PHOENIX – Junior Tia Sanders collected 12 points and six rebounds in her first career game with the Alcorn State University women's basketball squad, but the Lady Braves dropped a 77-44 decision to Grand Canyon Friday night at GCU Arena.

"Hats off to GCU – they have a great team and excellent coaching staff," said head coach Courtney Pruitt. "I thought our ladies did a great job rebounding the ball. We were able to get GCU into early foul trouble, however we had a poor shooting night and did not take care of the ball."

The Lady Braves shot 26 percent (13-50) from the field and committed 26 turnovers. However, Alcorn made its physical presence felt in the paint with a 43-38 rebounding advantage.

The Lady Braves (0-1) were rattled by the Lopes (1-0) full-court pressure early, committing seven turnovers while being outscored 21-8 in the opening quarter.
Alcorn trailed just 14-8 after Sanders' jumper with 1:32 to go. GCU then scored seven quick points to close the quarter.

The Lady Braves kept pace in the second quarter as they were only outscored 19-14. The Lopes took advantage of seven Alcorn turnovers, turning those possessions into 11 points.

Freshman guard Aysha Kirkland sparked the Lady Braves at the end of the quarter, breaking a 10-0 GCU run with a layup and three-pointer to close the half with the score 40-22 in the Lopes favor.

A low scoring third quarter ended in a 12-7 GCU advantage. Alcorn shot just 2-of-11 from the field including 1-for-6 from beyond the arc while suffering through two scoring droughts of around four minutes.

The Lady Braves were able to cut the turnovers down to four in the final frame but could not contain Rarrick as she knocked down all four of her shots from beyond the arc. Alcorn saw six different scorers in the final quarter.

Senior Henrietta Wells grabbed 11 boards, marking the third 10-plus rebound performance of her career.

The Lady Braves were outscored 22-8 in the paint, 28-14 off of turnovers and 8-2 on the fast break. Alcorn did hold an 8-2 edge in second-chance points. The Lady Braves move to 1-11 when allowing 70-plus points under Pruitt.

"It was a great learning lesson playing up to a team that was picked to finish third in the WAC," Pruitt said.

The Lady Braves resume play Sunday at the University of Arizona on a 3 p.m. [CT] tip at the McKale Center.