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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL2018-19 GAME NOTES

Sarah Woodward, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications · Office: (602) 639-7951 · Cell: (608) 576-1518 · E-mail: sarah.woodward@gcu.edu

2018-19 SCHEDULE & RECORDOV E R A L L R EC O R D : 1 -2

WAC: 0-0 | Non-Conference: 1-2Home: 1-0 | Away: 0-2 | Neutral: 0-0

NOVEMBER All times listed in MT 5 Benedictine (Exhib.) W, 72-60 9 Incarnate Word W, 74-63 14 East Carolina L, 59-47 17 UNC-Wilmington L, 77-55 23 Indiana State Noon 24 LIU Brooklyn 2 p.m.

DECEMBER 2 UC Santa Barbara 3 p.m. 7 Montana 6 p.m. 11 Portland State 6 p.m. 16 Long Beach State 5 p.m. 20 Santa Clara 3 p.m.

JANUARY 3 Utah Valley* 6 p.m. 5 Seattle U* 3 p.m. 10 New Mexico State* 6 p.m. 12 UTRGV* 2 p.m. 17 Chicago State* 6 p.m. 19 Kansas City* 1 p.m. 26 California Baptist* 2 p.m.

FEBRUARY 2 CSU Bakersfield* 2 p.m. 7 UTRGV* 6 p.m. 9 New Mexico State* 2 p.m. 14 Kansas City* 6 p.m. 16 Chicago State* 2 p.m. 21 California Baptist* 7 p.m.

MARCH 2 CSU Bakersfield* 2 p.m. 7 Utah Valley* 6 p.m. 9 Seattle U* 2 p.m.13-16 WAC Tournament Las Vegas, Nev.

 * Denotes WAC games Home games in bold

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23 | NOON (MT) | PHOENIX, ARIZ.

LOPES 2018-19 ISU1-2 Win-Loss 2- 0

-7.6 Scoring Margin +6.5

58.7 Scoring Avg. 6 1.0

.4 66 FG Pct. .35 7

.3 86 3-Point FG Pct. .306

.474 FT Pct. .6603 1.7 Rebounds 4 3.516.0 Assists 11.0

19.3 Turnovers 20.5

2.0 Steals 8.5

3.3 Blocks 3.5

NO. PLAYER POS. GP/GS PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% FT%4 Kavita Akula G 3/3 5.0 2.3 2.3 0.0 0.0 .238 .0005 Laura Piera PG 3/3 9.3 5.0 7.3 1.0 1.0 .529 .58321 Venla Varis G 3/3 12.7 1.0 1.3 0.0 0.0 .467 .00023 AJ Cephas F 2/2 12.5 4.5 3.5 0.5 1.5 .478 .50053 ShaRon Miller F 3/3 9.3 9.3 1.7 0.3 0.7 .571 .400

TODAY’S MATCHUP

GAME 4 - INDIANA STATE

1. Head coach Nicole Powell begins her second season at the helm after finishing 16-14 overall last season and guiding the Lopes to a semifinal appearance in their first-ever WAC tournament.

2. The pair of newcomers in redshirt senior AJ Cephas and freshman Laura Piera earned preseason All-WAC honors on the second team.

3. GCU finished fourth in conference play last season and was picked to finish fourth this season by the league's head coaches.

4. The Lopes welcome nine new players this season, including four transfers and five freshman. Redshirt senior AJ Cephas, juniors Da'jah Daniel and Destiny Arvinger and sophomore Jenay Bojorquez join GCU from other teams, while Kennedi Shorts, Taylor Cald-well, Laura Piera, Carla Balague and Venla Varis begin their collegiate careers with the Lopes.

5. GCU will host a four-game tournament at home over Thanksgiving with LIU Brooklyn, Indiana State and UC Irvine.

GRAND CANYONLOPES

(1-2, 0-0 WAC)V S

INDIANA STATESYCAMORES

(2-0, 0-0 MVC)

5 LAURA PIERA4 KAVITA

AKULA 21 VENLA VARIS 23 AJ

CEPHAS 53 SHARON MILLER

PROBABLE STARTING FIVE

After a pair of road setbacks last week, the Grand Canyon women's basketball team returns to GCU Arena to host the Thanksgiving Showdown. The Lopes face Indiana State on Friday and LIU Brooklyn on Saturday, while UC Irvine will travel to Phoenix to face GCU's two opponents. The Lopes are paced by freshman Venla Varis in scoring (12.7 ppg), senior ShaRon Miller in boards (9.3 rpg) and freshman Laura Piera in assists (7.3 apg) heading into the home tournament.

GCU QUICK FIVE

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QUICK FACTS / ROSTERS / MEDIA INFO

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL COMMUNICATIONS CONTACT WBB Contact . . .Sarah Woodward Office Phone . . . . . . . 602-639-7951 Cell Phone . . . . . . . . . . 608-576-1518 Email . sarah .woodward@gcu .edu

GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY INFORMATIONSchool . . . . . . . . Grand Canyon UniversityLocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Phoenix, Ariz .Founded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1949Enrollment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,500President . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Brian MuellerVice President of Athletics . . . .Mike VaughtFaculty Representative . . . . Claude Pensis Affiliation . . . . . . . . . . . . NCAA Division INickname . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LopesMascot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ThunderColors . . . . . . . . . . Purple, Black & WhiteConference . .Western Athletic Conference (WAC)Athletics Website: . . www .GCULopes .com

MEDIA INFORMATIONThe Grand Canyon Athletics Department is served by a communications office staff that works diligently to promote the individual and team accomplishments of student-ath-letes, coaches and staff . The office members handle all sport and department communi-cations and media relations needs, and are happy to serve the working media in any way possible . Our staff will fulfill all reason-able requests .Credentials All members of the office follow the guidelines set forth by the NCAA and the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) in governing the issuance of credentials . All credential requests should be submitted to the sport contacts .E-mail Releases, game notes and advisories are e-mailed to media that cover GCU on a regular basis . Media wishing to be added to the e-mail list for women’s basketball should contact sarah .woodward@gcu .edu .Online Updated bios, notes, rosters, schedules, statistics, quotes, etc ., will be available through-out the season for every sport on GCULopes .com .

2018-19 GRAND CANYON NUMERIC ROSTER No . Name Pos . HT YR Hometown (Previous School) 1 . . Jenay Bojorquez . . . . . . . G . . . . .5-6 . . . . . So . . . . .Phoenix, Ariz. (San Diego State/Sierra Linda) 2 . . Kennedi Shorts . . . . . . . . F . . . . . 6-1 . . . . . .Fr . . . . . . . . . . .Long Beach, Calif. (Long Beach Poly) 3 . . Destiny Arvinger . . . . . . . G . . . . .5-5 . . . . . .Jr . . . . . . . Jacksonville, Fla. (Daytona State College) 4 . . Kavita Akula . . . . . . . . . . G . . . . .5-5 . . . . . Sr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bhilai, India (Garden City CC) 5 . . Laura Piera . . . . . . . . . . G . . . . .5-9 . . . . . .Fr . . . . . . . . . . . . Barcelona, Spain (Basket Almeda) 10 . . Camille Hailey . . . . . . . . . G . . . . .5-9 . . . . . So . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Los Angeles, Calif. (Serra) 11 . . Taylor Caldwell . . . . . . . . G . . . . .5-9 . . . . . .Fr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bakersfield, Calif. (Bakersfield) 12 . . Carla Balague . . . . . . . . . F . . . . . 6-2 . . . . . .Fr . . . . . . . . . .Barcelona, Spain (Femeni Sant Adria) 14 . . Venla Varis . . . . . . . . . . . G . . . . 5-11 . . . . . .Fr . . . . Vantaa, Finland (Makelanrinteen Senior High) 23 . . AJ Cephas . . . . . . . . . . . F . . . . 6-0 . . . . R-Sr . . . . . . . . . . . Antioch, Calif. (Nevada/Deer Valley) 32 . . Taylor Howard . . . . . . . . G . . . . 5-11 . . . . R-Fr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Houston, Texas (Hightower) 34 . . Da'jah Daniel . . . . . . . . . F . . . . .6-4 . . . . . .Jr . . . Killeen, Texas (Trinity Valley CC/Harker Heights) 53 . . ShaRon Miller . . . . . . . . . C . . . . 6-0 . . . . . Sr . . . . . . . . . . . Blaine, Minn. (Northland CC/Blaine)

2018-19 GRAND CANYON ALPHABETICAL ROSTER No . Name Pos . HT YR Hometown (Previous School) 4 . . Kavita Akula . . . . . . . . . . G . . . . .5-5 . . . . . Sr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bhilai, India (Garden City CC) 3 . . Destiny Arvinger . . . . . . . G . . . . .5-5 . . . . . .Jr . . . . . . . Jacksonville, Fla. (Daytona State College) 12 . . Carla Balague . . . . . . . . . F . . . . . 6-2 . . . . . .Fr . . . . . . . . . .Barcelona, Spain (Femeni Sant Adria) 1 . . Jenay Bojorquez . . . . . . . G . . . . .5-6 . . . . . So . . . . .Phoenix, Ariz. (San Diego State/Sierra Linda) 11 . . Taylor Caldwell . . . . . . . . G . . . . .5-9 . . . . . .Fr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bakersfield, Calif. (Bakersfield) 23 . . AJ Cephas . . . . . . . . . . . F . . . . 6-0 . . . . R-Sr . . . . . . . . . . . Antioch, Calif. (Nevada/Deer Valley) 34 . . Da'jah Daniel . . . . . . . . . F . . . . .6-4 . . . . . .Jr . . . Killeen, Texas (Trinity Valley CC/Harker Heights) 10 . . Camille Hailey . . . . . . . . . G . . . . .5-9 . . . . . So . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Los Angeles, Calif. (Serra) 32 . . Taylor Howard . . . . . . . . G . . . . 5-11 . . . . R-Fr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Houston, Texas (Hightower) 53 . . ShaRon Miller . . . . . . . . . C . . . . 6-0 . . . . . Sr . . . . . . . . . . . Blaine, Minn. (Northland CC/Blaine) 5 . . Laura Piera . . . . . . . . . . G . . . . .5-9 . . . . . .Fr . . . . . . . . . . . . Barcelona, Spain (Basket Almeda) 2 . . Kennedi Shorts . . . . . . . . F . . . . . 6-1 . . . . . .Fr . . . . . . . . . . .Long Beach, Calif. (Long Beach Poly) 14 . . Venla Varis . . . . . . . . . . . G . . . . 5-11 . . . . . .Fr . . . . Vantaa, Finland (Makelanrinteen Senior High)

GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY ARENAOpened . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sept. 1, 2011Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,000Arena Attendance Record . . . . . . . . . 7,413(1/9/16)

BASKETBALL STAFFHead Coach . . . . . . . . . Nicole Powell (2nd Season) Alama Mater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stanford Grand Canyon Record . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-16 (.515) WAC Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-5 (.643) Overall Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17-16 (.515)Assistant Coach . . . . . . . . . . . . Nikki Blue (UCLA)Assistant Coach . . . . . Brad Langston (San Jose St.)Assistant Coach . . . . . . . . . . Taylor High (Kansas)Director of Ops. . . . . . . Chelsea Turner (Cameron)Video Coordinator . . . . . McGhee Mann (S. Carolina)Basketball Office Phone . . . . . . . . . 602-639-6587

PROGRAM HISTORY First Year of Basketball at GCU . . . . . . . . . 1988-89All-Time Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384-435 (.469)All-Time Division I Record . . . . . . . . . . 67-54 (.554)All-Time WAC Record (reg. season) . . . . 34-24 (.586)All-Time WAC Tournament Record. . . . . . . . . 1-1 (.500)

PRONUNCIATION GUIDE Kavita Akula . . . . . . . . . . . Kuh-vee-tuh Uh-coo-luhDestiny Arvinger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ar-vin-JERCarla Balague . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bal-UH-gayJenay Bojorquez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bo-HOR-quezAJ Cephas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SEE-fasDa'jah Daniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Day-JUHCamille Hailey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cuh-mealShaRon Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SHAY-ronVenla Varis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .V-ARE-us

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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL 2018-19 GAME NOTES

LOPES PICKED FOURTH IN PRESEASON POLLS On Oct. 10, the WAC released its preseason rankings as voted on by the head coaches of the league’s nine schools. GCU was projected to finish fourth in both the coaches poll and the media poll.

2018-19 PRESEASON WOMEN’S BASKETBALL COACHES POLLRank Team (First-place votes) Points1. New Mexico State (7) 622. CSU Bakersfield (2) 563. Seattle U 494. GRAND CANYON 45T5. Kansas City 33T5. UT-Rio Grande Valley 337. California Baptist 188. Utah Valley 179. Chicago State 11

2018-19 PRESEASON WOMEN'S BASKETBALL MEDIA POLLRank Team (First-place votes) Points1. New Mexico State (9) 812. CSU Bakersfield 693. Seattle U 634. GRAND CANYON 46T5. Kansas City 36T5. Utah Valley 367. UT-Rio Grande Valley 308. California Baptist 289. Chicago State 18

CEPHAS, PIERA GARNER PRESEASON ALL-WAC SECOND TEAM HONORS The GCU pair of redshirt senior AJ Cephas and freshman Laura Piera earned preseason All-WAC second team honors according to a poll of the league's nine head coaches. The awards were announced on October 10 ahead of the conference's media day in Denver.

2018-19 PRESEASON ALL-WAC TEAM (COACHES POLL)First Team (Player, School) Second Team (Player, School)Alexxus Gilbert, CSU Bakersfield Vanessa Austin, CSU BakersfieldKristen Moore, Kansas City AJ Cephas, Grand Canyon Gia Pack, New Mexico State Quynne Huggins, UT-Rio Grande ValleyBrooke Salas, New Mexico State Jazmine Johnson, CSU BakersfieldKamira Sanders, Seattle U Laura Piera, Grand Canyon

2018-19 PRESEASON ALL-WAC TEAM (MEDIA POLL)First Team (Player, School) Second Team (Player, School)Jazmine Johnson, CSU Bakersfield Vanessa Austin, CSU BakersfieldKristen Moore, Kansas City Alexxus Gilbert, CSU BakersfieldGia Pack, New Mexico State Quynne Huggins, UT-Rio Grande ValleyBrooke Salas, New Mexico State Ines Mata Boix, Chicago StateKamira Sanders, Seattle U Lexy Ram, California Baptist

NICOLE POWELL ERA Head coach Nicole Powell begins year two of her reign at Grand Canyon, as the former WNBA star returned to her home in the valley in April 2017. Following 11 season withs various WNBA teams, Powell had a one-year stint at Gonzaga as an assistant coach before following head coach Kelly Graves to Oregon to serve as an assistant on his staff for the next three seasons.

Last season, Powell led the Lopes to a 16-14 overall record and a 9-5 showing in Western Athletic Con-ference play, which was good for fourth place in the regular season. GCU made it to the semifinal game of the WAC tournament, but fell to CSU Bakersfield by six.

SCOUTING INDIANA STATE The Sycamores are 2-0 on the year with wins at Marshall (62-53) and Saint Louis (60-56). Indiana State has two players averaging double digits on the year, as Ashli O’Neal leads with 15.0 ppg and Alexis Delgado averages 13.5.

Last season, the Sycamores finished 11-19 overall and 9-9 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Indiana State faced Southern Illinois in the first round of the MVC Tournament and lost, 69-67.

SCOUTING LIU BROOKLYN The Blackbirds are 0-4 on the season and will face UC Irvine before meeting the Lopes in a Saturday afternoon contest. LIU Brooklyn fell to Manhattan College, 61-46, to start the season. The Blackbirds then went on to lose to Army West Point (57-42), Fairfield (71-43) and Saint Peter’s (86-59).

LIU Brooklyn’s Brandy Thomas is the only player averaging double digits at 13.5 points per game. She also averages 11.8 boards and has a team-high five blocks on the season.

Last year, the Blackbirds finished 13-18 overall and 8-10 in the Northeast Conference. LIU Brooklyn beat No. 3 Saint Francis Brooklyn, 59-56, to advance to the second round of the NEC Tournament, but fell to No. 2 Robert Morris, 74-44, to end the season.

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POWELL PROFILE

HEAD COACH NICOLE POWELL Nicole Powell was named the eighth head coach in GCU women's basketball program

history on April 11, 2017 .Powell joined the Lopes after three seasons as an assistant coach with the Oregon wom-

en’s basketball team, which advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, before falling to defending champion UConn . Powell worked with the Ducks’ forwards and wings as well as handling game plans and recruiting . Her recruiting efforts helped Oregon secure the No . 3 recruiting class in the country in 2016 . The Ducks con-cluded the season ranked No . 16 in the country and a 23-14 record, including six wins over Top 25 teams .

Prior to joining the Ducks coaching staff, Powell spent the 2013-14 season with Graves at Gonzaga, her first in coaching . The Phoenix, Ariz ., native retired from the WNBA following the 2014 season with the Seattle Storm, her 11th year in the league .

After finishing her collegiate career at Stanford, Powell was the third overall pick in the 2004 WNBA Draft by the Charlotte Sting . In her impressive 11-year professional career, Powell won a WNBA Championship with the Sacramento Monarchs (2005), was named the WNBA’s Most Improved Player (2005) and named a WNBA All-Star (2009) . The for-ward also led the WNBA in three-point field goals made with 66 in 2005 and was first in free-throw percentage (96 .4 percent) during the 2007 campaign and during the 2009 season (97 .9 percent) .

Powell ended her career at Stanford in 2004 as a three-time All-American and a three-time finalist for the James Naismith Player of the Year Award . She scored over 2,000 points in her four years with the Cardinal while grabbing over 1,000 rebounds . Powell guided the Cardinal to the Elite Eight as a senior in 2003-04 and was named the MVP of the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Region . Powell began her collegiate career as the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year (2000) and was named the Pac-10 Player of the Year in 2002 and 2004 . Powell helped Stanford accumulate a 105-26 record over her four years, as she av-eraged 17 .3 points, 9 .6 rebounds and 4 .8 assists per game, while posting six triple-doubles

in her Stanford career .In addition to her WNBA career, Powell played professionally overseas as well . She helped Fenerbahçe win two Turkish

League championships in 2009 and 2010 and also played for CSKA Moscow (Russia), Perfumerias Halcon Avenida (Spain), Basket Spezia (Italy) and Wisla Kraków (Poland) . Powell also played with both the USA Junior National Team and USA Senior National Team . She won a gold medal with the junior team at the FIBA Americas Championships in the summer of 2000 and was one of three captains on the senior team that won a silver medal at the Pan American Games in the summer of 2003 .

In her prep career at Mountain Pointe, Powell was a Parade Magazine First-Team All-American (2000) and named the Ar-izona Player of the Century by the Arizona Republic . Her senior season, she averaged 21 .1 points and 15 .5 rebounds leading the Pride to a 30-2 record and a berth in the state title game . She was twice named Arizona Player of the Year and set school records with 2,478 career points and 1,760 career rebounds .

Powell earned her first career win at the helm of the Grand Canyon women's basketball program on Wednesday, Nov . 22 . The Lopes defeated in-state foe Benedictine (Mesa), 67-53, to help Powell to solidify her first win as a Division I head coach .

THE POWELL FILEHEAD COACH Second Season at Grand Canyon Alma Mater: Stanford

Coaching Overall Conf.Record W L W L2017-18 GCU 16 14 9 52018-19 GCU 1 2 0 0Career Totals 17 16 9 5

COACHING LEDGER2017-19 ............................ Grand Canyon (Head Coach)2014-17 ................................Oregon (Assistant Coach)2013-14 ............................. Gonzaga (Assistant Coach)

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TV / RADIO ROSTER

1 JENAY BOJORQUEZ 2 KENNEDI

SHORS 3 DESTINY ARVINGER 4 KAVITA

AKULA 5 LAURA PIERA 10 CAMILLE

HAILEY G • 5-6 SophomorePhoenix, Ariz.

F • 6-1 FreshmanLong Beach, Calif.

G • 5-5 JuniorJacksonville, Fla.

G • 5-5SeniorBhilai, India

PG • 5-9 FreshmanBarcelona, Spain

G • 5-9 SophomoreLos Angeles, Calif.

11 TAYLOR CALDWELL 12 CARLA

BALAGUE 21 VENLA VARIS 23 AJ

CEPHAS 32 TAYLOR HOWARD 34 DA'JAH

DANIELG • 5-9 FreshmanBakersfield, Calif.

F • 6-2 FreshmanBarcelona, Spain

G • 5-11 FreshmanVantaa, Finland

F • 6-0RS SeniorAntioch, Calif.

G • 5-11SophomoreHouston, Texas

F • 6-4 JuniorKilleen, Texas

53 SHARON MILLER

HEAD COACH NICOLE POWELL

ASSISTANT COACH NIKKI BLUE

ASSISTANT COACH TAYLOR HIGH

ASSISTANT COACH BRAD LANGSTON

VIDEO COORDINATOR McGHEE MANN

C • 6-0 SeniorBlaine, Minn.

2nd Season at GCU 2nd Season at GCU 2nd Season at GCU 2nd Season at GCU 1st Season at GCU

DIRECTOR OF OPS CHELSEA TURNER

1st Season at GCU

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2018-19 TEAM STATS

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2018-19 TEAM STATS

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2018-19 BOX SCORES

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2018-19 BOX SCORES

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2018-19 BOX SCORES