Lopes, Lady Mavs Give Fans Exactly What They Paid For
GCU and UT Arlington played in an instant classic on Saturday afternoon at Orleans Arena
Championship Saturday at the Western Athletic Conference basketball tournament is always a good day.
From the anticipation of wondering who is going to punch their ticket to The Big Dance, to tip-off, and to the final moments of a what many hope will be a good game.
It’s just one of those days that everyone looks forward to, especially the teams competing in the ball game.
On Saturday afternoon at Orleans Arena, the women’s championship game of the Western Athletic Conference basketball tournament did not disappoint.
On one side, you had Molly Miller and the GCU Lopes, winners of 30 straight games, outright regular season champs, and on cruise control the entire season.
On the other side were Shereka Wright and the Lady Mavs of UT Arlington, who had knocked off 2-seed Tarleton State in Friday’s semifinals.
The line was 17.5 at tip-off.
The line was wrong.
At least, that is what fans realized as the game wore on.
“We had Grand Canyon on the ropes,” UT Arlington head coach Shereka Wright said. “We did. It just wasn’t our time.”
Whether it was UT Arlington’s time or not, fans got to see a good one, and those watching on ESPNU did, as well.
Whether it was Koi Love knocking down a 3-pointer or Trinity San Antonio hitting a clutch jumper, emotions ran high, the atmosphere was electric, and both the Lady Mavs and Lopes deserved this attention.
Sure, the majority of those in attendance at Orleans Arena on Saturday were wearing purple and white.
As GCU head coach Molly Miller said, “We painted this town purple, Lope Vegas.”
However, the UT Arlington fans, outnumbered perhaps 3-to-1, were loud, as well.
And they had good reason to be, as the Lady Mavs hung with the hottest team in America for 40 minutes.
“Let’s even talk about our fans,” Wright said. “They were just as loud. They were just as loud. We may not have had all those, but they were just as loud and proud.”
When UT Arlington made a 13-0 run in the third quarter to take a 41-31 lead, the Lady Mavs faithful were loud.
When GCU responded with an 8-0 run of its own, the Lopes faithful were loud.
Even though both teams committed a combined 50 turnovers and the shooting wasn’t fantastic, fans were on the edge of their seats for a little over two hours as the contest remained in doubt until the final two seconds.
When Callie Cooper threw up a prayer with seven seconds to play, and GCU leading by a point, it looked like UT Arlington would get one last shot for a massive upset.
However, Cooper went and redeemed herself, by poking the ball out of Avery Brittingham’s hands, coming up with the steal, and locking the Lopes into their first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.
It was just one of those sequences that kept fans engaged all afternoon.
GCU fans were a bit on edge for a good portion of Saturday. UT Arlington fans were hopeful.
Two teams were going toe-to-toe, throwing punches like it was a Pay-Per-View fight.
“It was an unbelievable day and crowd of women’s basketball,” Shereka Wright said.
Whether you were a Lady Mavs fan who was looking for the upset or a Lopes fan going home happy because your team won its first-ever WAC tournament, you got treated to an instant classic.
Both teams are likely to play more basketball following Saturday’s title game.
GCU is headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history, and UT Arlington is expected to decide on a postseason tourney in a few days.
Good for both teams. They earned it on Saturday afternoon in Sin City.