GCU 'Lopes Digest: Antelopes construct their toughest men's basketball schedule with NCAA Tournament hopes

This is an ongoing tracker of Grand Canyon University athletics news, notes and updates. Return to azcentral for the latest.

Grand Canyon wants back into the NCAA Tournament after experiencing it for the first time in 2021. To get there, it built its toughest men's basketball schedule since joining Division I in 2013.

The toughness of the schedule is based on last year's opponents' rankings.

"Statistically, this is the most difficult schedule GCU has ever played," third-year Grand Canyon coach Bryce Drew told GCU insider Paul Coro. "The difficult nonconference schedule is great for our team to prepare for the conference season. It's great for our fans to be able to get to see a lot of quality teams in our special environment."

The Antelopes, who released their 2022-23 schedule on Wednesday, will be playing three teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament last year with the possibility of a fourth with San Francisco, and three others that played in the national tournament in 2021.

Led by All-WAC point guard Jovan Blacksher Jr., and forward Gabe McGlothan, they open at home on Nov. 7 against Montana State, then plays host to San Diego Christian two days later. They play at Nevada on Nov. 12.

After playing host to Grambling on Nov. 18, they head out for the first time on Nov. 21 to play Wichita State in the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City. They could play another NCAA Tournament team in San Francisco the next day, or Northern Iowa.

They're back home on Nov. 26 and 29 to play Pepperdine and Alcorn State, respectively.

Their first road game is on Dec. 3 at Wyoming.

They will be playing in the Jerry Colangelo Classic on Dec. 10 against North Texas at Footprint Center.

GCU begins Western Athletic Conference play on Dec. 29 at home against California Baptist. The Lopes are off after that until Jan. 5, when they resume WAC play at Sam Houston.

Doing well in the non-conference schedule is important because the WAC is weighing those games with the NET to seed the WAC Tournament in Las Vegas.

Here is the 2022-23 GCU schedule

Oct. 28: Eastern New Mexico, exhibition, 7 p.m.

Nov. 7: Montana State, 7 p.m.

Nov. 9: San Diego Christian, 7 p.m.

Nov. 12: at Nevada, time to be determined

Nov. 18: Grambling State, 7 p.m.

Nov. 21: Wichita State, at Kansas City's T-Mobile Center, TBA

Nov. 22: San Francisco or Northern Iowa, at T-Mobile Center, TBA

Nov. 26: Pepperdine, 6 p.m.

Nov. 29: Alcorn State, 7 p.m.

Dec. 3: at Wyoming, TBA

Dec. 7: Loyola Marymount, 7 p.m.

Dec. 10: North Texas, at Footprint Center, TBA

Dec. 17: Embry-Riddle (Arizona), 6 p.m.

Dec. 20: Idaho State, 7 p.m.

Dec. 29: California Baptist, 7 p.m.

Jan. 5: at Sam Houston, TBA

Jan. 7: at Stephen F. Austin, TBA

Jan. 12: UT Arlington, 7 p.m.

Jan. 14: at California Baptist, TBA

Jan. 18: Utah Tech, 7 p.m.

Jan. 21: Utah Valley, 6 p.m.

Jan. 26 at Abilene Christian, TBA

Jan. 28: at Tarleton, TBA

Feb. 4: Stephen F. Austin, 6 p.m.

Feb. 9: New Mexico State, 7 p.m.

Feb. 11: at Seattle U, TBA

Feb. 15: UT Rio Grande Valley, 7 p.m.

Feb. 17: Abilene Christian, 7 p.m.

Feb. 22: at New Mexico State, TBA

Feb. 24: Seattle U, 7 p.m.

March 1: at Southern Utah, TBA

March 3: at Utah Tech, TBA

March 6-11: WAC Tournament, at Orleans Arena, Las Vegas.

GCU to play in Hall of Fame Classic

Grand Canyon's 2022-23 men's basketball schedule will include an appearance in the Hall of Fame Classic on Nov. 21-22, at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.

The tournament will include two games against a field that includes Wichita State, Northern Iowa and San Francisco. Matchups and TV designations will be announced at a later date, along with ticket information.

The four participating programs each finished in the top 100 of the NET rankings last season and combined for 82 wins.

The Lopes have played the Dons on neutral courts in each of the past two seasons, falling in Las Vegas in December 2020 before handing San Francisco its first loss of the season at Footprint Center last December. GCU also split a recent series with Northern Iowa, winning on the road in 2018 before falling at home in 2019. A potential pairing with the Shockers would be a program first.

San Francisco went 24-10 and qualified for the NCAA Tournament as an at-large pick.  Northern Iowa was a NIT qualifier a year ago, finishing 20-12 overall and 14-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Wichita State 15-13 overall and 6-9 in conference play.

— Staff reports

Sydney Palma returns to where her mom played in college

Grand Canyon women's basketball coach Molly Miller welcomed nine newcomers to campus this week as they began their summer workouts.

There are four freshmen and five transfers.

Most notable of the transfers is former Anthem Boulder Creek High guard Sydney Palma, who two years ago helped California Baptist to the Western Athletic Conference Tournament championship over GCU.

A redshirt junior, Palma led the WAC in 3-point percentage (42.9%) in the 2020-21 season. Cal Baptist was ineligible to play in the NCAA Tournament then. It is eligible now.

But Palma wanted to make the move back home and play at the school where her mom played college basketball. Her mom was Lane Essenberg when she played at GCU in the early 1990s. She won the Roland L Beck Award for the school's top female student-athlete in 1993.

"That's kind of a cool story there," said Palma, who graduated in 2018 from Boulder Creek. "And I just see the work ethic of the team that Molly is building over here. It's electric. It's exciting. I had the opportunity to be a part of it and I took it."

In her three seasons at CBU, the 5-foot-9 guard went from averaging 6.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists her first year to 6.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists two seasons ago. Last season, she averaged 5.4 points and three rebounds.

"This is a homecoming for her and it's really special that she can come here  to play around her family and friends," Miller said. "For us, it's extremely helpful to know that we have a great leader. The girls are going to respect her from the get go because she has won a conference title."

Palma adds to a team that should be lengthy, shoot well and get after it defensively.

She joins 6-2 forwards Olivia Lane and Evan Zars. Lane transferred from North Dakota, where she averaged 118 points an nine rebounds, starting 23 of 26 games. She shot 48% from the field.

Zars transferred from Western Illinois, where she averaged 8.8 rebounds, second in the Summit League, behind Lane. The graduate transfer also averaged 10.8 points. She averaged nine rebounds in her Western Illinois career.

"We definitely improved in the length category," Miller said. "Our posts are not only bigger but they're mobile, and that important for us in the way we play in our system.

"We want to run. They are incredible leaders and even better with work ethic. Olivia is kid who just wants more. She asked me the other day, 'We're going to ramp up workouts, aren't we?' She's a rebounding machine. She'll help us so much on the boards."

In Miller's first two season leading the GCU women's basketball team, the Lopes got to the WAC Tournament championship game, only to fall short. It's time to break through. And it begins with summer workouts as players get to know each other and find the right formula that will carry them into the NCAA Tournament.

"We're kind of saying this is the year of the standard and the standard is winning conference championships now," Miller said. "I'm really excited about this group. I hink we've got the team to do it. The enthusiasm and the energy, you can just hear it and feel it in the gym right now. It's fun to be around."

Palma can't wait for the season to start. She remembers the energy she felt coming into GCU Arena for road games.

"I just thought the intensity," Palma said. "They're loud, they're aggressive, they get hyped for each other. That's what I really want in a team. To know that I can be a part of a team that is so electric is really awesome."

Jacob Wilson invited to national team

Grand Canyon sophomore shortstop Jacob Wilson is among 48 players invited to the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team training camp June 30-July 4 in Cary, North Carolina.

These are invitations to the nation's premier non-draft eligible college players. This is the first time in GCU history that one of its players received the prestigious invite.

Wilson will compete with the other 47 in intra-squad games from June 30 to July 4. From there, the roster will be pared down to 26 to represent the United States in international competition the following week in the Netherlands at the Hokbalweek Haarlem tournament.

Following a Freshman All-American season in 2021, Wilson this year hit .358 with 65 RBIs and made All-WAC first team a second straight year. He also was among 31 semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award and was the nation's toughest guy to strike out with only seven in 246 at bats.

GCU retains WAC Commissioner's Cup

Grand Canyon has won its second consecutive Western Athletic Conference Commission's Cup, given to the school that performs the best in each of the 20 men's and women's championships from the 2021-22 school year.

This is the fourth time that GCU has won the award.

The Lopes did it this year with 75.5 points, winning 10 WAC championships and postseason titles in women's soccer, men's and women's indoor track and field, men's outdoor track and field and softball.

Stephen F. Austin was second with 54.5 points, followed by Sam Houston (48) and New Mexico State (45). Abilene Christian was fifth with 42 points.

GCU blows 5-0 lead in loss to Ole Miss

Things were going great for Grand Canyon, before a couple of errors and a defensive interference call opened the doors for Ole Miss on its way to a 9-5 elimination win over the Antelopes Saturday at Easton Stadium in the Los Angeles Regional.

The Lopes lost both of their games in the double-elimination softball tournament. They fell to 13-time national champion and host UCLA 12-1 in a five-inning run-rule game on Friday night.

This time, they had the SEC team on the ropes, leading 5-1 in the fifth inning, before Ole Miss scored four runs to tie the score. A defensive interference wiped out an out and the Rebels bounced by loading the bases and getting clutch hitting.

Ole Miss (41-18) scored four more runs in the seventh. Bre Roper's two-run double broke a 5-5 tie. Sydney Gutierrez added a two-run single.

GCU (38-16) scored five runs in the first inning, sparked by Stephanie Reed's three-run homer, to take a 5-0 lead.

Walks doom Lopes in run-rule loss

Grand Canyon issued nine walks in the first three innings, leading to big innings for UCLA and leading to a 12-1 run-rule 5-inning loss to the No. 5-ranked Bruins Friday night in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament Los Angeles Regional.

The Lopes fall into Saturday's 4:30 p.m., elimination game against Ole Miss in the double-elimination tournament.

Nine of the Bruins runs were scored in the second and third innings.

Pitcher Ariel Thompson surrendered her first hit in the second inning, a grand slam by Delanie Wisz that gave UCLA a 5-0 lead. It was her 13th home run of the season.

This is GCU's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in softball. UCLA is making its 23rd consecutive national tournament appearance. It has won 13 national titles.

GCU came into the tournament hitting .330 as a team, the 10th-best in the country. But the Lopes couldn't solve pitcher Holly Azevedo, who has a 1.17 ERA. They avoided being shut out for the first time this season in the fifth inning, when Stephanie Reed and Macee Barnes ripped back-to-back doubles.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today. 

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: GCU men's basketball constructs its toughest schedule for 2022-23