WBB: Semifinal Recap/Championship Preview
Durazo-Frescas scared another WAC record while a freshman came up big for UT Arlington to earn their championship game berth...
At the Orleans Arena on Friday afternoon a historic swan song continued for GCU.
Meanwhile, UT Arlington, who at one point in the second half of league play dropped five straight, needed a late surge to get by regular season runner-up Tarleton State.
We recap the semifinals and take a look at Saturday’s championship game in this WAC Hoops Women’s Tournament Recap.
No. 1 Grand Canyon 84 No. 5 Utah Valley 55:
In both regular season matchups the Utah Valley women’s basketball team was able to battle GCU into the fourth quarter.
Friday afternoon at Orleans Arena however, was a different story in the first of two WAC tournament semifinal matchups.
Leading by six at the half GCU (31-2), used a 30-9 third quarter to pull away for an 84-55 win and reach their third tournament final in five years, all under head coach Molly Miller.
Alyssa Durazo-Frescas sparked the Lopes in that first half with six 3-pointers. She’d finish with seven, just a pair short of the tournament record, and a career-high 28 points. Tiarra Brown also finished with 12 points and a pair of rebounds for GCU.
“We were a little antsy early on with some foul trouble but they came out of the half really wanting to blow it open and did so,” GCU head coach Molly Miller said. “When this group puts their minds on something watch out…”
GCU shot 61.8 percent, their highest mark in the three previous matchups, while forcing 24 Wolverine turnovers (also the high) and holding Utah Valley to 37 percent…both lows from those earlier meetings.
WAC Sixth Woman of the Year Kylee Mabry had 16 points to lead the Wolverines (18-11). Amanda Barcello and Tahlia White, a day after combining to score 50 points in the quarterfinal win against Abilene Christian, were held to just 11 on 2-11 field goal shooting with one 3-pointer.
The Wolverines made one brief run of 12-2 over 3:30 to cut a 14 point lead to four on a Mabry jumper but Utah Valley got no closer. A 10-2 third quarter run restored GCU’s 14 point lead and from there the Lopes ran to their 29th straight win.
“It’s really rewarding to see people commit to something and see success because nowadays in college basketball most people want a quick fix and in a lot of cases that’s just not possible,” Wolverines head coach Dan Nielson said. “When the wheels fall off like that you can either run from that challenge or embrace it and they’ve chosen the latter which will serve them well in basketball and in life.”
Utah Valley now waits to see if they are selected as a WNIT at-large team while GCU plays in tomorrow afternoon’s final at 12:30 P.M. pacific time on ESPNU.
No. 3 UT Arlington 66 No. 2 Tarleton State 55:
There are games where the final score isn’t indicative of how closely that contest was played.
Friday’s second semifinal between UT Arlington and Tarleton State was one such game.
With 2:55 left in the fourth quarter Jakoriah Long tied the game after hitting a pair of free throws. Then all-WAC freshman selection Kendal Robinson scored seven of the next nine UT Arlington (17-12) points to put the Lady Mavs up 61-52 with 57 seconds left, sparking it with a left wing 3-pointer.
It was the last time Tarleton State was within single-digits and UT Arlington advanced to tomorrow’s championship game with a 66-55 win.
“That was a very gritty win where we had to fight through some adversity but we’re not satisfied and know the challenge in front of us with GCU tomorrow,” Lady Mavs coach Shereka Wright said.
Avery Brittingham and Koi Love each led the Lady Mavs with 15 points while Robinson’s fourth-quarter surge got her to 11 points on a day where offense was mostly hard to come by.
Faith Acker finished with a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Arieona Rosborough also had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds for Tarleton State (20-12).
Tarleton State earned an automatic bid to the WNIT with their second place finish in regular season play as announced on Friday night by officials with Triple Crown Sports, tournament operators. They’ll find out their opening round opponent on Monday evening.
Tomorrow:
No. 1 Grand Canyon v No. 3 UT Arlington 12:30 P.M. (ESPN+/ESPNU):
Another matchup where the Lopes prevailed by double-digits each time in regular season play.
In Phoenix, the Lady Mavs were tied at halftime and down five points with just under three minutes left before falling by double-digits.
Aspen Thornton on that day had 29 points to lead the UT Arlington charge while Brittingham added 13 with six rebounds and four assists. Love struggled with seven points and five rebounds in 31 minutes of work.
12 days later the Lopes had a four point lead at halftime but used a 34-17 third quarter to stretch their lead to 21 en route to a 13 point win.
Durazo-Frescas was 5-9 from 3-point range that day while Brown and Laura Erikstrup combined to score 33 points on 10-25 field goal shooting with 17 rebounds.
Brittingham, Clark and Love combined to score 33 points on 12-26 field goal shooting in that second matchup.
Things to Watch For:
1. How effective will UT Arlington be at running Durazo-Frescas off the 3-point line? She was 8-16 in the two regular season meetings…
2. Can UT Arlington get enough jump shooting to keep themselves in contention down the stretch?
3. Who wins the paint battle? GCU was a cumulative +11 in the paint during the regular season. Does that trend continue in round 3?