Ladyjacks Snap Lopes Eight-Game Win Streak

Thursday, January 25

Phoenix, AZ

7:00 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

13-6,7-1WAC

Grand Canyon University

16-4,8-1WAC

SFA

Grand Canyon

Ladyjacks Snap Lopes Eight-Game Win Streak

1/25/2024 10:41:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Peter Trainor, Student Assistant for Strategic Communications

PHOENIX, Ariz. - The Stephen F. Austin women's basketball team (13-6, 7-1) rallied from multiple early deficits to Grand Canyon University (16-4, 8-1) and were able to close out a critical conference win late as they claimed a 59-54 road win in Phoenix and cooled off the red-hot Lopes.

The first quarter saw some early baskets exchanged between SFA and GCU as neither team was able to get a large advantage early. GCU got the first points of the game thanks to a Trinity San Antonio steal, which she fed to Tiarra Brown for a layup and gave GCU a 2-0 lead. However, forty seconds later, Destini Lombard had the answer to Brown's layup and the first points for SFA for the night as she would bank home a layup and get SFA on the board, tying the game at two apiece. Tiarra Brown and Olivia Lane fired off consecutive baskets to give GCU a 6-2 lead, before Kyla Deck was able to draw a foul and made good use of her free-throws as she drained both to cut the GCU lead to 6-4. Following a Trinity San Antonio layup, Mele Finau continued to show off her excellent three-point shooting as she would drain a shot from downtown to get her first points of the night and cut the GCU lead to one at 8-7. Naudia Evans would sink a pair of free-throws for GCU with four minutes left, however both teams defenses would showcase their high levels of play as Laura Erikstrup would make a layup for GCU to push them ahead 12-7, but that would be the final score of the quarter as both teams played incredible defense to end the first quarter, and GCU held a 12-7 lead after one.

Shay Fano wasted no time getting the scoring started for GCU to start the second quarter as she would put home a layup just ten seconds into the second and give GCU a 14-7 lead. Zoe Nelson was able to grab an offensive rebound for SFA and put home her layup to give the Ladyjacks their first points of the second and reduce the deficit to five at 14-9. After Naudia Evans would hit a jumper to regain GCU's lead to seven at 16-9, the Ladyjacks would find their groove midway into the second as they would go on a 7-0 scoring run thanks to four points from Zoe Nelson. The Lopes would put an end to SFA's scoring run with four consecutive points of their own to go back ahead 20-16 with three minutes left in the second. Tyler McCliment-Call was able to pull down another offensive rebound for SFA and she capitalized on it by banking home a layup to bring SFA to within two points at 20-18. After a GCU three-pointer put them back ahead by five at 23-18, SFA got the last say in scoring for the first half as Lydia Cooke-Wiggins and Destini Lombard would hit free-throws for the 'Jacks and SFA found themselves only down by three, 23-20, as the teams headed into the locker rooms.

GCU would open up the scoring for the third consecutive quarter as Tiarra Brown and Trinity San Antonio would make consecutive shots for GCU to regain their seven-point lead at 27-20, early into the second half. However, SFA would grow tired of playing from behind as they rattled off a critical 10-0 scoring run early into the third to gain their first lead of the game. The scoring run was fueled by five straight points from Destini Lombard, which included a three-pointer, before Tyler McCliment-Call would hit a jumper, that was followed almost immediately by Zoe Nelson splashing a shot from downtown to cap off the run and launch SFA ahead 30-27. A flurry of free-throws by both teams midway through the second was started by Naudia Evans drawing a three-pointer foul and draining all three shots for GCU to knot the score up at 30 apiece. However, Kurstyn Harden and Destini Lombard would draw back-to-back fouls for the Ladyjacks and took advantage of the free shots as they went 4/4 on free-throws combined to give SFA a 34-30 lead. After GCU cut the lead down to 34-32, Tyler McCliment-Call got into the three-pointer party as she drained a triple of her own to give SFA a 37-32 lead with four minutes left. After GCU would hit a free-throw to keep the deficit at four points, McCliment-Call continued her scorching hot quarter as she would hit another jumper to push the SFA lead to six at 39-33. Shay Fano responded to McCliment-Call with consecutive baskets of her own for the Lopes to pull GCU to within two points at 39-37 with two minutes left. However, SFA would dominate the final two minutes of the quarter as they would end the quarter on a 6-0 scoring run thanks to a layup from Lydia Cooke-Wiggins, Tyler McCliment-Call putting the cherry on top on her dominant quarter with a jumper with nine seconds remaining, and Kyla Deck sending the Ladyjacks into the fourth with plenty of confidence as she would record a steal and drive it all the way home for a layup with two seconds left in the quarter to give SFA their largest lead of the game to that point at 45-37 heading into the final quarter.

Trinity Moore would open up the scoring in the fourth as she would knock down a jumper and give SFA a double-digit lead at 47-37 early into the fourth quarter. However, GCU looking to keep their eight-game home win streak alive would respond with five straight points of their own to cut the SFA lead to five at 47-42 two minutes into the final quarter. Kurstyn Harden would put an end to the GCU scoring run as she would hit a pair of free-throws to move the 'Jacks lead to 49-42. However, Naudia Evans would make the Lopes second three-pointer of the quarter and cut the SFA lead down to four at 49-45 three minutes into the fourth. Kyla Deck would have the answer to GCU's three, as she would knock down a triple of her own to keep the SFA lead at seven at 52-45. Midway through the fourth, the two schools would exchange baskets, however, SFA still maintained a seven-point lead at the midway point at 54-47 thanks to a Zoe Nelson pullup jumper to cancel out a Shay Fano layup for GCU. The Lopes would once again make a furious rally to claw back within two points at 54-52, thanks to their second 5-0 scoring run of the quarter. Once again, however, the Ladyjacks had an answer for GCU as Kurstyn Harden would bank home a layup to move SFA back ahead by four at 56-52 with just under three minutes remaining. The final three minutes would be a defensive dog fight as neither team would score until the final 30 seconds when Destini Lombard would make a free-throw and follow that up by making a strong all-around play where she recorded a steal on the defensive side and followed that up by taking it coast-to-coast and putting home a fast-break layup to give SFA a massive 59-52 lead with 18 seconds remaining and all but guarantee the win for the Ladyjacks. Shay Fano would keep the game interesting with a basket with 11 seconds left to cut the SFA lead to 59-54, however that would be all the scoring in this one as SFA leaves Phoenix with a massive conference win over current WAC leader GCU and snaps the Lopes eight-game win streak as well as their eight-game home win streak.

Destini Lombard returned to her scoring ways against GCU as she recorded a team-high 15 points on 5/6 shooting, while adding three rebounds, an assist, and two steals, one of which sealed the win for SFA. Zoe Nelson helped power SFA to a critical road conference win as she tallied her fifth double-double of the season thanks to a strong 12-point, 10-rebound performance, while adding two blocks and two steals to top off her dominant performance. Nelson's five double-doubles is the second most by a WAC player this season, while Nelson also recorded her sixth 10-rebound performance of the season, which has her tied for the most by a WAC player this season. Tyler McCliment-Call helped form a three-headed scoring monster for SFA tonight as she finished with 11 points, while pulling down seven rebounds, handing out two assists, and recording two steals. Kyla Deck and Kurstyn Harden teamed up to form a dynamic duo for the Ladyjacks tonight as they combined for 13 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, and four steals tonight.

The Ladyjacks strong shooting from the charity stripe played a critical role in stealing a win from the Lopes as the 'Jacks shot 70% from the free-throw line, while shooting just under 39% from the field, and draining five triples. However, the Ladyjacks defense once again proved to be stingy and play a vital role in this win as they recorded five blocks and 12 steals in the win, turning those 17 turnovers into 13 points off turnovers. More importantly, however, the Ladyjacks made life difficult down the stretch for GCU shooters as the Lopes made only one of their final eight shots thanks to the suffocating Ladyjack defense. SFA was able to enjoy another solid game scoring down low as they recorded 28 points in the paint and converting their six offensive rebounds into six second chance points.

The Ladyjacks will carry their four-game win streak with them into California when they continue their four-game road trip and take on the CBU Lancers on Saturday, January 27th with tip-off scheduled for 3:00 p.m. CST, which will feature another battle of WAC heavyweights as both schools are currently tied for second place in the WAC standings.