LAS VEGAS — During what now is a 30-game winning streak, Grand Canyon coach Molly Miller held a practice, having her players pretend they had just lost a game to make sure their focus wouldn’t stray.
She won’t need to do that now, not after surviving a 65-62 victory over UT Arlington on Saturday for the the school’s first women’s WAC Tournament championship and punching its first trip to the NCAA Women’s Tournament.
They’ll celebrate more on Sunday when they hear their name announced by ESPN and find out where they’ll go and who they’ll play in the dance.
Saturday, at Orleans Arena, they celebrated long and hard, after rallying from a 10-point deficit midway through the third quarter to overcome the pressure of a rare tight game in the final quarter. A steal at the end sealed it.
After UTA rebounded a missed GCU shot with 10 seconds left and the Lopes up by one, guard Callie Cooper poked the ball loose from the rebounder to a teammate. GCU worked the ball around to get the clock down to two seconds before tournament MVP Trinity San Antonio was fouled.
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She hit both free throws and the Lopes smothered any chance of UTA getting off a last-second desperation shot. With no chance at reaching the basket, it set off a celebration that was five years in the making with Miller in charge of the GCU program.
“She will do whatever our team needs her to do,” Miller said about Cooper’s defensive heroics. “In that moment, she came through for us. Coop is not the one who is usually up here or has her name in the print. But she means so much to our team.
“She is a lock-down defender. Her heart and her buy-in have always been there.”
GCU (32-2) carved through the WAC this season in devastating fashion, leaving no doubt in the final quarter of games. It won 15 of its 16 conference games by double digits.
This was the most late-game pressure the Lopes felt since starting this nation-leaning winning streak in November, following a 16-point loss at Oregon.
They’ve been asked about the streak every week for a month. Nobody even acknowledged they knew how many games the streak stood at. It was head down, go to work, dig in defensively.
They had to do that halfway through the third quarter when UTA’s inside game, especially the dynamic moves of Koi Love (21 points on 8-of-12 shooting), had the Lopes looking dazed.
After UTA’s 14-0 run, the Lopes responded with a 3 from Alyssa Durazo-Frescas to start an 11-2 run that tied the score at 42.
Then, with UTA up 48-42, San Antonio hit a shot in the last second of the third quarter.
GCU men’s basketball news: Grand Canyon to face Utah Valley in WAC final for shot at 3rd NCAA Tournament
That seemed to fuel the Lopes with another surge that saw them take a 54-50 lead with less than five minutes to play. The run was highlighted by three straight strong post moves by graduate Laura Erikstrup, who had 16 of her 17 points in the second half.
“For me, I couldn’t be more grateful to be surrounded by these girls,” said Erikstrup, who knew she wanted a fifth season, realizing the possibilities this team had. “I want to thank the opportunity the Lord gave me. It brings me to tears thinking about it. To have this be your fifth year.
“You’re going to cut down the nets at home (with the regular-season WAC title), then you get to cut it down here together, I couldn’t be more grateful.”
Miller thought the team wasn’t taking the right shots, forcing the issue, in the first half when her team shot 27% and turned it over 12 times. But to only be down 26-25 at the half, the Lopes knew if they just kept grinding, they’d be champions.
“There’s no 10-point play,” Miller said. “Dig down on the defensive end, and let our defense generate our offense.”
The Lopes harrassed third-seeded UTA (17-13) into 27 turnovers with the dagger turnover coming at the end.
In the last five-minute stretch, it was tough shots from San Antonio that carried the Lopes offensively. She finished with 19 points, despite playing with four fouls in the final period. She overcame 12 turnovers with nine assists.
“I just let my mind go at ease,” San Antonio said. “I just played with a sense of peace.”
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