1st Mountain West road match set at San José State

Sunday, December 28

San Jose, Calif.

3 p.m. (MST)

Grand Canyon

San José State

Phoenix, AZ Dec. 17, 2025: The Lopes fall 61-60 against UNLV at Global Credit Union Arena.

12/27/2025 12:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Lopes face Spartans in 1st ever MW road contest for GCU

By: Nick Macdonald

After ten days off, GCU returns to action for its first ever Mountain West road contest in San Jose, California, against San José State Sunday afternoon. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. MST on MW Network.

AT A GLANCE

Sophomore Chloe Mann is the team leader in points at 15.3 per game, totaling double digits in nine of 11 contests. Mann has been exceptional from the free throw line, shooting 88% and making 44 of 50 attempts. Her free throw percentage is 28th in the nation and leads all Mountain West players.
Freshman Ines Zounia claimed the team's second Mountain West weekly award of the season Dec. 21, earning MW Freshman of the Week. Against UNLV, the france native totaled 10 points, three boards, two assists, one steal, and a block in 14 minutes off the bench. She is the second Lope to earn freshman of the week this season, joining Norah Moo.
Junior Julianna LaMendola has dished out 10 assists over her last two contets, five each against Santa Clara and UNLV. LaMendola is the team's leading rebounder at 5.9 boards per game, and is coming off a season best 10 rebounds vs. UNLV Dec. 17. Over her past three games, LaMendola is averaging 4.6 points, 7.3 steals, 4.0 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.7 blocks per game.
GCU has 121 offensive boards this season, 30 more than their opponents combined. Graduate Favor Ayodele pulled down eight offensive rebounds (9 total rebounds) against UNLV, aiding to GCU's 17 O-boards as a team, second most in a game this season. The Lopes have tallied eight games with double digit rebounding totals.
The squad finished non conference play Dec. 14 against Santa Clara, rounding out the toughest non conference schedule in program history. As of NET rankings Dec. 23, GCU's non conference opponents include two Quad 1 teams, three Quad 2's, and a Quad 3 opponent. GCU owns the 20th toughest schedule in the nation, with the second toughest in the Mountain West coming in at 109.
The Lopes average 25 points off the bench each game, ranking 74th in the nation and first in the Mountain West.

THIS GAME

Grand Canyon goes on the road for the first time in Mountain West play, facing San José State Sunday afternoon.
The meeting between the Lopes and Spartans is the first in program history.
Both teams fell in their conference openers, with GCU narrowly falling to defending regular season champion UNLV.

SCOUTING SAN JOSÉ STATE

San Jose State enters 2-10 overall and 0-1 in MW play. The game is the first for the team since a non conference matchup against Sacramento State Dec. 21.
The Spartans rank first in the conference with 4.6 blocks per game. Gabriela Pato leads the squad with 20 blocks, who is also the team's leading offensive rebounder at 21 o boards.
The 38 rebounds per game is second best in the conference. Five Spartans have more than 40 rebounds on the season, led by Maya Anderson with 71.
Anderson is the team's leading scorer at 12.7 points per game, and is coming off a career high 29 point outing against Sacramento State.
The Spartans have attempted 291 threes this season, just over 24 per game, ranking third in the MW in three point attempts per game.
Former Lope McKenna Simons currently plays for the Spartans. Simons played three seasons for GCU from 2021-24, including a redshirt year in 2021-22.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Lopes return to Phoenix and host Colorado State New Years Eve morning Dec. 31.
Tip-off is at 11 a.m. on Arizona's Family Sports and the MW Network.