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Arizona Christian University

OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE OF ARIZONA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
WBB Preview - 1/25 and 1/27/24

Women's Basketball Payne Moses

Road Test Awaits Trending Firestorm

Glendale, Ariz.- The midpoint of the GSAC schedule approaches, as the Lady Firestorm (13-6, 3-2 GSAC) seek to build upon a three-game win streak in Southern California. Week 4 of conference play begins Thursday with #12 Vanguard and wraps up Saturday with Hope International. At 3-2 in the GSAC, ACU is in a tie for third with Jessup in the overall standings.

As of January 20th, the Firestorm are the top-scoring GSAC team (76.5 PPG), own the third-best three-point percentage (34.0) and are tied for first (Menlo) in free-throw percentage (75.3). Alyssa Alvarez remains second in GSAC scoring (19.3 PPG), Emily Till retains second place in the rebounding category (10.8 RPG), and Kayla Clark is sixth in assists (3.1 APG) and second in assist to turnover ratio (2.1). 

Game Details

Arizona Christian at #12 Vanguard - Thursday, January 25 at 5:30 PM
Arizona Christian at Hope International - Saturday, January 27 at 12:00 PM

Orange Coast College - Costa Mesa, CA
Darling Pavilion - Fullerton, CA

*All Times Listed Are Arizona Time

Live Coverage

Video - https://www.gsacsportsnetwork.com/azchristian 
Live Stats - http://naiastats.prestosports.com/sports/wbkb/2023-24/boxscores/20240125_w1d1.xml, http://naiastats.prestosports.com/sports/wbkb/2023-24/boxscores/20240127_u7ik.xml 

Arizona Christian

With a lead as large as 38, the Lady Firestorm pieced together a 98-77 performance at Faith Arena and their third consecutive GSAC win. Alyssa Alvarez paced ACU with 26 points and did so shooting 10-for-15 and committing only one turnover. Four other Firestorm eclipsed the 10-point mark (Graciela Roybal (17), Lauren Gunn (14), Emily Till (12), Kayla Clark (11)) in the team's second-most efficient game on the offensive end of the court (49.3%) this season.

Alvarez nudged into the program's record book once again, this time in all-time scoring. Her latest 26-point outing moves her into second in ACU Women's Basketball scoring with 1528 career points. In her 88th game with the Firestorm, Alvarez passed McKayla Enders (1521 points) and now only trails Courtney Christmas (2354 points). 

Till produced her sixth double-double of the season (12 points, 13 rebounds), as she continues to show her prowess in multiple facets of the game.

ACU Key Players

Alyssa Alvarez - 19.3 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 2.5 APG
Graciela Roybal - 15.3 PPG, 1.7 RPG, 0.7 APG (3 games)
Lauren Gunn - 15.2 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 2.5 APG
Halle Payne - 12.3 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 1.6 APG
Emily Till - 8.6 PPG, 10.8 RPG, 1.8 APG
Kayla Clark - 4.7 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 3.1 APG

Series Notes

In 21 all-time meetings that date back to 2013, the Firestorm are 4-17 against the Vanguard Lions. Losers of the first 13 games, ACU has evened out the series to 4-4 over the previous eight. The Firestorm dropped both contests last season in similar fashion, digging themselves a hole in the first quarter (18 and 11-point deficits). The most recent of those was decided 78-54 at ACU Events Center, seeing the Firestorm fall behind 40-18 at halftime. In a game ACU shot 34.8% from the floor, Alyssa Alvarez led the way with 17 points and Deniece Ryan posted 10 on 5-of-7 shooting. Five players on the Lions recorded double-digit points.

Dating back to 2004, the Firestorm are 6-19 all-time when facing the Hope International Royals. Eerily similar to their series with Vanguard, ACU lost the first 12 games to HIU and has leveled the previous 13 to a respectable 6-7. Though the overall record has improved, the Firestorm have lost five straight (two home and three away). Last season, ACU dropped a close one (83-80) at home before being outplayed in Fullerton (90-73). The Firestorm were outscored by 23 points in the second half of the most recent meeting after building a six-point lead at the break. Alyssa Alavrez and Graciela Roybal each had 16 points and two assists.

Coach Rusty Rogers' Thoughts

"It's essential that we knock off some of the GSAC front-runners on the road if we expect to reach our goal of a conference championship," Coach Rogers said. "This week represents two huge opportunities for us and I believe we are ready. We are playing well as of late but we, undoubtedly, have not reached our full potential. With injuries and illnesses confronting us all season long, we are close to getting our full squad together and it's pretty exciting to see it come together!"
 
Vanguard 

The Vanguard University Lions (11-3, 4-1 GSAC) are the 12th-ranked team in the latest NAIA Top-25 Coaches' Poll released on January 17th. Their conference resume is made up of close wins over The Master's (65-64) and Life Pacific (64-58), and a lone loss (75-54) to Menlo, the only undefeated team left in GSAC play (5-0). In their most recent outing, the Lions limped to the finish (11 points in the final quarter), but managed to hold on against Life Pacific in San Dimas. Through January 20th, Vanguard is second in three-pointers made per game (8.3) in the GSAC. Melissa Akullu leads the GSAC in scoring (24.4 PPG) and rebounding (12.9 RPG), recording an incredible 11 double-doubles in 14 games. Halle Si'i leads the team and is second in the whole GSAC in assists (4.8 APG).

Hope International

The Hope International University Royals (10-5, 2-3 GSAC) opened the GSAC slate with match-ups against the top-three teams (#12 Vanguard, RV Menlo, RV Jessup). They managed wins over Life Pacific (70-61) and The Master's (70-68) to keep themselves afloat in the race for the GSAC Championship. In their most recent game, the Royals outlasted The Master's 70-68 in Santa Clarita, led by Shiane Talley's 20 point, 15 rebound double-double. Through January 20th, HIU leads the GSAC in three-pointers made per game (9.3). Talley is the Royal's scoring (18.1 PPG), rebounding (8.7 RPG) and assists (6.0 APG) leader, sitting at third, sixth, and first in the GSAC in those same categories. Shalissa Jarrett has complemented Talley nicely, with 14.0 PPG and 3.0 APG. 


Roll Storm!
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Players Mentioned

Deniece Ryan

#12 Deniece Ryan

G
5' 2"
Freshman
Alyssa Alvarez

#20 Alyssa Alvarez

G
5' 11"
Senior
Kayla Clark

#23 Kayla Clark

G
5' 4"
Junior
Lauren Gunn

#10 Lauren Gunn

G
5' 7"
Sophomore
Halle Payne

#21 Halle Payne

P
5' 9"
Junior
Graciela Roybal

#3 Graciela Roybal

G
5' 4"
Junior
Emily Till

#14 Emily Till

P
6' 0"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Deniece Ryan

#12 Deniece Ryan

5' 2"
Freshman
G
Alyssa Alvarez

#20 Alyssa Alvarez

5' 11"
Senior
G
Kayla Clark

#23 Kayla Clark

5' 4"
Junior
G
Lauren Gunn

#10 Lauren Gunn

5' 7"
Sophomore
G
Halle Payne

#21 Halle Payne

5' 9"
Junior
P
Graciela Roybal

#3 Graciela Roybal

5' 4"
Junior
G
Emily Till

#14 Emily Till

6' 0"
Sophomore
P