ABILENE – Abilene Christian has two of its toughest home games this week when the teams atop the Western Athletic Conference standings visit.
Grand Canyon visits on Thursday at 6 p.m. with California Baptist coming in on Saturday at 1 p.m.
ACU comes into the contest at 6-6 overall and 2-1 in the WAC after a 62-53 win at Texas-Rio Grande Valley.
Grand Canyon is 12-3 overall and 4-0 in the league after a 73-48 win over Utah Tech.
ACU Storylines
Threes R Us: ACU is seventh in the NCAA with 28.8 three-pointers per game and 17th in the nation with 9.2 three-pointers made per game. Freshman
Payton Hull leads the WAC and is 36th in the nation with 2.75 three-pointers per game. She is shooting at a 37.9 percent clip.
Second Chances: ACU is 33rd in the NCAA with 15 offensive rebounds per game.
Addison Martin averages 2.6 offensive rebounds per game and
Bella Earle gets 2.4 per game.
Dominating On the Glass: The Wildcats are 72nd in the NCAA with 40.25 rebounds per game and 41st with a 7.4 rebound margin.
Bella Earle leads the Wildcats with 8.1 rebounds per game and
Addison Martin gets 5.4.
Clare Traeger checks in at five rebounds per game.
Four Scoring:
Payton Hull leads the Wildcats at 14.8 points per game, followed by
Bella Earle at 11.8,
Addison Martin at 11.5 and
Aspen Thornton at 10.8.
Triple-Doubles: Bella Earle is second only to Iowa sensation Caitlin Clark in triple-doubles this season with two. Earle averages 11.8 points, 3.9 assists and 8.1 rebounds, leading the team in the latter two categories.
Trending: Over the last three games,
Addison Martin has led the Cats at 12.3 points per game, followed by
Gracy Wernli at 11.3.
Bella Earle is averaging 9.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists in those last three games.
Clare Traeger has averaged 8.7 rebounds and
Meredith Mayes has five rebounds as ACU has a 10-rebounds-per-game margin on opponents.
Last Game: ACU started the 2024 portion of the season with a road win at UTRGV.
Gracy Wernli led the Cats with 13 points, followed by
Addison Martin with 12 and
Payton Hull with 10.
Bella Earle finished with 10 rebounds, eight points and six assists. ACU dominated on the boards, 53-28, and hauled in 18 offensive rebounds. Six Wildcats had multiple offensive rebounds, led by Mayes with three. Along with Earle's 10, Martin had eight boards and Mayes added seven.
Scouting Grand Canyon
- GCU is 13th in the Mid-Major Top 25
- Junior guard Naudia Evans ranks as one of the best three-point shooters in the country, ranking 32nd in three-point percentage (43.4). She is first in the WAC in that category, along with first in total threes made (33) and third in three-pointers per game (2.2).
- The Lopes have held opponents in check over the last month and have held the opposition to 54.8 points per game (28th in the nation). It leads the conference in field goal percentage defense (37%) and has forced double-digit turnovers in each game played, including 81 during its current four-game winning streak.
- The Lopes have scored 68+ points in each of its last four games, due in part to their bench production. GCU ranks 47th in the nation and 1st in the WAC in bench points per contest (25.1). It had 59 points off the bench vs. Southern Utah and Utah Tech, including 46 against the Thunderbirds.
- Head Coach Molly Miller ranks fourth among active coaches in winning % (.843) with 8+ seasons of coaching. She trails only Geno Auriemma (UConn), Kim Caldwell (Marshall), and Kim Mulkey (LSU).
- The Lopes are 45-10 at Global Credit Union Arena since Molly Miller took the helm in 2020. GCU has won at least 12 games at home in each of her three seasons in Phoenix, including a season-high 13 last year. The Lopes have 17 games The Lopes have held opposing offenses in check for most of the season, allowing 54.8 points per game to rank 28th in the country and first in the WAC.
- GCU has held opponents to 50 points or less six times this season. During its six-game winning streak from Nov. 24 to Dec. 17, the Lopes defense allowed an average of 49.3 points per contest. In its current four-game winning streak, it has The Erikstrup twins registered a career week vs. Southern Utah and Utah Tech Jan. 4 & 6, combining for 57 points, 13 rebounds, six three-pointers and 21 made field goals.
- Laura Erikstrup tallied a career-best 24 points vs. the Thunderbirds and finished with 30 points for the week, leading all Lopes in points per game (15.0). She added eight rebounds, including six on the offensive end, and shot 12-of-19 from the floor (63.2%).
- Sydney Erikstrup recorded 27 points for the week (13.5 ppg) with back-to-back games with three 3-pointers made. She added five rebounds, six assists and three steals to her stat line while shooting 75% (9-of-12) from the floor.
Scouting California Baptist
- CBU is 24th in the Mid-Major Top 25.
- California Baptist University swept the Western Athletic Conference weekly awards by Chloe Webb (Player of the Week) and Khloe Lemon (Newcomer of the Week). This is the second time the pair has swept the weekly honors this season.
- The Lancers visit Tarleton State on Thursday before coming to Abilene. CBU is 12-1 overall and 4-0 in the WAC after knocking off Seattle 94-79 on Saturday.
- CBU is 18th nationally in free throw attempts per game at 22.4 and makes 15 per game for 34th in the NCAA.
- The Lancers are 53rd in the NCAA with 10.2 steals per game, led by Chloe Webb, who is 17th in the nation with 3.0 steals per game.
- Chloe Webb leads the WAC in scoring at 19.8 points per game.
