The Arizona women’s basketball team won its third straight game to open the season, beating Grambling State 85-64 on Sunday afternoon in front of a season-high 5,465 fans at McKale Center.
“Winning is hard at any level against any team,” first-year coach Becky Burke said. “We’re just getting better and better every game. That’s what this nonconference (schedule) is for. I don’t care if we’re playing mid-majors or Power Fours.”
Arizona (3-0) is in the midst of playing its first 14 games at home before going on the road for the first time on New Year’s Eve at Colorado for a Big 12 game.
The schedule was designed that way because Arizona lost all but one player in the transition from Adia Barnes to Burke as head coach. The weighted home schedule to start the season will help the practically brand new team bond and gain confidence together.
Arizona’s defense stonewalled Grambling State (1-4) on Sunday, holding the Lady Tigers to 35 percent shooting from the field and forcing 17 turnovers.
Mickayla Perdue and Daniah Trammell paced the Wildcats with 15 points each, combining to shoot 12 of 19 from the field.
Sumayah Sugapong added 13 points, and Tanyuel Welch finished with 12.
“D (Trammell) is something else,” Burke said of the freshman forward from Cincinnati. “Her physicality and how hard she plays and her motor … that gets you so far in college basketball.”
Sugapong, a transfer from UC San Diego, mentioned she wanted to be “aggressive from the jump.”
“I just came out with a scoring mindset today,” she said. “On the defensive end, I just want to chip in wherever I can. Maybe a little too overaggressive these last couple of games. I think those charges I get do a lot for the team.”
Arizona scored on the opening possession with a Sugapong basket to take an early lead.
Grambling State struggled to find its rhythm, committing four turnovers in the first five minutes.
Arizona took a 10-6 lead before Sugapong left with an apparent ankle injury.
Grambling State responded with a rally. The Lady Tigers held the Wildcats without a field goal for the rest of the quarter, with Arizona scoring only from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, the Lady Tigers made five of its next six shots, including three straight 3-pointers, to take a 22-13 lead into the second quarter.
Sugapong returned to start the second quarter and immediately brought energy back to the Wildcats.
“Those charges, those offensive fouls that I draw, I think those are big momentum boosts for our team,” she said. “It translates to a run offensively. That’s definitely a boost in momentum.”
Arizona chipped away at the nine-point deficit and took the lead with 5:34 left in the first half on a Nora Francois layup. The Wildcats’ defense fueled the comeback, holding Grambling State to just two field goals in the quarter.
“We’re a defensive team. That’s what we hang our hat on,” Burke said. “When we turn it up defensively, it’s crazy how your offense turns.”
Arizona led 38-33 at halftime, bolstered by a 13-5 advantage in made free throws.
The Wildcats carried that momentum into the second half, allowing only five total field goals across the third and fourth quarters to while hitting 19 in the second half to close out the game.
Trammell had 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field in the second half.
Welch, a transfer from Memphis, had 10 of her 12 points after halftime.
Arizona hosts Northern Arizona on Friday at 6 p.m. The Lumberjacks beat the Wildcats twice last season, including a 71-69 loss in the first round of the WBIT at McKale, Barnes’ last game as Arizona’s coach.
NAU also has a first-year coach — former Lumberjack standout Laura Dinkins — after former coach Loree Payne left to lead Santa Clara’s program.
NAU features former Salpointe forward Hannah Williams, who is a freshman.
Recommended for you
