WBB: Grand Canyon Lopes 2024-25 Team Preview
After a disappointing end to 2023-24, which included two losses to SFA in ten days, GCU turns the page and looks forward to their swan song in the WAC...
The narrative in the college basketball world is that teams coached by Molly Miller win…and win a lot.
This has been true since Miller took over at GCU prior to the 2020-21 season. The Lopes are 85-35 under Miller.
However, two things have eluded the Lopes in the past four years. A WAC regular season title, and a WAC tournament title. Two trips to the WAC title game, and two trips to the WAC semifinals.
With arguably her most experienced roster, and perhaps the most talented roster, could the final season in the WAC be the one where Miller and the Lopes get over the hump?
Let’s take a look at the GCU team that Molly Miller will take into 2024-25, their swan song as members of the Western Athletic Conference.
Head Coach:
Molly Miller (89-35 at GCU, 50-18 WAC)
Last Year:
24-8 overall, 16-4 WAC (regular season runners-up, reached WAC tournament semifinals)
Key Losses:
Naudia Evans (transfer to Loyola Marymount)
Olivia Lane (Completed Eligibility)
Shay Fano (Completed Eligibility)
Jada Holland (Completed Eligibility)
Sydney Palma (Completed Eligibility)
Key Returners:
Trinity San Antonio
Tiara Brown
Laura Erikstrup
Sydney Erikstrup
Notable Portal Signings:
Nneka Obiazor (UNLV)
Alyssa Durazo-Frescas (UNLV)
Bridget Mullings (Utah State)
Molly Miller will have Trinity San Antonio, Tiarra Brown, and the Erikstrup twins back for another year along with Asha Sra and Anna Ostile.
Meanwhile, Kristyna Jeskeova will make her GCU debut after transferring in from Long Beach State a season ago.
Miller has also been busy in the portal, adding a pair of proficient 3-point shooters from UNLV in Nneka Obiazor and Alyssa Durazo-Frescas, who both shot greater than 30 percent from beyond the arc.
Durazo-Frescas was seventh nationally in 3-point shooting percentage at 44%.
Miller also signed Bridget Mullings, who started 12 games last year for Utah State and shot just under 48 percent from the field while averaging 3.9 points per game.
“With Alyssa here you’re going to see a bit of a different brand of offense this year,” Miller said. “The spacing will be a lot cleaner with that level of shooter on the floor and I believe you’ll see our offense catch up with our defense.”
Scheduling Tidbits:
It was announced earlier in the offseason that GCU and Arizona State will renew their series, playing for a third time on November 14 at the Footprint Center.
Their two WAC/CUSA Scheduling Initiative games will be a return trip to Middle Tennessee State five days before that Arizona State game and then a pre-Christmas home game against Liberty.
In total, the Lopes will have three games against Power Conference opponents with visits to Oregon (November 18) and Arizona (December 5).
Just before New Year’s, GCU will finish its tour of Arizona with a non-conference game at Global Credit Union Arena against Northern Arizona, one of the Big Sky’s top programs.
“This is a team that can be challenged and they (Arizona) were looking to take a different approach with the schedule,” Miller said with regards to how the Arizona game came about. “We’ve definitely battle tested ourselves with this schedule and are confident that we’ll be ready for conference play when it comes in January.”
GCU’s conference schedule is an interesting mix of quick turnarounds between matchups and traditional breaks.
The Lopes will play Southern Utah twice in 19 days to begin WAC play, Utah Valley twice in 23 days, CBU twice in 14 days and UT Arlington twice in 12 days.
They do get a three-game homestand in mid-February which includes games against CBU, UT Arlington, and Tarleton State.
And the Lopes finish with three of their last five games on the road but do get Abilene Christian at home to conclude the regular season.
Outlook:
For Miller and company the question is simple…if they get into position to clinch again can they get it done?
Last year’s three-game losing streak that ended the regular season and carried into their WAC tournament semifinal game spoiled an otherwise stellar campaign.
“This conference has grown so much even in the brief time that I’ve been here and now there are no easy wins,” Miller said.
The big question is if GCU can get over the hump in its final season in the WAC. The Lopes lost in the WAC title game in 2021 in Miller’s first season as head coach. The following year, GCU was once again in the WAC title game. However, newcomer SFA was waiting and the Ladyjacks ran to a 74-57 win.
In 2023, the Lopes ran into the size of regular season champ and eventual WAC tourney champ Southern Utah in the WAC semifinals. And in 2024, GCU fell short in the WAC semifinals to the same Ladyjacks that beat them in the 2022 title game.
So, can the Lopes get over the hump?
GCU was picked first in the preseason coaches poll for a second straight year and has as good a chance as any Miller-era team that has taken the floor in her first four years to bring home a title.
We’ll see in a little over four months if they change the narrative from last year.