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Arizona Christian University

OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE OF ARIZONA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
WBB Preview - Feb. 8 and 10

Women's Basketball Payne Moses

Last Golden State Visit For Firestorm

Glendale, Ariz. - Arizona Christian's overtime victory over #25 Menlo this past Saturday has them in the eye of the storm, as GSAC play heats up with only five games remaining. The Lady Firestorm travel up to California for the final time this 2023-24 regular season for round two with The Master's and Life Pacific this Thursday and Saturday. Having won the first meeting with both team's, ACU seeks a double series sweep. 

Through February 3rd, the Firestorm stay the second-highest scoring team in the GSAC (75.4 PPG), jump to first in team defensive rebounds per game (30.0) and are solo second in assist-to-turnover ratio (316/313(1.01)). Alyssa Alvarez's recent work keeps her second in GSAC scoring (19.8 PPG), Emily Till remains second in rebounding following a Saturday return against Menlo (10.7 RPG), and Halle Payne climbs back to fifth in field goal percentage (48.0).

Game Details

Arizona Christian at The Master's - Thursday, February 8 at 6:30 PM
Arizona Christian at Life Pacific - Saturday, February 10 at 1:00 PM

The MacArthur Center - Santa Clarita, CA
Mehl Court - San Dimas, 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/20240208_3mx5.xml, https://www.lpuwarriors.com/sports/wbkb/2023-24/boxscores/20240210_ioz9.xml 

Arizona Christian

Staring a three-game losing streak in the face, the Lady Firestorm demonstrated what it means to persevere and prevailed in overtime 80-74 over the #25 Menlo Oaks. Thirteen points clear of Menlo (69-56) with 5:07 left in the fourth quarter, Arizona Christian allowed 13 unanswered and was forced to settle things in extra time. Clutch buckets from Lauren Gunn and Emily Till let the Firestorm exhale and escape with the win.

Alyssa Alvarez made herself a consistent presence in the scoring column, surpassing the 30-point mark (33) for the fourth time in the 2023-24 season. Gunn continued to make progress in getting back to her early season form, recording 16 points, five boards and three assists. Following a three-game absence, Till nearly worked her way to another double-double (10 points, nine rebounds) but was nonetheless an essential piece of a critical conference victory.

This win not only keeps ACU in playoff position, but also goes down as their second win against a NAIA Top-25 team this season (77-74 over #5 Carroll College (MT) on November 11th).

In the grander context of ACU Women's Basketball, Saturday marked the program's 125th home win. 

ACU Key Players

Alyssa Alvarez - 19.8 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 2.3 APG
Lauren Gunn - 13.9 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 2.5 APG 
Halle Payne - 12.3 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.6 APG
Graciela Roybal - 11.4 PPG, 1.3 RPG, 0.9 APG
Emily Till - 8.6 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 1.7 APG
Kayla Clark - 4.2 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 2.8 APG

Series Notes

A 79-72 win for the Firestorm on January 13th brought the all-time series to 9-17 in favor of The Master's. Alyssa Alvarez racked up 31 points, featuring 16-of-17 from the free-throw line, and Emily Till maximized her 27 minutes with a 14 point, 15 rebound double-double. ACU is 2-11 when playing at The MacArthur Center, on the wrong end of five of the last six held in Santa Clarita. A win on Thursday would make it three in a row over the Mustangs, a feat the Firestorm have accomplished only once in 28 contests (both meetings in 2017-18 and first in 2018-19 season).

On January 11th, Arizona Christian defeated Life Pacific 78-64 to improve their all-time record to 14-0. The latest win in the series was the Firestorm's 200th in program history and Graciela Roybal's first game since last season, in which she hit her first five three-pointers and scored 20 points coming off the bench. The Firestorm tallied their most assists (14) in a GSAC game this season against the Warriors. ACU is 6-0 at Mehl Court and has won by an average of 23.3 points.

Coach Rusty Rogers' Thoughts

"Looking forward to our last GSAC road trip this week as we battle for the postseason playoffs," Coach Rogers said. "The Master's is on a roll right now so they present a major challenge while Life Pacific continues to improve. Playing these teams on their home court will be difficult and we will need to compete at a higher and more consistent level. Road wins in this league are difficult and carry a lot of value in the standings!"
 
The Master's

The Master's University Mustangs (18-5, 5-4 GSAC) rebounded from three straight GSAC losses with three straight wins to grab a tie for fourth in the conference standings. Notably, the Mustangs defeated #10 Vanguard 68-62 at home, holding the visiting Lions to their lowest point total of the season. Led by Marin Lenz and Nicole Chuang's 15 points, TMU shut Vanguard down behind the three-point line (2-for-22). The Lion's powerhouse, Melissa Akullu, had a monster game (31 points, 21 rebounds) go to waste as the Mustangs had four double-digit scorers. Lenz is the top scorer (16.4 PPG) and ranks sixth in the GSAC, Madeline Cooke is the rebound leader (10.3 RPG) and third in the GSAC, and Chuang sits atop the assist ladder (2.5 APG) and ranks 12th in the GSAC. TMU boasts the number one defense in the GSAC (60.6 PAPG) and the highest team field goal percentage (44.8).

Life Pacific

The Life Pacific Warriors (10-11, 1-8 GSAC) are riding a five-game losing streak and sit in last place in the GSAC standings. Their lone conference win of the 2023-24 season came on January 13th, a 63-60 road victory over OUAZ. Faith Schwantner led the way with 16 points and 7 rebounds, as four Warriors hit or surpassed 10 points. The game saw five lead changes and LPU surviving a final three-point heave from the host Spirit. Just one week later, Life Pacific gave #10 Vanguard a real scare, falling 64-58 at home in a game where both teams shot under 40% from the floor. A 26-10 second quarter gave the Warriors a six-point lead at halftime, but then were outscored by 12 to close the game. Kyori Lloyd leads LPU in scoring (17.7 PPG) and rebounding (9.0 RPG) and is tied third and fifth respectively. Schwantner is their assist leader (4.2 APG) and ranks fourth in the GSAC. LPU makes the third-most threes per game (8.0) in the conference.


Roll Storm!
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Players Mentioned

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

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