

GCU hosts SMU at 6 p.m. Tuesday on Arizona's Family Sports and the Mountain West Network.
The game is the second at home this season for the Lopes, who next play at home Dec. 7 versus Saint Mary's.