Lopes meet Rams in Colorado in top 4 MW matchup

Wednesday, January 21

Fort Collins, Colo.

6:30 p.m. (MST)

Grand Canyon

Colorado State

1/20/2026 11:12:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Live Stats MW Network GCU Radio Network GCU Notes

GCU 4th, CSU 3rd in current regular season conference standings

By: Nick Macdonald

Grand Canyon heads to Fort Collins for its first rematch of the Mountain West season against Colorado State. Tip-off is slated for 6:30 p.m. on the Mountain West Network.

AT A GLANCE

The Lopes are coming off its best shooting performance of the season in a road win over New Mexico, shooting 51.8% from the field with a 40% clip from beyond the arc.
GCU notched its fifth game of 40 or more boards at UNM, totaling 41 including 11 on the offensive end. It is 4-1 when pulling down 40 or more boards in a game and has recorded double digit offensive rebounds in 14 of 18 games played.
The Lopes have been shooting excellent from the free throw line this season, ranking first in the conference at 76.3%. Six players are shooting 70% or better with at least 15 attempts, while Chloe Mann and Anisa Jeffries are shooting 88-for-102 combined (86%).
Junior Julianna LaMendola tallied a career best 14 rebounds at New Mexico and added 14 points for her second double double of the season. LaMendola has been spectacular in Mountain West play, averaging 12.8 points, 7.6 boards and 2.4 assists per MW game with a 53% field goal rate. Her double double performance paved way to Mountain West Player of the Week honors Jan. 19.
Sophomore Chloe Mann bounced back from her first career scoreless outing against Nevada to 19 points at New Mexico. Mann leads the squad with 13.7 points per outing and is shooting phenomenal from the free throw line, owning an 88.7% clip, 23rd best in the country.
Freshman Ines Zounia totaled 28 points and added eight rebounds in two GCU wins last week, leading her to win Mountain West Freshman of the Week for the second time this season. Zounia is averaging 9.0 points and 2.9 rebounds per game with a team-best six blocks in MW play.
GCU is 4-1 since junior Kaitlyn Elsholz has been in the starting lineup. Elsholz is averaging 5.3 points and 2.0 boards per game since becoming a starter.

THIS GAME

Winners of three straight and outright fourth place in the Mountain West standings, GCU heads to Fort Collins for a top four matchup among league teams Wednesday night.
The Lopes look to avenge a 61-47 loss to Colorado State on NYE a couple weeks back, and since that game, are 4-1 overall.
Wednesday is the second of three road games in a four game stretch from Jan. 17 to Jan. 28. GCU is 3-1 on the road against MW competition.

SCOUTING COLORADO STATE

Colorado State holds a 15-4 overall record and 6-2 mark in Mountain West play.
The Rams are 8-2 at home, including 3-1 at Moby Arena against MW teams.
Lexus Bargesser has scored the most points of any Mountain West player this season, totaling 304. Her 16.0 points per game is third best in the league. She is also first in field goal percentage (46.4), first in field goals (110), and is third in free throw percentage (84.0).
The Rams are sixth in the nation in turnovers per game (11.0). CSU has given up 14+ turnovers only four times this season, once against the Lopes on Dec. 31.
CSU allows 55.9 points per game, the 24th fewest points in the nation and first in the conference. Only once has it allowed 70 points this season, a Dec. 4 loss vs. Utah.
The top two free throw shooting teams in the conference square off Wednesday. Colorado State's 75.8 percent is only behind GCU's 76.3 percent.
Hannah Rosniak leads the MW in three point attempts, attempting 118 on the season. Her 37 makes are second most in the league.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Lopes return home Saturday, January 24 for Girl Scout Cookie Takeover and host Boise State.
Tip-off is at 1 p.m. with live coverage on the Arizona's Family Channel 3 and the Mountain West Network.