(Phoenix, AZ) Senior night at the Arena honoring Chloe Akin – Otiko and Ny’Dajah Jackson along with two team managers.
Last night’s game was never in doubt from the opening tip as the Lopes cruised to a forty three point win,
The bump in the road always after a game like that is a letdown and also trying to duplicate the same hot shooting and overall dominance.
Tonight, Seattle’s Bree Calhoun got the Red Hawks off right by making the first basket of the game and a short lived 2-0 lead.
Ny’Dajah Jackson – Photo/ GCU Athletics
Jackson playing her last game in the Arena scored the Lopes first five points and the rest of her teammates got into the swing early as Katie Scott, Taylor Caldwell hit shots and Laura Piera nailed a three and GCU was off and running 12-2.
Seattle might have felt snake bitten as at 5:41 a Red Hawk steal by Calhoun on a breakaway missed her layup and that was how things had gone for them in the desert.
The message Coach Mollie Miller was loud and clear, “no room for error” as Canyon shot 60% (9-15) and equaled their twenty point scoring performance from the night before.
Seattle had a better opening stanza as well with Calhoun scoring seven of their thirteen points but still trailed 20-13 after one quarter.
The Antelopes got a little sloppy with the basketball and Seattle pulled within five at 20-15.
Miller went to her bench early in the second quarter with Carla Balague and Tavia Rowell getting early minutes.
By the middle of the quarter, Canyon slumped to 1-7 from the field until consecutive hoops by Rowell with her three pointer and Balague with a layup to get the lead back to double figures 29-18.
The last four minutes of the half, things got interesting. A text book back door give and go from Venla Varis to Katie Scott got the crowd going. Seattle had difficulty putting up points against a stubborn Canyon defense until a technical foul was called on Miller with 1:53 left that gave the Red Hawks some life as went on an 8-3 run to end the half still trailing 37-29.
The Antelopes still shot well at 47% (15-32) and held Seattle to 8-29 for 28%.
The one thing that kept the Red Hawks within striking distance was their 10-18 from the free throw line. GCU only shot four free throws, making three.
Miller’s front line asserted themselves on the glass with a ten rebound lead 27-17 in the first half and twenty two points in the paint.
Outside Seattle’s first basket of the game, the Lopes led the entire half.
The Red Hawks came out of the locker room blazing as they scored eight quick points to tie the score 37-37.
Grand Canyon fell behind 41-40 until Piera hit a three pointer and Jackson’s layup got the lead back at 45-41 with 6:16 to go in the third quarter.
The middle of the quarter saw both teams trade baskets as GCU continued to hold the lead.
Things opened up on Taylor Caldwell’s three and got the lead back to eight 54-46 and Jackson followed with a hoop and the lead was back to ten 56-46.
Canyon reasserted themselves with four quick points on a free throw and an Rowell rebound off the missed free throw to set up a three by Jackson that gave the Antelopes a thirteen point cushion 60-47 heading into the final quarter.
The third quarter as key as Miller’s squad withheld Seattle’s biggest push in the two game series and only briefly went down by a single point before regrouping.
Outside the quick third quarter start by the Red Hawks, they could never seem to solve the GCU defense.
All season long, Miller has put her stamp on nose to nose hardline defense with overplays and trapping pressure. Once she has her foot on your neck, her Antelopes rarely let up.
Senior Jackson wanted a final performance worth remembering and her three pointer at the six minute mark gave her a team leading seventeen points on 7-9 shooting including 3-5 from beyond the arc.
The final 2:36 GCU sent the message, “we’re back and ready for a week off and then the WAC Tournament. Final score 80-64.
