Arizona survived the extreme ebbs and flows of a conference opener on the road, defeating BYU 57-53 Saturday in the Wildcats’ first game of their Big 12 existence.
Breya Cunningham’s putback with 21 seconds left was the difference in the game at Provo, Utah.
Cunningham finished with 21 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field with eight rebounds for Arizona, which is 10-4 overall. She also had two blocks and two steals.
Arizona winning its first Big 12 game “means a lot,” Cunningham told ESPN+ after the game. “(During the non-conference) we learned a lot. We grew a lot from those games. Just being able to get this first win gives us a lot of confidence going into this new conference.”
The Wildcats play their next Big 12 game at home Dec. 31 against Utah at noon.
Game Winner Big 12 Debut#MADEFORIT x #LEAVEALEGACY pic.twitter.com/QuNnWvtI7Z
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaWBB) December 21, 2024
BYU (9-3, 0-1 Big 12) missed on two attempts following Cunningham’s putback with 21 seconds left.
Mailien Rolf corralled the defensive rebound and was fouled with 4 seconds left.
The Cougars did not reach the bonus yet, which meant Arizona had to inbound the ball.
Jada Williams, who played 39 minutes, was fouled after getting the inbound pass with 2.3 seconds left and missed both free-throw attempts. Williams finished with 11 points on 5-of-18 shooting from the field, 1 of 7 beyond the arc.
“It’s hard to have her off the floor,” Barnes said in the postgame show on 1400-AM. “I think she settled for some tough shots but I think some of that’s fatigue. I thought she did a really good job of running us (only three turnovers), getting us in the right place, her confidence and a sense of calming for our team — all of that was important.”
BYU called its last timeout, allowing the Cougars to inbound the ball on their side of the court.
The Cougars’ Kemery Congdon had trouble finding an open teammate on the inbound pass and tried to throw the pass off Cunningham. The ball bounced off Cunningham but hit Congdon’s leg out of bounds.
The game ended with Isis Beh making an uncontested layup as time expired.
leavin' provo with a BIG (12) DUB#MadeForIt x #LeaveALegacy pic.twitter.com/sWFakMzurg
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaWBB) December 21, 2024
Skylar Jones started after not playing because of soreness in her right foot and heel in the previous game against Weber State on Tuesday at McKale Center. She played through foul trouble against BYU and finished with 11 points, six rebounds and two steals.
Arizona led 18-8 after the first quarter and was ahead 25-16 with 3:29 left in the second quarter.
BYU scored the last 14 points of the quarter — eight from guard Delaney Gibb — to take a 30-25 halftime lead.
Gibb made two of her five 3-pointers in that sequence. Congdon and Brinley Cannon also made 3-pointers.
Barnes told ESPN+ at the break that Arizona needed to do a much better job of rotating on defense to defend the perimeter better.
Gibb, BYU’s lone scorer in double figures with 23 points, was 3 of 4 from beyond the arc at halftime. She attempted only three in the second half and made two.
The Cougars dominated the third quarter in previous games this season. BYU outscored opponents by an average of 20.3 to 13.8 in the quarter entering Saturday’s game. They outshot opponents 50.6 percent
to 32.1. In last week’s win over Arizona’s former Pac-12 foe Washington State at Pullman, Wash., BYU pulled away to a 72-57 win, outscoring Wazzu 27-18 in the third quarter while shooting 57.9 percent.
Cunningham and Jones controlled the third quarter for Arizona against BYU.
Cunningham had eight points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field while Jones had six points going 3 of 4.
“I learned that we came out and we started the game right, and then we took some punches (in the second quarter) and then readjusted at halftime,” Barnes said. “We came back knowing that third quarter is BYU’s best quarter, and came out and performed in third quarter. I’m proud of the way that we stuck with it and figured out a way and how we came out in the third quarter ready to play.”
Arizona outscored BYU 16-12 in the third quarter and trailed 42-41 entering the last quarter.
The Wildcats outscored BYU 7-2 to start the fourth quarter but the Cougars responded with a 7-0 spurt to lead 51-48 with 3:09 left.
Arizona scored the next five points, including a 3-point play by Jones, to take a 53-51 lead with 2:09 left.
Amari Whiting made BYU’s lone field goal in the last 3:34 on a jumper with 34 seconds left to tie the game at 53.
Cunningham’s putback following Williams’ miss on a drive to the basket occurred afterward.
“Winning this game was so important because it’s our first (conference) game for a young team,” Barnes said. “Psychologically, as a team, if you go into a 10-day break losing the game, it’s very hard mentally when you’re young.
“Winning carries a lot of things. If you go into a break winning, you’re feeling good. You’re more loose. There’s less pressure. I think that that’s just how it is. We’re more confident anyways at home (when the Wildcats play Utah on New Year’s Eve), so I think all those things are the reason why this is such an important game.”
Recommended for you
