(Phoenix, AZ) Act II in the weekend Women’s series featuring the GCU Antelopes hosting the Aggies from New Mexico State,
This and last night’s game were supposed to be played in Las Cruces, but due to their state mandate, no games can be played in New Mexico right now due to Covid-19. NMSU was the designated “home team.”
Last night, the Aggies pulled out a 61-53 win in overtime. The contest was back and forth all game long and tonight was expected to be no different.
Both teams came out a bit cold from the field. NMSU got a lone free throw at 8:16 to get on the board first.
Taylor Caldwell at 7:13 with a nice floater at the shot clock ran out went in and quick 2-1 lead for the Lopes.
Grand Canyon put pressure on the ball, but the first half of the quarter, neither team had asserted any dominance.
Quietly, during the course of the first quarter, New Mexico State went on a 8-0 run, but it was hardly noticed due to the lack of offense by both teams. The Antelopes went almost six and half minutes without scoring.
Finally with 44.1 seconds to go Katie Scott sank the second of two free throws to stop the drought.
In a season low, GCU had one field goal the entire quarter and went 1-15 for a scant 7% from the field and trailed 12-4.
The Aggies didn’t get a lot of shots off going 4-9 for 44%. Defensively, NMSU led on the glass 12-9, but the Lopes had 6 offensive boards.
Laura Piera made back to back layups within the first forty seven seconds of the second quarter to pull GCU within 12-8.
It wasn’t till the 8:27 mark of the second quarter that the Aggies scored. Two quick buckets put them back up 16-8.
With half the quarter gone, the Aggies began to pull away 22-10.
Tavia Rowell put down GCU’s fist three pointer with 1:42 left in the half and followed it up with another That cut the deficit to a 26-21 Aggie lead going into halftime.
Grand Canyon finished the quarter on a 11-4 run and made the halftime adjustments more manageable. GCU had thirteen of their 21 points off Aggie turnovers.
The Antelopes went 7-12 from the field in the second quarter after a dismal start.
Neither team was effective from beyond the arc as they both went 2-11; The big stat was the dominance on the boards by NMSU 23-13.
NMSU’s Rodrea Echols led all scorers with 14 first half points.
Each team came out for the third quarter looking refreshed and traded points the first two minutes of the quarter.
Ny’dajah Jackson had a nifty move down low to score a layup and bring the Lopes within a basket 28-26.
Tiarra Brown followed with two free throws to tie. Seconds later Tavia Rowell scorched the net with a trey and the lead was GCU’s 31-30.
Two more free throws by Rowell gave the Lopes their biggest lead at 33-30 compliments of a 12-4 Antelope run to start the half.
Shania Harper for NMSU stropped the bleeding with a turnaround to end GCU’s run.
The game was tied at 35-35 with just over five minutes left in the third quarter at the media time out.
Out of the timeout, NMSU went on a 6-2 run to regain the lead 41-38.
The rest of the quarter was a series off turnovers by both teams until GCU’s Laura Piera made a twelve foot leaner at at the buzzer for a 41-40 Aggie lead.
Grand Canyon’s resilience after getting a lone field goal in the first quarter was amazing.
Canyon’s defensive efforts kept the scored tied until Katie Scott put the Lopes up 48-46 with 6:06 left to go.
Things got a bit physical just before the final media timeout because the Aggies had been stuck on 46 points for over five minutes.
The game changed when Laura Piera made a running layup and was fouled. She completed the old fashioned three point play to give GCU its largest lead 54-46.
Finally art the 1:28 mark, the Aggies scored off a layup and a foul. Rodrea Echols finished the three point play but it was too little too late as GCU won 61-52.
GCU pulled away to take a split in the two game series. Rowell lead the Lopes with 17 points ad Piera and Scott added thirteen points a piece.
The obvious takeaway from this game was the sheer determination shown by Head Coach Molly Miler’s team after a single basket to open the game in the first quarter.
Most teams wouldn’t of had the wherewithal to grind out a victory. GCU is 9-2 overall, but this was their fist two conference games due to the coronavirus epidemic which puts them at 1-1 in the WAC.
Because of other WAC teams cancelling their entire seasons, the Lopes next games will be back at the Arena against UT – Rio Grande Valley on February 5th and 6th.
