Grand Canyon University women's basketball coach Trent May knows not to take anything for granted.

Despite leading the Antelopes to their third straight Pacific West Conference championship last season, the fourth-year head coach has preached to his team a "one game at a time approach.

"It's been an honor to win those championships and while we're definitely seeking a fourth, we know that it's not going to be easy," May said. "The teams in the PacWest are getting better. We're excited with where our team is at — I think we're better than last year and deeper than last year. I think we have a great shot at repeating, but we have to be diligent day in and day out."

Grand Canyon, a private school located in downtown Phoenix with an enrollment of about 25,000 students, is off to a 5-3 start this season. May said he likes what he has seen from his team so far.

"We're pleased, there's a slight disappointment in there, but in each of our losses, we were right there in the mix," May said.

GCU dropped a 71-70 decision to then-No. 7 UC San Diego on Nov. 21. The only other losses came in road games at Northwest Nazarene and Alaska-Anchorage.

"That is a tough place to play," May said of Anchorage. "I think they've won something like 44 straight home games there, but it was closer than the final score indicated. We were within seven points in the final minutes, but we had to foul and it ended up being a 14-point loss."

As expected, Preseason Conference Player of the Year Samantha Murphy has led the Antelopes in scoring, averaging a league-best 23.1 points per game.

"She's doing a fantastic job handling her responsibility and role while facing great defense night in and night out," May said.

Murphy has only been held under 20 points once this season. She is coming off a 26-point outburst in Saturday's 84-70 loss to Anchorage.

"Right now, it may seem that we can only go as far as she takes us, but I think that once we get the wheels turning and we start the conference season, there will be a quite a few people who can step up for us," May said. "I think (Murphy) can go for 12 or 15 (points) and we should still get production elsewhere and still get some wins, but the biggest thing is our defense, that is what will carry us the rest of the year."

The Antelopes are idle until Dec. 27, when they will travel to San Diego for the California Collegiate Athletic Association/Great Northwest Athletic Conference Challenge. GCU plays Western Washington on Dec. 28, Seattle Pacific the following day and Metro State on New Year's Eve.

"Final exams just started (yesterday), so I think that this break comes at a really good time," May said. "The only thing that worries me is that we come back and have three huge games, so we'll have to be both physically and mentally sharp."

GCU opens the PacWest schedule with home games against Chaminade and Brigham Young-Hawai'i on Jan. 7 and 9, respectively.

"We still have a lot to gain during the conference season," May said. "We know that it won't come easy and that each team will give us their best shot, but one key factor is that we don't let off the gas regardless of who, when, where and how."

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Notre Dame de Namur guard Katie Zasly has been named PacWest Conference Player of the Week, it was announced Sunday. Zasly, a 5-foot-9 junior from Foster City, Calif., scored a team-high 16 points in a 71-60 loss at Humboldt State Friday. She had 14 points with 10 rebounds in Saturday's 66-60 win over Cal State Stanislaus.

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

TUESDAY

Dominican 74, Cal St. Maritime 68

THURSDAY

BYU-Hawai'i 81, Alaska-Fairbanks 54

FRIDAY

Holy Names 70, Academy of Art 60

Gr. Canyon 78, Alaska-Fairbanks 58

Humboldt St. 71, N.D. de Namur 60

Alaska-Anchorage 67, BYU-Hawai'i 37

SATURDAY

Cal State-L.A. 54, Academy of Art 43

N.D. de Namur 66, CS Stanislaus 60

San Francisco St. 62, Dominican 40

Alaska-Anchorage 84, Gr. Canyon 70

YESTERDAY

N.D. de Namur 56, Sonoma St. 39

THIS WEEK'S GAMES

TODAY

BYU-Hawai'i at Chaminade

THURSDAY

Drury vs. Chaminade

FRIDAY

Drury vs. HPU

Dominican at Metro State

Concordia-St. Paul vs. Academy of Art

Cal St. East Bay at N.D. de Namur

SATURDAY

Dominican at Regis

Cal St. East Bay vs. Academy of Art

Concordia-St. Paul at N.D. de Namur

BYU-Hawai'i at UH-Hilo

SUNDAY

Pacific (Ore.) vs. HPU

George Fox vs. Chaminade

MONDAY

Academy of Art at Sacramento State

Dixie St. at Cal State Dominguez Hills

HPU at UH-Hilo

MEN'S BASKETBALL

Chaminade guard Steven Bennett has been named PacWest Conference Player of the Week, it was announced Sunday. Bennett, a 5-foot-6, 150-pound junior from Los Angeles, scored 15 points with eight assists in a 70-61 loss at UH-Mänoa Wednesday. He recorded 15 points with seven assists in Friday's 77-64 win over UH-Hilo and followed that with 20 points and 12 assists in Saturday's 87-81 win over BYU-Hawai'i.

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

WEDNESDAY

UH-Mänoa 70, Chaminade 61

FRIDAY

Gr. Canyon 77, Alaska-Fairbanks 72

Santa Clara 69, Dominican 65

BYU-Hawai'i 92, HPU 75

Chaminade 77, UH-Hilo 64

SATURDAY

Simpson 73, Academy of Art 71

Alaska-Anchorage 67, Gr. Canyon 38

Dixie St. 72, CS Dominguez Hills 59

San Fran. St. 59, N.D. de Namur 37

HPU 96, UH-Hilo 76

Chaminade 87, BYU-Hawai'i 81

YESTERDAY

UH-Hilo 75, Champion Baptist 70

THIS WEEK'S GAMES

TODAY

Sonoma St. at Notre Dame de Namur

Champion Baptist at UH-Hilo

TOMORROW

Cal State Los Angeles at Dominican

THURSDAY

Champion Baptist at HPU

FRIDAY

Notre Dame de Namur at Chico St.

Academy of Art at Humboldt State

SATURDAY

Chico State vs. Academy of Art

Grand Canyon at Seattle Pacific

Chaminade vs. Alaska-Fairbanks

N.D. de Namur at Humboldt St.

Holy Names at Dominican

Simon Fraser at BYU-Hawai'i

SUNDAY

Chaminade at Alaska-Anchorage

Grace Bible at HPU

MONDAY

Dixie State at Montana State-Billings

CHANG, ALVES UPDATES

Brigham Young-Hawai'i men's basketball player Tsung-Hsien "Jet" Chang, the Pacific West Conference Rookie of the Year last season, suffered a left arm injury in the first half of Friday night's game against HPU. It is not yet known the extent of the injury or how much time he could miss. Chang, a sophomore point guard, is averaging a league-best 20.8 points per game through six games. He did not play in Saturday's game against Chaminade. BYUH assistant coach Brandyn Akana said Chang, who is wearing a cast on the arm, was scheduled for a doctor's appointment today. Chang will miss a minimum of 4-6 weeks, but if surgery is required he is expected to redshirt, Akana said. The Seasiders (5-2) are already without defending National Division II Player of the Year Lucas Alves, who is expected to return from a knee injury early next month.