Lopes fall to UNLV in Las Vegas

Saturday, February 14

Las Vegas, NV

3 p.m. (MST)

Grand Canyon

9-16,8-7Mountain West

UNLV

17-8,12-3Mountain West

Grand Canyon

UNLV

2/14/2026 7:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

LaMendola scores 15, fouls accrue in 9-point loss

By: Nick Macdonald

LAS VEGAS – In a rematch of a narrow one-point loss in the first-ever Mountain West contest for Grand Canyon in mid-December, the Lopes climbed back from a first-quarter hole Saturday but ultimately fell to UNLV 74-65.

News and notes

Julianna LaMendola led the Lopes with 15 points, 10 of which came in the third quarter. She added six rebounds and made 3 of 5 shots from 3-point range.
GCU totaled 23 fouls, its third-highest total, while UNLV committed 18 after averaging just over 12 fouls per game.
Lopes senior Anisa Jeffries led the team with seven rebounds, while senior Karley Johnson had 11 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Despite the loss, GCU hold sixth place in the Mountain West with a one-game lead on Fresno State, who it defeated earlier this season and meets again Feb. 25.

GCU (9-16, 8-7 MW) trailed 21-12 at the end of the first quarter, notching six fouls with two on Jeffries midway through the opening frame. UNLV (17-8, 12-3 MW) shot 4 of 5 from the line, but the Lopes held the Lady Rebels to 1 of 6 from 3 for the quarter.

Ten of the Lopes' 12 points came via LaMendola, who went 4 of 8 from the field and 2 of 3 from deep.

A comeback mounted late in the first half. Trailing 31-22 with 2:40 left in the second, GCU orchestrated a 7-0 run that was fueled by graduate Casey Valenti-Paea and Jeffries. UNLV led 31-29 at halftime.

The 3-point shot got hot for both sides in the third quarter, the highest-scoring quarter of the game. The Lopes knocked down 3 of 7 attempts, while UNLV went 5 of 10 from deep to edge out GCU 26-21 for the quarter.

The Lady Rebels led 57-50 at the end of the third and ran out to a 67-50 advantage at the 6:10 mark.

GCU did force a UNLV timeout at 2:17, scoring seven straight points with help from Valenti-Paea and junior Kaitlyn Elsholz. But the Lady Rebels' scoring production came via the free throw line the rest of the way as both teams were in the bonus late.

The Lopes pulled down 41 boards, 13 on the offensive end. It shot 71% from the line, the fifth straight game shooting 70% or better from the charity stripe. GCU entered the game as the Mountain West leader in free throw percentage (76%).

GCU returns home and hosts back-to-back contests at Global Credit Union Arena, the first being Wednesday vs. New Mexico at 6 p.m.