(Phoenix, AZ) The Lopes welcomed UT – Rio Grande Valley to the WAC for their first conference game.
The University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley has several campuses spread out through the Valley, but the main campus is in Edinburg Texas.
The Vaqueros dropped their last game to fellow Texas school, Tarleton State 79-63 on January 27th in their first meeting between both schools.
Both teams came ready for action as they each traded baskets 10-8 until a timeout by UTRGV.
When they returned to the court, the Antelopes went on a 7-0 run to finish out the first quarter at 17-8.
Freshman Center Katie Scott opened up the second quarter with a three from the top of the key an two consecutive turnovers led to four more points from Tianna Brown and Taylor Caldwell as the run continued.
The Vaqueros stopped the run at the 8:43 mark with a trey from Tiffany McGarity, but another layup by Tiarra Brown told Rio Grande Valley, “we’re not going away.”
GCU has not been the best three point shooting team, but Coach Molly Miller has really put a strong emphasis on getting better looks and working on the outside jumpers.
UT – Rio Grande Valley closed the gap 29-22 when Miller inserted Tiarra Brown back in the lineup and she quickly paid dividends with a big three to put the lead back in double digits, 32-22.
Canyon’s quickness and ball movement was a big problem for the Vaqueros as the Lopes continued to get wide open looks from the outside and high percentage shots in the paint.
The Brown sisters combined for seventeen points with freshman Tianna leading all scorers with ten points and senior Tiarra added eight points.
Canyon had one of their best halves shooting with 48% made from the field. Their defense was just as effective as UTRGV was held to 33% shooting.
The Lopes hit 4-9 from beyond the arc which is what Coach Miller wants in the last full month of the regular season and going into March tournament play.
With just under eight minutes in the third quarter, Ny’Dajah Jackson made a spectacular reverse layup and brought the crowd to its feet as the route continued 49-26.
It seemed that the only spark from the Vaqueros was when Canyon got a bit sloppy on offense.
Coach Miller had the luxury of going deep into her bench and often. This will be very advantageous in March come tournament tine.
Just past the midway point in the third quarter at the media timeout the Lopes had nearly as many made baskets 20-44 as Rio Grande Valley had total shots 9-25.
One misleading stat was the Vaqueros had a 24-20 edge on the glass a the time, but that’s because of the lack of offense from RGV.
Even up by double digits, Miller deployed the three quarter court trapping defense to give the game a “tournament” feel and continue to work on all aspects of their game plan. At the end of the third quarter, the Antelopes had caused twenty two turnovers which led to twenty three points.
Scott was on fire from the top of the key with her second “nothing but net” three pointer to begin the final quarter. Lopes up 64-43.
Everything was going right for GCU as Tianna Brown threw up a “prayer” from beyond the arc as the shot clock expired, but it also banked in off the glass.
Final Score GCU 77 UTRGV 55
GCU finished shooting 47% with 22 points off the bench. The biggest stat was the 26 Vaquero turnovers and 27 points scores off their miscues.
The inside-outside game worked equally well today at the Lopes went 9-20 from three point land and 27 points in the key.
The trapping defense led to 14 fast break points. The Antelopes lead for 37:52 while only being tied once .
Scott led the team with 18 points, with both Brown sisters having 13 points apiece . Laura Piera got into the double figure party with 10 points.
Miller used ten players in the game and nine scored. Playing time is precious in most contests, but today everyone had quality minutes,
Jordan Graham and Amara Lewis were the only two Rio Grande Valley players that scored in double figures. Graham had 13 points while Lewis had 11 points.
Texas – Rio Grande Valley could only muster a 6-0 run the entire game, on the flip side, Canyon had a 16-0 run to break the game wide open.
The biggest takeaway is that these types of games are they’re few and far between and whatever Canyon tried worked this afternoon.
Coach Miller will be very aware that duplicating this game may be difficult and she’ll be on her guard not to let the Lopes stumble in the finale tomorrow morning at 11 am on a quick turnaround.
