LA JOLLA, Calif. - Two of the best defensive teams in the nation commenced the 2012 NCAA West Region Tournament on Friday with No.3-seeded Grand Canyon defeating No.6-seeded Cal Poly Pomona, 49-48, at UC San Diego's domain, RIMAC Arena.
"I'm proud of our girls," said Lopes head coach Trent May. "Our girls had a yell about them that gave me a lot of confidence. When they announced we were playing Pomona, there was a different yell that night."
The Lopes of GCU improve to 24-3 and will play the winner of the following game between No. 2 Alaska Anchorage and No. 7 Cal State L.A. The Broncos finish the season with a 19-9 record overall.
Senior forward Megan Ford of the Broncos led all scorers with 17 points to go along with seven rebounds, one assist and a steal. Sophomore guard/forward Maylinn Smith led all Lopes with 15 points and two rebounds. She also had two assists.
After a battle of defenses ensued during the first half, the Lopes tried to keep their large lead, which got as high as 14 twice, the first time when Dennison hit a three-pointer just 1:06 into the second half to make the score, 35-21.
However, the Broncos did not go down without a fight and proceeded to chip away at the deficit in the form of another 7-0 run midway through the final 20 minutes, trimming the Lopes' lead in half, 39-32. In addition, the Broncos held the Lopes scoreless for more than eight minutes during that run.
CPP senior guard Sarah Semenero brought the Bronco fans to their feet upon drilling a three-pointer with 23 seconds left, bringing the Broncos to within three, 47-44. Although the Lopes reached their 49th point on a free throw from senior forward Jallisa Butler, Broncos sophomore guard J.J. Judge brought the Broncos to within one on a buzzer-beating trey to soften the defeat.
Butler said that this game was especially important since GCU lost to CPP in the West Region Championship game last season.
"It was sort of a redemption game," Butler said.
The Lopes got started early with a layup by Frazier just 18 seconds into the game to kickoff a 6-0 run. This was complemented by strong defense, which forced the Broncos into three turnovers on their first three possessions. The Broncos finally answered when Ford's layup got the Broncos on the board to begin a 7-0 run of their own. Ford led all scorers with 10 points to go along with three rebounds, one assist and a steal in the first period.
GCU regained the lead on senior forward Stevie Kamp's second free throw at the 14:50 mark and extended its advantage to double-digits on senior forward Jenna Butler's jumper seven seven seconds prior to the buzzer.
Proving their status as the nation's-best scoring defense, the Lopes held the Broncos to just 21 first-half points while scoring 11 points off of CPP's 13 turnovers. In contrast, the Broncos scored five points off of the Lopes' nine. The Broncos held the Lopes scoreless from three-point range.
"I just think we really struggled in the first half," said Broncos head coach Danelle Bishop. "I think you have to give credit to their defense. They did a good job of getting out at our shooters .... I thought we did a great job of getting out at their shooters."
In regards to tomorrow's game versus either the Seawolves or the Golden Eagles, May said there is at least one thing the Lopes cannot have if they want to win on Saturday.
"You can't have eight-minute scoring droughts," May said.
