Arizona Women's Basketball

NCAA Albany 2 First Round preview: No. 11 Arizona (18-15) vs. No. 6 Syracuse (23-7)

By Javier Morales

Posted on March 22, 2024

*No. 11 Arizona will play its second game in Storrs, Conn., on Saturday — a first-round game in the NCAA tournament against No. 6 Syracuse (Arizona Athletics photo)*

No. 11 Arizona (18-15) vs. No. 6 Syracuse (23-7)

What: NCAA Albany 2 Region first-round game
When: Saturday at 12:30 p.m., Tucson time.
Where: Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn.
How to Watch on TV: ESPN2
How to listen on Radio: 1400-AM and Varsity Network

Arizona Leaders

Helena Pueyo: 9.6 PTS, 3.2 STL, 47.3 FG%, 36.6 3PT% (37-for-101)
Esmery Martinez: 11.2 PTS, 1.9 STL, 43.2 FG%, 25.4 3PT% (17-for-67)
Breya Cunningham: 7.7 PTS, 1.8 BLK, 51.3 FG%
Skylar Jones: 6.6 PTS, 1.3 STL, 46.3 FG%, 32.6 3PT%
Jada Williams: 9.4 PTS, 1.1 STL, 35.8 FG%, 26.6 3PT% (29-for-109)

When Arizona has the ball:

— Arizona freshman guard Jada Williams is the catalyst. She led Arizona with 17 points behind 8-of-11 shooting from the free-throw line bacause of her assertive moves to the basket in the Wildcats’ 69-59 win Thursday night over Auburn in a First Four game.

— Skylar Jones is a 6-foot versatile freshman guard from Chicago is coming off a 13-point performance against Auburn on 4-of-8 shooting from the field and 5-of-7 from the free-throw line.

SKYLAR JONES ON CHEMISTRY WITH LIMITED ROSTER: “I think we all really love each other and we want to do it for our seniors and let them go out with a bang. We know we do have seven people. That’s not going to stop us. We just want to do it for them. All three of the freshmen, we’re getting a lot of experience, so this is also going to help us in the long run, but we’re all really a close-knit group and we have each other’s backs, so I think that’s what keeping us together. And we want to do it for Adia, too, make her proud.”

— Fifth-year senior post Esmery Martinez is a threat from all parts of the court, averaging 11.2 points a game. Arizona’s balanced scoring is exemplified with Martinez being the only player averaging scoring in double figures.

— Helena Pueyo, a mainstay at Arizona, had one of her best games at Arizona in the game against Auburn, scoring eight of her 16 points in the fourth quarter. She averages 9.6 points and 3.6 assists per game. She has 121 assists and only 50 turnovers.

— Syracuse freshman forward Alyssa Latham, who also hails from Chicago, where Jones is from, finished sixth in the ACC in rebounds per game (7.1) and blocks per game (1.3).

— Syracuse ranks 198th among Division I programs in defense, allowing 65.4 points per game. Arizona’s 69.9 points a game ranks 94th.

— Dyaisha Fair, a third-team AP All-American at Syracuse, is averaging 2.3 steals a game.

FAIR ON ARIZONA: “They’re going to be really scrappy. They’re hungry, and they’re a team that’s never going to give up. I think that they’re a good team, of course. There’s no disrespect there. But we’re also a good team, as well, and we’re going to prepare properly and be ready.”

— Kyra Wood had a career-high six blocked shots in a win over Notre Dame on Jan. 5. Syracuse swept Notre Dame this season when the Irish were ranked No. 9 both times. Fair had six steals in one of the wins against Notre Dame.

COACHES

ARIZONA: Adia Barnes, eighth year at her alma mater and overall: 150-99. Her record in the NCAA tournament: 8-3 (fourth straight appearance).

SYRACUSE: Felisha Legette-Jack, second year at her alma mater: 43-20. Overall: 386-299, 23 years with stops at Hofstra, Indiana and Buffalo. Her record in the NCAA tournament: 4-4 (fifth appearance, first with Syracuse)

LEGETTE-JACK ON ARIZONA: “That’s a physical team out there. They defend from one baseline to the end. They’re relentless defensively. They’ve got some great players. The one thing that I get — I’m a mom, and I get emotional, and I get really emotional when I know who you are. So what we have a tendency of doing, no disrespect to anyone, is sharing numbers of what their jersey says, so we won’t get too attached. So that No. 13 (Pueyo), young lady from their team, she is a thief, and anytime that she’s around that ball, you’d better recognize that she’s going to steal it. That’s something we worry about because she’s very smooth with it. She doesn’t give a lot of energy, but she has a moment when you relax, she’s going to take it. They’ve got a great point guard in No. 2 (Williams), All-American in high school, young lady who knows how to play on big stages. She’s probably been playing on a big stage for four years in high school. They’ve got some great punches. They’ve got 12 (Martinez) who can shoot the three and get inside the lane. They’ve got some bigs, 33 (Beh) comes off the bench, 25 (Cunningham) who’s tough. They are a really well-tuned team who’s been to a Final Four with the coach that they have right now. We have our hands full, especially if we think about them, and what we’re going to try to focus on is who we are and what we can bring. Defensively, they’re strong, but offensively we’re pretty special, too. It’s going to be a battle of who defends and who can push that ball and make that ball go in the hole.”

Syracuse Leaders

Dyaisha Fair: 22 PTS, 2.2 STL, 39.2 FG%, 37.9 3PT% (107-for-282)
Georgia Woolley: 13.9 PTS, 1.9 STL, 39 FG%, 28.2 3PT% (33-for-117)
Alyssa Latham: 8.7 PTS, 7.1 REB, 1.1 STL, 1.3 BLK, 46.6 FG%, 31.6 3PT% (6-for-19)
Alaina Rice: 10 PTS, 1.4 STL, 38.6 FG%, 31.8 3PT% (28-for-88)
Kyra Wood: 6.3 PTS, 1.1 BLK, 53.4 FG%

When Syracuse has the ball:

— Fair, a 5-foot-5 guard, is a problem. She is averaging 22 points a game and currently ranks fifth with 3,351 career points in Division I history. She led the ACC in 3-point field goals per game (3.6) and 3-point field goal percentage (.379) and is seventh in free throw percentage (.799).

BARNES ON SYRACUSE: “I think one of the things is obviously when you have a dynamic player (Fair), it’s really hard. But I think what makes you think and have to be on your toes against Syracuse is all the changing defenses, so playing against the 3-2 or 1-3-1, a 2-3 for a long period of time can wear on you, and you have to think and look for gaps, and they play kind of like a matchup zone, so we’re going to have to be smart and hit shots from the outside.”

— Woolley, a 6-foot guard from Australia, is averaging 15 points in her last five games. Woolley and Fair followed Legette-Jack to Syracuse from Buffalo.

— Arizona’s seven-player rotation playing defensively against Syracuse is a concern, but the Orange ranks 139th nationally attempting 17.2 free throws per game. Opponents have fouled out only 11 times in Syracuse’s 30 games. Arizona has 20 foulouts, 10 by Cunningham.

CUNNINGHAM ON FOULS: “I feel like I’m getting better at it. Obviously I still have work to do because I always foul out every other game. But I feel like it’s something that I’m getting used to, and it’s how we play, so we’re always going to play aggressive defense, so it’s something I’m going to have to learn how to do if I want to continue to thrive in this system.”

— Pueyo ranks sixth among active DI players in career steals with 308. That number puts her at first
in program history and sixth in Pac-12 history.

— Cunningham is fifth in the Pac-12 in blocks with 1.8 per game. Her 59 blocks this year are the fifth-most by a player in a single season in program history.

FOLLOW @JAVIERJMORALES ON TWITTER!

ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.

FOLLOW @JAVIERJMORALES ON TWITTER!