Don't tell Lopes' Head Coach Byron Jackson that the Arizona drought is getting better.
 
It was a recurring problem throughout his team's game Monday night.
 
After suffering through a six-minute-long stretch without a point in the 4^th quarter, Daniella Lopez's driving layup with just over five seconds left gave Grand Canyon University Women's Club Basketball Team 1 a dramatic 58-56 win over Bella Vista Prep Monday night in Arizona Women's Basketball League play at the Canyon Activity Center on the GCU campus. The win gave the Lopes sole possession of 2^nd place in the AWBL Standings and pulled them to within a game of first-place Dream City Christian.
 
The game was entirely made of streaks for the Lopes – both good and bad. The length of the 4^th-quarter scoreless stretch was matched by the first eight minutes of the game for GCU when they watched BVCP bust out to an 11-2 lead. Jackson then unleashed the pressure defense for GCU, and it flummoxed the Bears. The Lopes forced turnovers on every part of the court for the next ten minutes of play, converting them to layups and three-pointers, and putting together a 24-3 run to take a double-digit lead, and eventually, a 28-21 halftime edge.
 
Once again, though, the Lopes wore down, settling for long-distance shots, which allowed the Bears to scramble back to tie the game at 30-30 midway through the 3^rd quarter. Sensing his team had caught its second wind, Jackson called for the full-court press, which swung the momentum in GCU's favor once again. The Lopes equaled their largest lead of the game at 50-38 with eight minutes left in regulation before the GCU energy waned once more.
 
12 unanswered Bears' points tied the game with two minutes to play before Lopes' forward Kennedy Harper scrapped her way to an offensive rebound and putback to end the Lopes' drought. Bella Vista's Lainey Duggan drained the Bears' eighth three-pointer of the night with just over a minute left to give the Bears a 53-52 edge.
 
Then Lopez took over.
 
The native of Leon, Spain first drained two free throws to give the Lopes the lead back, then added to it 15 seconds later with a jumper in the lane. The Bears answered on Nikolina Vukcevic's trey with eight seconds remaining to knot things up again at 56-56. Jackson called his final timeout to diagram a play, then Lopez took Taylor Hibike's inbound pass and rolled past three Bears' defenders en route to a sweeping layup with :05.2 left. The Lopes' defense held serve on the last play, preventing the Bears from getting a final shot attempt up before the buzzer.
 
Lopez scored 15 of her team-high 17 points in the second half, while Lopes' sophomore Aubree Evans added 10. Vukcevic had 18 points – including three treys in the 4^th quarter – in a losing effort.
 
GCU Team 1's next AWBL opponent will be a familiar one, since they'll take on GCU Team 2 this Saturday, January 28 at 10:30 AM at the CAC.