(Albuquerque, NM) The impending end of the Grand Canyon women’s basketball season was looming with each New Mexico 3-pointer that fell and a third-quarter Lobos scoring barrage of 20 points in 4 ½ minutes.
But once graduate Chloe Akin-Otiko scored the last basket of the season Wednesday night, the finality rang with the buzzer of a 92-72 Women’s National Invitation Tournament first-rounds
GCU head coach Molly Miller walked down the bench with hugs for players until she wound up in a teary group hug with Akin-Otiko and another graduate, Ny’Dajah Jackson. Arm in arm, Miller and Jackson headed for the uphill tunnel from the sunken court, a symbol of how the Lopes are on the climb from going 38-46 over three seasons to 40-17 in Miller’s two seasons.
New Mexico (25-9) did what it has done to 16 of 17 visitors at the altitude of The Pit. The Lobos won with 3s, but took it farther Wednesday night by making 14, five about their season average. But that do-or-die scenario with a difficult venue was a challenge that Miller wanted her team to face, so that it can be driven to keep ascending the program.
“Now, we’ve got a taste and can build on it moving forward,” Miller said after taking the team to its first two WAC Tournament championship game appearances and first WNIT appearance. “I have to tell myself to be patient. You want that instant success, but this is a process. We’ve really built these two years. Three years ago, they were 7-20 and here we are playing for conference championship titles back-to-back years. It is something to be proud of and something to build off.”
For as explosive as New Mexico was, it was only its third-highest total of 3s (the Lobos also made 19 and 20 in other games) and fourth-highest scoring total this season. GCU (22-10) took a lopsided loss and trailed by as much as 31, but its WNIT debut actually was its best shooting performance (52.8%) against a Division I opponent this season and the second-best shooting opponent by a Lobos opponent this season.
With sophomore guard Tiarra Brown matching a career high with 22 points and senior Jay McChristine coming within a point of her season high with 18 points in 19 minutes, the Lopes gave the Lobos a chase early. The score was tied at 13-13 after six minutes with senior power forward Kennedi Shorts scoring twice, but the Lopes allowed their second-highest scoring quarter of the season to trail 28-17 after the first.
GCU could not get the deficit back to single digits with New Mexico’s five-out offense spreading the Lopes and its all-senior starting lineup handling the Lopes’ pressure. The Lobos went 13 for 22 on 3-pointers in the first three quarters.
“I didn’t think it was a pace we could sustain and we weren’t able to,” Miller said. “For the most part, I liked our offensive flow, but you can’t let a team shoot well over their averages and expect to win a game. We just couldn’t contain what they were doing offensively. Obviously, it’s a well-oiled machine.
“We were one step slow when it came to recovering or taking away the next pass. I always say, ‘If one gets out, the next one will get out.’ Because our rotations weren’t as crisp as they should’ve been, they were able to find the open man and knock down the 3. I don’t remember a lot of misses that game. I just see flashes of swishes.”
The Lobos have shot 35% on 3s and averaged 14 turnovers this season, but made 47% of 3s and only a GCU opponent season-low 11 turnovers on Wednesday. If it was not a New Mexico 3, it was often a backdoor layup.
“You have to avoid turnovers when you play them,” New Mexico head coach Mike Bradbury said of GCU, which ranked seventh nationally with 22.1 opponent turnovers per game. “If you can take care of it, you’re going to get good shots and we were able to knock those in.”
The Lobos had a trio of 20-point scorers, but point guard LaTora Duff directed it with 13 assists, one off her career high, and one turnover.
“We all came to a decision to stay locked in,” Duff said. “We kept that mindset the whole game and kept our foot on the gas.”
Brown played like that for GCU, especially with her ankle health improving from how it limited her in Saturday’s WAC Tournament championship loss. She was aggressive offensively, hitting 7 of 15 from the field and 7 of 10 at the free-throw line as she played with her senior sister, Tianna, for the final time.
McChristine was the most efficient Lope, getting a point per minute on 7-of-9 shooting with a team-high six rebounds.
“It was a really tough one,” McChristine said. “Being able to come play for this team, it’s given me a different light on team. It’s a family-oriented thing. Win or lose, I knew they had my back regardless. It was tough coming here and losing, but I still have a family at the end of the day.
“We set a standard that GCU women’s basketball teams are going to have to carry for a long time. Our seniors have to leave behind our mini-mes. We’ll be watching them from a distance from our regular jobs. It hasn’t hit most of us yet. When it’s time for us to pack and go, it’s really going to hit.”
It began to hit in the Lopes’ postgame locker room, where Miller reminded the players of an accomplished stamp that they have left on the program.
“They’ve written their names in the records books, some individual accolades and some team successes,” Miller said. “I want them to remember that we’re a family and we’re always going to have this team mentality. It’s not about the 22 wins and 10 losses. It’s about this is a forever thing. What our seniors started at GCU is something to build on.”
Press Release courtesy of Grand Canyon University Athletics – Paul Coro
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