The first meeting between Arizona and GCU didn’t quite go as the Wildcats planned when the Lopes pushed past Arizona in the final two minutes of the game to snatch a 69-66 win at McKale Center Thursday night.
The Wildcats, who were a perfect 5-0 at home this season, now drop to 7-4, while the Lopes improve to 6-2.
Arizona guard Lauryn Swann (1) gets the shot off during the second half of the match against the Antelopes at McKale Center, Dec. 5, 2024.
Arizona held a two-point lead with 2:53 left in the game. Alyssa Durazo-Frescas hit a 3-pointer to give GCU a 64-63 lead at the 2:05 mark and the Lopes never looked back.
The Wildcats started out strong, passing the ball on offense with movement and playing tight defense in the first half. But that changed in the third quarter as it seemed like Arizona got stagnant on the offensive end.
“Tough loss tonight,” Arizona coach Adia Barnes said. “I thought GCU did a really good job of making it really hard to guard them off the dribble and we were exploited in the second half. (They were) just isolating us in different pick-and-roll situations, spreading the floor and misdirecting us and isolating for right-hand drives, and you really couldn't find an answer for it.
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"I thought first half, we did some really good things. I thought that we were really good on the boards. Our guards were offensive rebounding and putting back, and then it just halted in the second half."
The Lopes' Trinity San Antonio took over scoring 17 of her 26 points in the second half. She couldn’t be stopped. She found wide open lanes for drives, as well as going the full length of the court to score.
“(San Antonio) is a quick player,” Breya Cunningham said. “She's very fast and their whole thing was just to get the ball in fast and run the run the ball. She was beating us down the floor.”
Arizona forward Breya Cunningham (25) goes for the lay up against Antelopes guard Trinity San Antonio (23) at McKale Center, Dec. 5, 2024.
Cunningham was the Wildcats leading scorer with 20 points — a career high. She also had three blocks, two steals and six rebounds.
Once again, the Wildcats weren’t at full strength without Isis Beh and Sahnya Jah. Barnes said that Jah was unavailable and while Beh was practicing with the team after exiting concussion protocol, she was held out of this game to be extra careful. Barnes said that both Beh and Jah will be back for Tuesday’s game against CSU Bakersfield.
Looking at the stats after the game, it was almost hard to tell who won as most things seemed pretty even. Arizona made 26 of 59 shots while GCU made 24 of 55. The rebounds were close with GCU having a slight edge 37-34.
“They outplayed us, and they did a really good job, especially second half,” Barnes said. “And if you look at the stats, we're both very similar stats. We shot about almost the same from the field. We're both 44%. From the threes … 25-26% and from free throws were pretty similar. They were a little better on free throws, so we make a couple more free throws, stop fouling and we get a couple of tough plays — we win the game.”
One thing that stood out was that the Wildcats held the lead for 27:51 of the game. It just wasn’t the final minute.
The Wildcats had four other players in double figures with 12 points from Paulina Paris, 11 points from Jada Williams and Lauryn Swann and 10 points form Skylar Jones.
With 7:33 left in the game, Williams rolled her ankle and had to be carried off the court and into the locker room by UA’s performance coach Chris Allen. She was back on the court shortly – less than two minutes later at the 5:46 mark. She came back, played tenacious defense and knocked down a 3-pointer.
After the game, Barnes said her injury is just a sprain.
She said it
Wildcats guard Jada Williams (2) goes down as Grand Canyon guard Callie Cooper (0) plays high physical defense during the second half of the match at McKale Center, Dec. 5, 2024.
“Jada is very tough. She's resilient. She's a fighter. She would go, come back in on one leg. That's just Jada. … She’s so smart. She gives her heart. I never question if she'll be back, unless she absolutely can’t and she’s back there dying or need stitches, she's going to come back. I respect that. That's what I say, even when she's not shooting that well, even when she's whatever, it doesn't matter, because she's valuable. She's going to fight, she's going to make those big shots, and she's going to lead us, communicate, so all those things.” — Barnes on Williams
Stuffing the stat sheet
Williams: 4 steals, 4 assists, 6 rebounds
Paris: 2 steals, 2 assists
The other side
San Antonio drew 11 fouls. Laura Erisktrup chipped in 14 points and Durazo-Frescas added 13.
By the numbers
16: GCU made 16 of its 24 free throw attempts, while Arizona only made 10 of its 19 attempts.
12: The Lopes had 12 more fast break points than the Wildcats. GCU had 17, while Arizona had five.
44: The Wildcats scored 44 points in the paint.
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