(South Padre Island, TX) Grand Canyon sophomore guard Tiarra Brown collected a double-double with 16 points and a career-high 13 rebounds to lead the Lopes to a 62-52 win over UT San Antonio in Saturday’s final game of the South Padre Island Classic.
“It wasn’t easy leading up to this point,” Lopes head coach Molly Miller said of her team winning away from GCU Arena for the first time. “We had four players become unavailable within days, three of those players within 72 hours, so we just have to find a way at that point and that’s kind of a life lesson. Life isn’t going to grant you perfect circumstances. So we were dished out some misfortune, but no one’s going to feel sorry for ourselves. We had to really dig down and find a way and this team did that.”
After losing its first tournament game to a tough 11-1 Liberty team, the Lopes (6-4) bounced back to finish the weekend on a strong note.
“I really didn’t want that to be a trap game,” Miller said. “I mean, Liberty, we played our hearts out. We had a lot of fight. We competed in that game, which was great to see. Then, you wanted to come back in less than 24 hours and try to do it all over again and I thought our kids really responded well.”
Joining Brown in double figures was senior guard Tianna Brown, who had 14 points, including a 5-for-5 performance from the field, along with four assists and two steals. GCU graduate guard Amara Graham addd 10 points, three rebounds, two steals and two assists.
“The Brown sisters had a heck of a game,” Miller said. “It was nice to see Tianna connecting on those shots and then Tiarra, I mean she just skied for those rebounds.”
The GCU defense held UTSA to only 34.6% shooting from the field. The Roadrunners did not get many second opportunities with only nine offensive rebounds and eight second-chance points, while the Lopes pulled down 29 defensive rebounds. GCU won the boards 38-31 overall.
“We looked athletic going place to place,” Miller said. “Rebounding was a huge statistic for us. I thought we did a good job both days. For us, we’re getting better. I think our conditioning was better. We were tired, but we still found a way to dig in and get stops or get rebounds.”
The Lopes started off strong, taking a 19-17 lead into the second quarter. GCU did most of its first-quarter damage in the paint, with 12 points close to the basket.
UTSA rallied to take a 24-21 lead before the Lopes went on an 11-0 run, starting at the 5:23 mark of the second period with a 32-24 lead. The Lopes finished the first half ahead 34-27.
GCU started the second half with a 3-pointer from Tianna Brown and built its biggest lead of 14 points at the 5:30 mark. The Roadrunners fought back, but the Lopes finished the third quarter with a seven-point lead.
The Lopes extended their lead to 10 points with a 3 from freshman guard Naudia Evans to start the fourth quarter, but a 6-0 UTSA run cut the GCU lead to four with 7:19 to play. It was a back-and-forth battle for the rest of the quarter, but GCU came out on top, winning its first game away from GCU this season.
After three weeks on the road, the Lopes head back home to GCU Arena for a noon Thursday game against UC Irvine. The Lopes are 5-0 at home this season.
“Oh my goodness, we love home,” Miller said. “It felt good to get one on the road. We’ve got a good test ahead of us and then it’s conference, so we need to focus for Thursday’s game and make sure that we play with just the same amount of intensity and effort. You get some of that energy from your home crowd and being able to sleep in your home bed and do your home routines, so we’re excited to be back at home.”
Press Release courtesy of Grand Canyon Athletics – Sierra Smith
