Women's Basketball Ready for Day Two of Challenge
11/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 23, 2015
Grand Canyon Notes (pdf) 
Tournament Central Page
GRAND CANYON 'LOPES (2-2) AT GONZAGA BULLDOGS 3-1)
GAME 5 | NOV. 23 | 6 P.M. | MCCARTHEY ATHLETIC CENTER | SPOKANE
SERIES: First-ever meeting between programs
FIRST MEETING: N/A
LAST MEETING: N/A
LIVE VIDEO:TheW.tv (Play-by-Play: Steve Myklebust)
LIVE RADIO: Toyota Gonzaga IMG - Fox Sports 790 KJRB (Play-by-Play: Steve Myklebust)
LIVE STATS:
HALL OF FAME CHALLENGE COMES TO SPOKANE
- Gonzaga is a home-site for the 2015 Naismith Hall of Fame Challenge and hosts six games Sunday through Tuesday.
- The Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Challenge is a new in-season exempt tournament hosted by the Hall of Fame and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Eight schools at two sites will participate in this annual showcase event for women's basketball. All event proceeds will benefit the non-profit Hall of Fame's educational and operational fund.
- The Zags welcome Grand Canyon, USC, and West Virginia for games in Spokane, before all four play a single game each in Uncasville, Conn., on Nov. 29. The four teams from the Spokane site meet four programs that are playing at North Carolina.
GONZAGA STORYLINES
- Shelby Cheslek is in third all-time in program history with 158 blocks in her Gonzaga career.
- Gonzaga's 11 blocked shots against West Virginia were the most in the Lisa Fortier era and the seventh-most in a single game by a WVU opponent. The Zags are 29th in the nation averaging six blocks per outing.
- Laura Stockton's nine assists against EWU were the most since Jazmine Redmon had 11 versus Idaho in 2012.
- Gonzaga's +10.3 rebound-margin is currently 46th in the country. It has outrebounded each of its first three opponents.
- The Zags are outscoring opponents 137-83 in the first half so far, 61-41 in the opening quarter and 76-42 in the 2nd.
- Gonzaga is currently fourth in the nation in accumulative attendance with 22,535 fans in the first three games. The 5,634 average is 10th in the country, while the 93.9 percent filled to capacity is third.
ABOUT THE 'LOPES
- Grand Canyon lost its second game of the season against USC Sunday. It opened the season with a 74-41 loss to Hawaii.
- The Lopes' three games in Spokane in the Hall of Fame Challenge are all first-time meetings against their opponents.
- After tying a GCU school record 19 rebounds, Cheyenne Hedrington is averaging 9.3 rebounds a game, which is third best in the Western Athletic Conference.
- Dana Jones leads the 'Lopes with an average of 12 points per game.
- After eight assists against Western State, Courtney Hayes is fourth in the conference in assists per game, averaging 4.5.
- Grand Canyon's first win of the season featured a 14-point comeback against Oral Roberts in a 66-64 victory.
SERIES HISTORY
- This is the first-ever meeting between Gonzaga and Grand Canyon.
- The Bulldogs are 12-9 all-time versus current member of the Western Athletic Conference.
- Fourteen of those meetings came against Seattle University, with GU holding a 10-4 advantage in that series.
- The last meeting came in the 2011 Holiday Hoops Classic in Seattle, and the Zags won 91-64.
FORTIER INKS DUO ON SIGNING DAY
- Lisa Fortier announced the signing of Grace Collett and Jessie Loera for the 2016-17 season.
- Collett, a 6-4 post, has been on several training squads for Australia's junior national teams.
- Collett was selected as a Development Player for the WNBL's Melbourne Boomers.
- Loera was named the Columbia Basin Big Nine Player of the Year and co-Defensive Player of the Year following her junior season at Moses Lake High School in Moses Lake, Wash.
- Over her three-year career at Moses Lake, the 5-6 guard has amassed 872 points, an average of 12.3 per game.
CHASING MILESTONES
- Cheslek is third in program history with 158 blocks, nine away from second.
- She is also eighth in GU history with 682 rebounds, two away from seventh and 15 from sixth.
ZAGS NEW RADIO HOME
- Fans will enjoy a broader listening radius for Gonzaga women's basketball games in 2015-16.
- The Zags will now have all of their games on Fox Sports 790 KJRB on the AM dial.
- Steve Myklebust returns as the voice of GU women's basketball this season.
Players Mentioned
Center
/ Women's BasketballCenter
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
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Guard
/ Women's BasketballThursday, March 28
Monday, March 25
Sunday, March 24
Saturday, March 23
