(Phoenix, AZ) Grand Canyon were on a make up games from Jan 8th and 9th when the initial series was postponed due to a covid situation on Tarlton State.
This was the first meeting for both schools, as the Antelopes welcomed the Texans to the Western Athletic Conference.
Canyon came in 9-3 overall and 1-1 in the WAC, coming off a non conference loss three days earlier to Idaho State 62-54.
Tarlton came in winless in the WAC at 0-4 but 4-10 overall. The Texans had played seven of their last nine games away from home.
GCU came out strong, which was key for Coach Molly Miller coming off that loss on Friday.
The Antelopes hit three of their first five shot to go along with 4-4 from the charity stripe and a 10-5 lead halfway through the opening quarter.
GCU’s trapping defense caused havoc for the Texans and got them out of their offensive flow at the onset of each possession.
At the 2:55 mark, TSU got two offensive rebounds which brought Coach Miller off the bench to her feet. That was one of the issues in Friday’s game against Idaho State.
Tarlton St. crept back to take a brief lead 13-12 while the Lopes went over three minutes without scoring.
The Texans had gone on a 7-0 run until Katie Scott scored on a strong low post move just before the buzzer to give GCU back the lead 14-13.
After a turnover to start the second quarter, TSU took advantage to regain the lead, but once again the Lopes countered with a four point spurt to go up by three 18-15.
Midway through the second quarter, both teams punched and counter punched trading possessions but neither team shot well. The Texans were 7-16 (44%) while Canyon was 7-21 (33%).
Miller went to her bench looking for a combination that could put the ball in the basket after the Lopes went cold from the field.
With 2:20 left, Emily Cunningham sank two free throws to give the Texans the lead 21-18.
Tiara Brown then took things into her own hands scoring on consecutive possessions to break the drought and give Canyon back he lead 22-21 going into the halftime locker room.
Both teams struggled from the field in the first half with Tarlton State going 7-22 (32%) while GCU was 9-30 (30%).
The Antelopes did a better job in the boards than in recent games and held a 20-17 edge on the glass.
Both teams combined for 24 turnovers, with the Texans edging Canyon 13-12. You could see that these two teams were not familiar with each other.
Lopes were led by Laura Brown with 8 points and Marissa Escamilla pacing the Texans with 8 first half points.
Out of the locker room, neither team scored until Iyanna Dorsey hit just the second three pointer of the contest and gave TSU the lead.
Tiarra Brown countered with a second chance jumper, but Dorsey hit her second trey moments later to regain the lead 28-26 at the 6:40 mark of the third quarter.
Dorsey continued the heat beyond the arc with her third consecutive three pointer.
Tiarra Brown kept the Lopes close with her back to back scores, and GCU found themselves down 31-30 midway through the third quarter.
Out of the media timeout, Taylor Caldwell stroked a three off of a Texans turnover and Canyon was back on top 33-31.
Ny’dajah Jackson got in on the fun with a three of her own and another three point lead for GCU.
The third quarter had both teams trading baskets from beyond the arc after virtually nothing in the first half.
Scott after a nice inbound pass to the post, gave Canyon a five point advantage.
Tiarra Brown hit a turnaround three foot jumper with thirty three seconds and Scott added a hoop with thirteen seconds left.
Dorsey hit her third three pointer of the quarter just before the buzzer to pull the Texans within two at 42-40.
Both teams were still shooting under 40% through three quarters. But Dorsey singlehandedly kept TSU in the contest with her outside touch.
Tiarra Brown competed a three point play after being fouled and matched GCU’s largest lead of the game 49-42 with 7:55 left in the game.
Tiarra Brown had to come out of the game after committing her fourth personal foul with 7:13 to go.
With Scott committing her second foul at the 5:44 mark, it allowed the Texans into the bonus and Lucy Benson took advantage of it by hitting two free throws cutting the lead to four 49-44.
That woke up the Lopes Piera hit a jumper and Caldwell scored off a turnover on a Canyon fast break and the lead was back to eight 53-45 with just under five minutes left.
Kennedi Shorts stole the ball and had a nifty reverse layup to get the lead to double digits 55-45.
Back came Tarlton State as Escamilla helped cut the Lopes lead in half 55-50 before Piera cashed in on a layup and a jumper by Shorts after a Coach Miller timeout and the lead was eleven 61-50.
Canyon was spot on by playing “keep away” and not letting TSU foul until 15.8 seconds left, by then it was a “rap” as the Antelopes won 64-55.
One big takeaway was the 16 steals the Antelope defense caused. Ironically, the Texans scored 18 points off free throws to GCU’s 6 points.
Miller’s press was key in that it created 26 Texan turnovers which led to 21 points.
Miller said in her post game press conference that a lot of work has been put into getting to the glass, boxing out and limiting the opponent’s offensive rebounds. Canyon won that battle 32-27.
Both teams play a simular style of basketball and it showed as each team made their runs, but at the end of the day, it was the press and the lock down defense that prevailed.
The Lopes are back in action Friday the 5th and 6th at 6 pm as they host the University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley for a pair of games.
