Lopes fall to Cal in 1st game of Hoopfest Challenge

Monday, November 24

Frisco, Texas

6 p.m. (MST)

Grand Canyon

1-5,0-0Mountain West

California

6-1,0-0ACC

Grand Canyon

California

Photo by: Mario Terrana

11/24/2025 9:37:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Jeffries scores 17, late 4th quarter rally falls short

By: Nick Macdonald

FRISCO, Texas – Grand Canyon shot 50% in the third and 56% in the fourth, but a late fourth quarter push fell short in a 68-63 loss to California in the first game of the Hoopfest Women's Basketball Challenge.

Senior Anisa Jeffries scored a game and season high 17 points while sophomore Chloe Mann had 13 points with a perfect 6 of 6 clip from the charity stripe, bringing her season free throw percentage to 90%, second best in the Mountain West.

GCU (1-5) began the night on a 6-0 run fueled by back-to-back Jeffries layups, but the outside shot started to fall for the Golden Bears, knocking down three to lead 17-11 after one.

Down 28-17 mid second, the Lopes attacked the paint with multiple scorers including a Favor Ayodele layup, and and-1 Ale'jah Douglas jumper, and a Karley Johnson layup to close out the half down six.

GCU scored 46 points in the paint for the evening, tied most on the season. Where the outside shot was limited with two made out of nine attempts, the inside presense of Jeffries kept the Lopes close as the game continued into the second.

Momentum swung for both teams in the third. Cal jumped to 47-33 advantage with four minutes left in the quarter, countered by a Douglas layup, a Mann deep three, and back-to-back buckets from Jeffries to make it 53-42 to start the fourth.

Making 15 field goals through the first three quarters, GCU caught fire in the fourth, going 10 of 18 (55%) and cut the deficit to seven points (55-48).

Down 10 with less than three to play, Jeffries once again took control, making a free throw and a pair of layups to trail by five with a minute and a half to go. Timeouts ensued, with each team calling a one after a made basket over the final 90 seconds, and the Golden Bears free throws and a made three pushed them to a 68-63 final.

GCU shot 78% from the line, the fourth straight game shooting 70% or better from the stripe. Junior Julianna LaMendola led the Lopes with seven boards, her third straight game with seven or more boards, while senior Karley Johnson had nine points, two rebounds, and a team-high four steals.

"I thought we started great, but the last four to five minutes, we became undisciplined and they grabbed momentum," said head coach Winston Gandy. "The way we are built and set up, we've got to be the most disciplined team. And when were not, we find ourselves in holes. One thing I do respect and love about this team is that they are going to keep fighting. We don't go away in any game, but we must play on even ground."

The Lopes conclude the Hoopfest Women's Basketball Challenge at the Comerica Center Wednesday afternoon against UTSA. Tip-off is at 4 p.m. on FloCollege.