GCU (22-9) expects to be part of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) field that will be announced Sunday at 7 p.m. (Phoenix time), but the Lopes had about 2 ½ quarters of challenge for the Ladyjacks again. Just as GCU led Stephen F. Austin for 24 minutes in Phoenix on Jan. 31, Lopes freshman guards Kiyley Flowers and Ja’Mya Powell-Smith split 10 unanswered points to cut the deficit to 36-33 with four minutes remaining in the third quarter.
That was GCU’s last significant threat to Stephen F. Austin (28-4), but the play of Flowers and Powell-Smith exemplified how the Lopes had to evolve to even return to the championship game. The starting backcourt of last year’s runner-up finish was pegged to return and lead GCU, but Laura Piera returned to Spain and Taylor Caldwell suffered a season-ending injury to put Flowers and Powell-Smith in expanded roles.
Powell-Smith led scoring with 14 points and added a season-high five steals with five rebounds and three rebounds. The point guard did not make a turnover for the second consecutive game, giving her two in the past four games.
“Even though they were expected to win, I expected us to win,” Powell-Smith said. “I’ll never give this trophy to anyone else. I always believe in myself, my team and coaches. I came to fight.”
Flowers said she “wanted to be the motor and the energy that the team needed.” It looked like it with Flowers matching season highs for rebounds (seven) and steals (seven) while scoring 10 points.
“The lights might’ve been too big for a lot of freshmen but not these two,” GCU head coach Molly Miller said of Flowers and Powell-Smith. “I’m really proud of them. That means the future’s bright, seeing what they did on the floor in a championship game in their first year.”
Miller’s first two GCU teams have won more games (40-16) than the previous three Lopes seasons combined (38-46), but Stephen F. Austin is operating at a different level of success (52-7 in those two years) and experience.
The Lopes’ pressure defense forced the Ladyjacks into a season-high 24 turnovers a day after they made five in a semifinal. But Stephen F. Austin remained in its pace and under control to find the right players for 53.5% shooting from the field on Saturday.
“That’s just such a different and unique way to play that you just can’t prepare for them, especially in a day,” Stephen F. Austin head coach Mark Kellogg said of the GCU defensive style that ranks third nationally in steals. “You just don’t see that much and we had only played them once this year. They just kind of shock you initially. It takes you time to settle in.”
While GCU kept every player under 30 minutes to sustain the pressure, Stephen F. Austin leaned on its stars with All-WAC Tournament first-team picks Zya Nugent and Stephanie Visscher playing the entire game. Nugent drew 14 fouls and finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds and six assists to be named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
The Lopes began the fall with 17 players but gradually have been reduced to 11 available players for the tournament. All of them played Saturday, although sophomore Tiarra Brown played through an ankle sprain that she reaggravated in the first quarter.
GCU leading scorer Amara Graham was held to an 0-for-2 game in 27 minutes, but senior power forward Jay McChristine added 12 points and led an 8-0 rally that ended the first quarter in an 11-11 tie.
The Lopes were at their best offensively in transition with 16 fastbreak points but did not have enough of them to overcome the Ladyjacks, who lived up to being preseason favorites with 12-for-21 shooting from 3-point range.
GCU’s preseason roster was picked to finish third by coaches and fourth by media, but the reduced roster still took second in the regular season and reached the title game.
“When I stepped foot on campus, there wasn’t just buy-in from my players in the program,” Miller said. “It was administration. The school and the support with my vision for this program all aligned. To never have made it to the conference championship game and here we are in back-to-back years, we’re close. We’re building something and we want to use that momentum.”
Press Release courtesy of Grand Canyon University – Paul Coro
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