Lopes face Fresno State in big seeding implication contest

Wednesday, February 25

Fresno, Calif.

7:30 p.m. (MST)

Grand Canyon

Fresno State

Phoenix, AZ Feb.121 2026: Then Lopes to Utah State 63-43 at Global Credit Union Arena. David Kadlubowski/GCU

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

Lopes face Fresno State in big seeding implication contest

2/24/2026 10:23:00 AM | Women's Basketball

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A win sets GCU up for no lower than 6 seed in MW Championship next week

By: Nick Macdonald

GCU heads on the road for its second to last road contest of the regular season Wednesday, facing Fresno State in a game with large seeding implications for the Mountain West Championship, beginning March 7 in Las Vegas at the Thomas and Mack Center.

AT A GLANCE

The Lopes are coming off a 20 point victory Saturday over Utah State, a game in which it held an opponent low 43 points, the fewest points scored by an opposing team since March 6, 2025 vs. Utah Tech (42).
Junior Julianna LaMendola is averaging 13.6 points and 6.9 rebounds per game in Mountain West play. LaMendola has recorded six straight double figure games and is second in the conference in shooting percentage against MW teams (47.8%).
The Lopes dished out 19 assists vs. the Aggies, second most this season. GCU is 4-1 this season when recording 18 or more assists in a game.
Sophomore Chloe Mann is the league leader in free throw percentage, shooting 84.7% for the season and 82.4% in MW play. Mann is averaging 11.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists per contest in league action.
GCU holds a +65 rebounding advantage in Mountain West action, outrebounding opponents 630-565. The Lopes have 30 more offensive rebounds, led by Anisa Jeffries with 33 of her 95 on the offensive end.
Jeffries leads the team with 25 steals in conference play, tied sixth most in the league at 1.6 steals per game.
GCU forced 25 turnovers against Utah State, second most this season. The Lopes have forced 51 turnovers over their last three games, 17 per game in that span.

THIS GAME

The Lopes hit the road for a midweek matchup against Fresno State, a team they defeated 71-64 January 10 earlier this season.
Wednesday's game has big implications on MW Championship seeding. A win for GCU would clinch no lower than a six seed in Las Vegas, due to head to head advantage over Fresno State and enough space between Air Force and Wyoming despite if each team won out.
This is the first time GCU will face Fresno State on the road, winning both matchups in the series history at home.

SCOUTING FRESNO STATE

Fresno State enters Wednesday 14-14 overall and 8-9 in MW play, one game back of GCU for the sixth spot in the MW regular season standings.
The Bulldogs were riding a four game winning streak before it was snapped last Saturday at first place San Diego State. They recently defeated GCU's last opponent, Utah State, 73-59 on the road.
Fresno State is 10-4 at home this season, its last loss coming January 31 vs. Air Force.
The Bulldogs are one of the best rebounding teams in the conference, averaging 37 rebounds and 13 offensive rebounds per game, third and second in the league, respectively.
Emilia Long is the team's leading scorer at 13.4 ppg and leads the conference in steals (68) and steals per game (2.4).
Long has also dished out 105 steals and has a 1.36 assist/turnover ratio, second and fourth in the MW, respectively.
Fresno State is holding opponents to just less than 60% from the floor (59.2%), third lowest in the conference.
It also is the best three point defense in the league (27.9) - GCU knocked down 10 threes the last time it played them.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Lopes will finish the 2025-26 regular season home slate Saturday, February 28 versus San José State beginning at 1 p.m.
GCU will honor its senior players and managers prior to tip-off. Celebration will begin at approximately 12:55 p.m.