GCU Women's Club Basketball put in work over the long MLK weekend.
GCU's Team 1 won a pair of fantastic finishes, pulling out a 49-46 victory over Bella Vista College Prep's Team 2 on Saturday, and a 63-62 win over Bella Vista's Team 1 on Monday night. GCU's Team 2 went 0-1 for the weekend, falling to Benedictine University, 87-35, on Monday night.
H2: GCU Team 1 49, Bella Vista College Prep Team 2 46
GCU came out with a commanding 10-0 lead over Bella Vista. Three-pointers by GCU's Ella Berg and Jenny Albano extended the lead to an 18-3 edge after one quarter.
"I think that my girls were really confident and, even though we've lost to them before, I didn't feel like that was an indication of who we were," said Lopes' Team 1 Head Coach
Kyle Speed. "We have twenty-five girls on the team, and we have twenty-five girls that show up to practice every week, so I figured that they were going to turn it around because they were committed."
Bella Vista slowly began to chip away at GCU's lead, tying the score at 29-29 late in the third quarter.
"We just tried to make a real emphasis on the defensive end and just make it hard on Bella Vista," said Speed, "They were able to get back in the game because they are well-coached and a great team. I'm just proud that these girls were able to stick with it and keep battling."
The teams continued to battle back and forth, but Bella Vista was never quite able to take the lead. A key three-pointer by Bella Vista's Iva Drobnjak tied the score at 46-46 in the final minute, but the Lopes' Jayden Bies responded with a conventional three-point play in the final seconds to give GCU the win.
Daeja Banner and Cassandra Ibarra led the Lopes with 10 points each.
"Any time we can get a win against the champs, I'll take it," said Speed, "I just hope we can use this as motivation and keep playing well moving forward."
H2: GCU Team 1 63, Bella Vista College Prep Team 1 62
Coming off the Saturday win, GCU came out strong once again, starting off with a 5-0 lead over the Bears. This time, Bella Vista quickly battled back, taking the lead for much of the game, and holding a 48-35 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
"We hadn't really pressed a team like that, and so I just felt like down by 13 with 10 minutes to go was a good time to see if they can handle the pressure," said Speed.
GCU dialed in and got back into the game, closing the deficit to one point and gaining possession with 10 seconds remaining. After a timeout, GCU's Jenny Albano inbounded to Cassandra Ibarra, whose spinning layup with 1.7 seconds remaining gave the Lopes the victory.
"Cassandra was struggling early, but I said, 'Keep shooting because you're going to make the big one for us when we need it'," said Speed.
Na'Lon Smith led the Lopes with a game high of 23 points, with Albano adding 12 points on four three-point shots.
GCU Team 1's weekend victories put them at 2-2 in AWBL play.
"The fight and the toughness that they showed told me everything I need to know about this team," said Speed, "We're just going to get back to work and keep doing what we're doing. It doesn't matter what we did today. We have to get back on our grind and get focused on our next opponent."
H2: Benedictine University 87, GCU White 35
Despite early shots from Katelyn Nelson and Victoria Cabrera, the Lopes trailed, 20-12, after the first quarter. Benedictine's offense continued to widen the gap, scoring over twenty points in each quarter. The loss brought GCU White's record to 0-4 in AWBL play.
GCU Women's Club Basketball continues AWBL play on Saturday, January 25, where GCU Team 1 will face Benedictine University and GCU Team 2 will face Arizona Christian University. Both games begin at 10 am in the Canyon Activity Center. Admission is free.
