(Photo credit: Aishling Cavanaugh/WCSN)
Following a 100-96 home loss to Arkansas State in its second game of the season, Arizona State women’s basketball will look to get back on track against Grand Canyon on Thursday in the Hall of Fame Game under the bright lights of the Footprint Center.
The Sun Devils (1-1) will face off against the Lopes (1-1) in their third meeting in three years. The two teams have split the previous two clashes, with GCU emerging victorious 66-59 in Tempe last December. ASU won the 2022 matchup 80-72 on the road, in the teams’ first meeting since 1994, when Grand Canyon was a Division II program.
The Sun Devils struggled defensively in last week’s loss, allowing Arkansas State to put up 100 points on 51% shooting from the field and 43% from beyond the arc. It was the first time ASU had allowed over 100 points in a game since New Year’s Eve in 2022 when they gave up 101 points to a top-5 Stanford team in Tempe.
GCU began its season with a dominant 93-52 home win over Cal State Bakersfield before falling on the road to Middle Tennessee 57-47. Senior guard and WAC Preseason Player of the Year Trinity San Antonio leads the Lopes. San Antonio averaged 11.5 points and 2.3 steals per game for head coach Molly Miller’s squad in 2023-24. San Antonio has gotten off to a slow start this season, averaging just 6.5 points through GCU’s first two games. Graduate forward Laura Erikstrup has taken the reigns offensively for the Lopes so far this season. Last year’s WAC Sixth Player of the Year has averaged 12.5 points per game so far this season.
The Lopes’ inconsistent offensive output through their first two games can best be explained by their shooting from 3-point land. The Lopes made 14 threes on 29 attempts in their season-opening win, good for 54%, before making just seven of 22, or 22% from downtown in the loss against Middle Tennessee.
After allowing Arkansas State to hoist thirty 3-pointers last Friday, ASU’s perimeter defense will play an important role in determining if the Sun Devils can put themselves on the right side of .500 heading into a matchup with new ACC school SMU on Saturday in Tempe.
On the other end, GCU’s perimeter defense has been a point of strength so far in this young season. The Lopes have held opponents to just one make on 28 attempts from three this season. ASU found a majority of its offensive success in the paint against Arkansas State in the paint, putting up 72 points from close range in the loss. GCU is a shorter team, which could work to the Sun Devils’ advantage as long as they can close out on shooters and hold the Lopes to a cold evening from distance.
After a let-down loss to Arkansas State, ASU has a good opportunity at a neutral site against a solid GCU team to prove that home defeat was a fluke. If head coach Natasha Adair’s Sun Devils can continue to dominate the paint and hold San Antonio to another underwhelming game, they might manage to grab themselves an important non-conference win in front of a big crowd at the Footprint Center.
