(Phoenix, AZ) Coming off the 77-55 route in yesterday’s game, GCU wanted to avoid being subjected to a “trap game.”
Everything went right yesterday for the Lopes and they had their way with Rio Grande Valley.
Early on, the shooting wasn’t as hot as the day before, and just over midway through the first quarter, Canyon had just a one point lead 7-6.
Both teams combined for only twelve shots in the first seven minuted of the game as the late morning start may have contributed to some cobwebs.
Towards the end of the quarter, UT-RGV got out of their funk first and went on a 15-0 run to take their first lead.
Katie Scott broke Canyon’s scoring drought with a nice reverse layup off an inbounds pass, but it was the Antelopes who now had to crawl out of a big hole.
Laura Piera, saved the Lopes from not scoring double figures in the quarter by hoisting a half court shot at the buzzer to put GCU down 22-12 at the end of the opening quarter.
Piera started off the second quarter where she left off from her buzzer beater by hitting another trey front the left wing to bring the deficit to 22-15.
The Vaqueros gathered themselves and got the lead back to te 29-19 at the 7:00 minute mark.
Unlike yesterday, GCU players weren’t moving without the ball and standing around.
When Scott wasn’t in the game, the Antelopes didn’t have the offensive flow in their half court game.
Coming back in, she hit a three from the top of the key and the Lopes cut the Vaquero lead in half 29-24 and a Rio Grande Valley timeout with 5:54 left in the half.
Down the stretch to end the first half, GCU came within three 33-30, but it was the Vaqueros turn to hit a shot at the buzzer for a 39-33 halftime lead.
UT-RGV shot 52% (16-31) from the field, while the Lopes were 12-29 (41%).
The only thing that kept GCU close in the first half was their four three pointers going 4-10.
Canyon didn’t rebound well snagging only 14 boards to 20 for UT-RGV. It was the Vaqueros that hit a high percentage shots in the paint with 30 of their 39 first half points.
Coach Miller must have broken out the smelling salts in the halftime locker room as the Lopes came out on a 7-0 run to begin the third quarter and regained the lead 40-39 and forced a Vaquero timeout.
The three quarter court trap that is GCU defensive trademark look much more crisp in the third quarter taking UT-RGV out of sync.
Lopes with a text book fast break with 5:15 left in the third quarter with Tiana Brown finishing, validated the one hundred and eighty degree turnaround from their lethargic effort in the first half.
Scott once again with one of her patented three’s from the top of the circle gave Canyon their first double digit lead 56-46 with 3:50 to go in the third quarter.
The Antelope’s press continued like ants swarming their victim and caused turnovers that led to easy baskets.
At the end of the quarter, things went from bad to worse for the Vaqueros as their leading scorer Sara Bershers was whistled for her fourth foul with still more than a quarter to play.
UT-RGV showed some resilience scoring most of their 18 third quarter points in the last three minutes of the third quarter.
The thirty point outburst from the Antelopes was due mostly to their press and on ball defense in the half court creating havoc for the Vaqueros and a 63-57 lead.
Taylor Caldwell fouled out with 6:16 to go in the game but Miller inserted Tianna Brown and GCU continued to roll.
With a couple of minutes left, UT-RGV got back within eight 78-70, but the gas gauge light was on and no fuel left as GCU once again showed resilience coming back from a dismal first half performance to sweep the two game series with UT-RGV
Final Score was 83-73, but the players will definitely get an earful from Miller come Monday.
All your efforts to start peaking this month cannot take a detour on lackadaisical play after coming off a big win the day before.
Even though the Vaqueros shot better than Canyon, 49% to 45%, it was the nine big three pointers that were the difference and the better rebounding effort in the second half that sealed the victory.
Four the five starters were in double figures scoring Scott led the way with 21 points on 58% shooting.
Rio Grande Valley’s Amara Graham was a tough player to guard as she scored 21 points on 7-13 shooting and 6-7 from the free throw line. Burcu Soysal who had her hands full defending Scott added 14 points on 5-7 field goals.
Now there’s another big test upcoming for GCU as they take their show on the road to conference leading California Baptist University.
In fact, four of their last six games are on the road with only Seattle University sandwiched in between road trips to CBU and finishing up in Orem Utah with Utah Valley.
