Lobos' last-second shot beats Lopes

Wednesday, February 18

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m. (MST)

Grand Canyon

9-17,8-8Mountain West

New Mexico

18-9,10-6Mountain West

New Mexico

Grand Canyon

2/18/2026 10:17:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

GCU's LaMendola scores 22; UNM hits game-winner with .3 seconds remaining

By: Nick Macdonald

The comeback was there and overtime was imminent for Grand Canyon, but a last-second shot fell through for New Mexico to hand the Lopes a tough 70-68 loss Wednesday night at Global Credit Union Arena.

GCU junior Julianna LaMendola led all scorers with 22 points, her third 20-plus scoring game this season – while graduate Casey Valenti-Paea poured in a season-high 18 points with four 3-pointers and sophomore Chloe Mann added 17 points with a career-high eight assists.

"I thought Chloe, Julianna and Casey played great, but to be outscored 22-1 in bench points is not good enough," Lopes head coach Winston Gandy said. "But we gave up 70 points at home and the last-second layup was the story of the night. It hurts, and we've had a lot of games this season that have ended in the final seconds like that."

Of the last four losses for GCU (9-17, 8-8 MW), two were decided by two points each and two were by six points apiece, including an overtime game.

Wednesday's cold start saw New Mexico (18-9, 10-6 MW) lead 21-13 at the end of the first quarter. The Lobos knocked down 3 of 5 shots from 3-point range in the first quarter and shot 52% from the floor.

But the offense started to ramp up for the Lopes at the start of the second, led by Mann with nine of her 17 points. The Lopes pulled within three points (29-26) with 4:35 left in the half before New Mexico nearly held GCU scoreless the rest of the way until a Mann layup as time expired. GCU trailed 36-28 into intermission.

The 3-pointers began to rain down for the Lopes in the third quarter, led by Valenti-Paea, who scored 11 points with three from deep and a mid-range jumper. Mann added another six points, as 39 points were scored between both squads.

The Lopes trailed 55-48 after three quarters.

Searching for its first tie or lead of the evening, GCU clawed its way back to lead 58-57 after two LaMendola free throws with 5:06 remaining. A New Mexico 6-0 run put it back on top 63-58 with just under three minutes to play.

The counterattack again came from the GCU offense, as LaMendola and senior Anisa Jeffries made clutch free throws down the stretch. GCU entered the night as the conference's leading free throw shooting team and finished the evening 15 of 19 from the line.

GCU had an opportunity when trailing 65-64 but was called for a five-second inbound violation to lose possession.

A free throw contest ensured, as Lobos' Nayli Padilla made two to lead 67-64, countered by Mann sinking two to making New Mexico's lead 67-66 with 12 seconds remaining. Padilla was fouled and made one of two to give GCU the ball with no timeouts, a two-point deficit and the full length of the court to go.

Valenti-Paea drove middle and put up a floater, which fell short of the front rim. The Austalian grabbed the board and attempted a last-second, one-handed shot and drew a foul. Valenti-Paea sank both free throws to tie the game at 68-68 with 1.2 remaining.

After a New Mexico timeout, Padilla inbounded the ball in front of her the Lobos' bench and heaved a pass toward the left side of the backboard. Alyssa Hargrove caught the ball in midair and shot it off the glass, converting the layup as time expired.

"I thought Casey did a great job tonight, for her to hit those two free throws, you can't ask for much more," Gandy said. "We had too many defensive mistakes tonight, and we have to get a stop on that last possession. That's as much on me as it is the five on the floor, and we just didn't get the job done."

.The clock was reset to 3 seconds, and a half-court heave from LaMendola was off the mark.

GCU plays host to Utah State on Saturday at 12 p.m. (Phoenix time) with live coverage on Arizona's Family Sports and Mountain West Network.