Glendale, Ariz.- ACU Women's Basketball prepares for its final serving of non-conference games before shifting focus to GSAC play once the new year commences. This week, the Lady Firestorm make a short trip over to Grand Canyon University for an exhibition on Wednesday against the NCAA Division I program from the WAC. The non-conference schedule wraps up this Saturday with a second bout with Park Gilbert.

A win on Saturday would not only give ACU their 10th win this season, but also be the program's 200th and Rusty Rogers' 750th in his 40th year as a basketball coach.

Game Details

Arizona Christian at Grand Canyon (Exh.) - Wednesday, December 27 at 6:00 PM
Arizona Christian vs Park Gilbert - Saturday, December 30 at 4:00 PM

Global Credit Union Arena at GCU - Phoenix, AZ
ACU Events Center - Glendale, AZ

*All Times Listed Are Arizona Time

Tickets - https://gcutickets.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetEventInfo?ticketCode=GS:MULTI:WBB24:WBB8:&linkID=gcu-multi&dataAccId=248&locale=en_US&siteId=ev_gcu-multi, https://acufirestorm.com/sports/2022/11/29/973_133142257298652889.aspx 

GCU- General Admission ($5)
Prices- General Admission ($10), Alumni/Military/Senior ($5), ACU Students (Free), 12 and under (Free)

Live Coverage

Video - https://www.gsacsportsnetwork.com/azchristian 
Live Stats - https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=490687, https://acufirestorm.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary 

*Watch GCU exhibition on ESPN+

Arizona Christian

The Lady Firestorm succumbed to a three-point happy and active Olivet Nazarene offense in a 94-81 loss at ACU Events Center. A lopsided 24-8 third quarter in favor of the visiting Tigers sunk ACU's hopes of winning their final game before Christmas Day. Alyssa Alvarez rebounded from a poor showing against #11 Concordia (NE) with 21 points, six rebounds and five assists. Emily Till continues to produce for the Firestorm, etching her second consecutive double-double (15 points, 13 rebounds) on 6-of-7 shooting.

In 13 games, ACU has posted 995 points (25th in the NAIA) and a 74.0 free-throw percentage (29th in the NAIA). Alyssa Alvarez and Halle Payne are both top-10 GSAC scorers (5th and 10th) with 16.6 and 13.8 PPG.

ACU Key Players

Alyssa Alvarez - 16.6 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 2.9 APG
Halle Payne - 13.8 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 1.5 APG
Emily Till - 7.8 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 1.8 APG
Cynthia Lopez - 4.5 PPG, 0.7 RPG, 0.4 APG
Kayla Clark - 3.9 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 3.5 APG

Series Notes

In nine all-time meetings with Grand Canyon (eight exhibitions), the Firestorm hold a 0-9 record. The only counting contest was also the first in the series (January 21, 2006) as GCU defeated ACU 85-20. All nine games have been held in Phoenix, in the newly dubbed Global Credit Union Arena at GCU. The Firestorm and Lopes last met in the 2022-23 season, as GCU won 109-53. Graciela Roybal led the Firestorm with 13 points and Halle Payne put up an efficient eight points (3-for-4 shooting) of her own.

The Firestorm now possess a 5-1 advantage over Park Gilbert after winning their latest meeting 70-59 on November 15th. ACU has won the previous four games against the Buccaneers, including three on the road. The 70-59 victory earlier this season was highlighted by a resurgent third quarter, featuring four three-pointers by Sophia Martinez and 11 points and two assists by Halle Payne. ACU's lone loss came in 2020 (85-79) at Park Gilbert.

Coach Rusty Rogers' Thoughts

"This week represents our final tuneup before entering GSAC play," Coach Rogers said. "Our biggest challenge is getting back to peak performance after completing our third significant break in the schedule. We'll use the exhibition game against GCU as the first step in getting our game conditioning back and then Saturday's contest with Park Gilbert will give us an idea of our readiness for the Northern California trip next week."

Grand Canyon University

The Grand Canyon University Lopes (8-3) strung six straight wins together, featuring two early WAC victories over UT Rio Grande Valley (63-50) and UT Arlington (77-48) and a narrow one over Arizona State 66-59. Despite their most recent contest ending in a loss (65-52, Liberty), GCU is 4-1 as the visitor. Trinity San Antonio leads the Lopes in scoring (11.8 PPG), assists (4.5 APG), and steals (21 total) and Tiarra Brown is the rebound leader (5.3 RPG). In the WAC, the Lopes are second in three-point percentage (35.1) and fourth in field goal percentage (42.7).

Park University Gilbert

The Park University Gilbert Buccaneers (5-5) narrowly dropped their last two games (71-69, Benedictine Mesa and 75-70, Olivet Nazarene) following a four-game win streak. Efforts to extend their mini hot streak were thwarted by turnovers (48 combined between the two games), as Park Gilbert finds itself at .500 once again. Kayla Schroeder (18 points in the November 15th contest against ACU) continues to lead the Buccaneers with 20.2 PPG, and sits in second in rebounds (4.8 RPG) and steals (24 total). Park Gilbert leads the Cal Pac in three-point percentage (38.1), as Schroeder has sunk 51.6% from range (33-for-64). Like the Firestorm, Park Gilbert closes out their non-conference schedule on December 30th.


Roll Storm!