Arizona, playing without its leading scorer Micky Perdue, struggled on the offensive side of the ball shooting 34% from the floor and 1 of 17 from the arc. Despite keeping the score within striking distance most of the game, the Wildcats couldn’t capitalize on key possessions down the stretch resulting in a 58-55 loss to UCF Saturday at McKale Center.
“Really disappointed with that … like, very, very, very disappointed. Probably as disappointed as I’ve been sitting here in front of you guys,” Arizona coach Becky Burke said.
“I don’t know that I’ve been part of a game where we forced a team into 23 turnovers and took 19 more shots than they did and not been able to win a basketball game. And there’s a lot of different reasons for that. We need to look in the mirror. We need to own it. Credit to UCF. Obviously they beat us, and we got some soul searching to do.”
Micky Perdue out indefinitely
As fans started to fill McKale while Arizona (10-6, 1-4 Big 12) was going through warm ups on Saturday they noticed that Perdue was not dressed for the game.
Posts on social media sites were asking “why isn’t Micky playing?”
The answer to that question: Perdue injured her wrist in practice earlier in the week and will be out indefinitely. There is hope that she can return before season’s end, but that is still to be determined.
Perdue, Arizona’s leading scorer, has been the spark and go to hot shooting hand for the Wildcats. She is ranked eighth in the Big 12 with 17.1 points per game.
Burke was clear early in the season that the team isn’t built to depend on one player for scoring, that it would take a team effort to get points and wins.
Was not having Perdue’s scoring ability felt in the loss to UCF on Saturday? Yes, but Burke was clear that the loss wasn’t just because their leading scorer was on the bench.
“We shot more threes tonight than we do when Micky plays, we went 1 for 17. Under no circumstances, by any means, is that acceptable to go 1 for 17 as a Division I basketball team from the 3-point line. It’s just not,” Burke said. “So, yeah, is Micky gonna make a couple more of those for us? Yes, absolutely. Is it absolutely a factor and a big, big, big, big, big deal that we lost our leading scorer? Yes, but when I look at some fundamental things that are issues for us, and were even issues when Micky was playing, like I’m not an excuses type head coach and I never will be. So, we need to look in a mirror. We need to know that this is our reality moving forward until further notice, and we need to to hold up our end of the bargain as coaches and players.”
Molly Ladwig capitalizes on fourth quarter playing time
With a little over three minutes remaining in the game, Sumayah Sugapong fouled out. Burke subbed Molly Ladwig in to replace Sugapong.
Ladwig, who made a short appearance earlier in the game going 0 of 2 from the field, shook her previous performance off and hit the court on a mission.
Ladwig hit her first three shots getting the Wildcats to within four points. She added two free throws ending the game with eight points, two assists, one rebound and a steal.
“Molly is a coach’s dream. Molly is locked in every single day. She is going to do exactly what you asked her to do, how you asked her to do it. She is going to play her absolute butt off, be on the floor, throw her body at people, sacrifice her body,” Burke said. “She’s an elite teammate. Molly is somebody that you want in your locker room building a program, and that’s why she’s here. And she just earned herself many, many, many more opportunities in the coming games because of how she performed when her number was called. But that’s on character and on brand for who she is. Unfortunately, Molly’s foot speed isn’t where it needs to be right now, her athleticism isn’t where it’s going to be if she continues to work on it. So, she knows some of her shortcomings, which is why she hasn’t gotten more of an opportunity but at this point she’s going to do what I’m asking her to do, she’s going to play her butt off, she’s going to get more opportunities.”
Francois first double-double as a Wildcat
Nora Francois was a bright spot for Arizona on Saturday. The fifth-year senior transfer from New Orleans battled on defense and offense ending the game with her first double-double since joining Arizona.
Francois had 10 rebounds, 10 points, one assist and a steal.
Early enrollee Callie Hinder spotted on the Arizona bench
Freshman center Callie Hinder, a Class of 2026 early enrollee, was dressed in warmups and was on the bench for the UCF game. She will start practicing with the team on Monday but isn’t expected to play this season.
Hinder played at Phoenix PHH Prep and helped lead them to the 2025 Canyon Athletic Association National State Championship.
The No. 2 ranked overall player in the state chose the Wildcats over offers from Arizona State, Kansas, Texas Tech, and TCU.
When she committed in August Hinder said, “I picked Arizona because the second I got to campus, I felt right at home.”
“I love what Coach Burke is building, and I’m so excited to be a part of it.”
“Callie is here and will start practice with us on Monday, so that’s a bright spot for sure,” Burke said on Saturday.
Arizona’s press “fairly effective”
With Arizona within three points toward the end of the game, the Wildcats went to a full court press.
While UCF was able to break the press at times, Burke didn’t see the press as a negative due to having fewer players to sub in.
“It’s a play hard. When we have certain people in certain positions in that press we cause turnovers,” Burke said.
“But unfortunately, those people had played probably about 35 minutes up to that point, so you can’t really have them up there flying around. They’re a little bit low on gas. You put people in the basketball game that need to play hard and need to be locked in, need to shake some stuff up and make some stuff happen and need to be ready when their number is called. So it was a lack of energy in the press and I think a lack of flying around and moving on the flight of the ball that made it a little less effective than it normally but I still thought it was fairly effective.”
Stats roundup
Lani Cornfield had eight points, seven assists, seven steals and two rebounds.
Sugapong scored 10 points. She added four rebounds and an assist to her final stats.
Tanyuel Welch ended the game with seven points, three rebounds, three assists and four steals.
Arizona’s defense caused 23 turnovers resulting in 21 points while committing just 12 turnovers.
“We focused on the rebounding and the size prior in our practicing, we told our players we felt like for us to have a chance to win this game, we had to go inside,” UCF head coach Sytia Messer said. “So that was a point of emphasis, on the boards and offensively. Going inside.”
UCF outrebounded the Wildcats 39-30 and outscored Arizona in the paint 38-34.
Next up
Arizona’s Big 12 schedule ramps up as the Wildcats travel to Fort Worth, Texas, to take on No. 13 TCU on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. The game will air on ESPN+
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