COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Sophomore
Sierra Allen was close to perfect from the floor Friday night, hitting 7-of-8 field goals for 18 points off the bench as the Wildcats edged Grand Canyon, 75-71, during the first day of action at the Air Force Classic.
The victory lifted ACU's season record to 5-2, while the 'Lopes fell to 2-6 despite receiving a double-double from Cheyenne Hedrington who registered 10 rebounds and 19 points on 9-15 shooting.
Hedrington fired the final shot of the game with her team trailing by two points at 73-71 but her jumper rattled off the far side of the rim, where sophomore
Alexis Mason gathered it for her fourth rebound. Mason was immediately fouled and iced the victory with two free throws with .04 seconds remaining.
In a game that was razor-close from start to finish free-throws mattered tonight and the Wildcats again were above average from the foul line, knocking down 15-of-20 attempts (.750) while the 'Lopes missed half of their 18 attempts.
The Wildcats also did a much better job hanging on to the ball, turning it over only 10 times to 16 for GCU, which ACU then converted into 15 points. Junior
Sydney Shelstead led the Wildcats for the first time all season with three steals in addition to scoring a game-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
Shelstead also ran into some foul trouble, which allowed Allen to shine on the court for 20 quality minutes. She knocked down her first three field goals, including a 3-pointer, to finish the first half with seven points and by the end of the third quarter she was 6-of-6 with 16 points.
Allen's second-half efforts in addition to a couple of timely baskets by
Lizzy Dimba – who scored 11 points tonight – helped the Wildcats extend their one-point 37-36 halftime lead into an eight-point cushion at 50-42.
GCU didn't make a field goal until the 5:51 mark of the third quarter and missed four free throws all while the Wildcats were in the midst of 13-5 run led by four buckets by Dimba plus ones from Allen and Whitney (West) Swinford. But coming out of the media timeout with 4:41 to go, the Wildcats missed their first two 3-point attempts and twice turned over the ball as GCU trimmed the lead to 50-48.
Allen, however, quickly helped the Wildcats recover their lead with seven-straight points, hitting a 3-pointer at the 2:43 mark plus two additional free throws and a jumper with 30 seconds remaining in the third quarter that put ACU ahead by six points at 57-51.
But GCU refused to go away.
The 'Lopes leading scorer from last season Jessica Gajewski hit an open jumper with seven ticks left in the third to make it a two-possession game and then after ACU again pushed its lead out to seven points, the 'Lopes countered with a 13-5 run capped by a Gajewski 3-pointer.
The Gajewski trey put the Wildcats behind for the first time since the first quarter at 66-65 with 5:18 to go. On the following possession, however,
Paris Webb found Allen for an open jumper, and after the media timeout Webb pulled down a defensive rebound followed by a contested layup with the shot clock running down.
Suzzy Dimba hit a jumper to make it a 71-66 game with 3:05 left only to watch the 'Lopes quickly strike back with a pair of layups 30 seconds apart (71-70).
ACU received its last field goal by Shelstead with 1:48 left to go up 73-70 and on the next series Zelor Massaquoi was charged with a offensive foul after she threw a forearm into the chest of one of the Wildcat defenders. GCU went to the line their next time down the court after Shelstead fouled out but starting point guard Courtney Hayes missed her first of two tries.
Hayes finished the game with 15 points, six rebounds and seven assists in 37 minutes of action. She was 5-of-10 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
ACU tried to kill clock on its last possession following the Hayes free throws but Mason couldn't get up her shot in the lane and GCU got the ball back at midcourt following a timeout taken with 18 seconds left.
GCU put all its shooters on the court for what would be the final play, but after being forced to make one pass too many thanks to a great ACU defensive effort, Hedrington was left no choice other than to launch a desperation jumper from just inside the arc.
GCU shot the ball well most of the night and finished with a .538 shooting percentage as Hedrington, Hayes and Gawjewski all scored in double figures. ACU rebounded from a slow first quarter to post a .475 shooting percentage even though the Wildcats never got their 3-point game rolling (4-19, .211).
Both sides finished with 31 rebounds and close to the same number of assists, blocks and steals. ACU, however, got four more points in the paint, 34-30, and held a 24-19 advantage in bench scoring.
Additionally, no team led by any more than 10 points at any point as the game experienced eight ties and seven lead changes.
The Wildcats return to action Saturday at 3 p.m. vs. Eastern Michigan. The Eagles earlier today defeated Air Force 72-59 to improve to 4-1 on the season. EMU went to last year's WNIT as the runner-up in the MAC Championship game.
