Jada Williams was unavailable Wednesday night for Arizona at NAU because she was in concussion protocol, according to coach Adia Barnes.
It appeared early on that the Wildcats may not skip a beat without her.
In the end, after a 92-75 collapsing loss against the Lumberjacks, Barnes mentioned during the postgame radio show that the Wildcats missed Williams “because of the floor general she is.”
Arizona (5-1) built a 16-point lead early in the second quarter, before Barnes’ pre-game premonition came true that her team was in for a struggle because the Wildcats had “zero intensity” during warmups.
“In warmups, we were very lackadaisical, and they were on point,” Barnes said. “I called them over, and I said, ‘The way you warmed up, you’re gonna get your asses kicked.’ And we got our asses kicked.
“I mean, there’s a point where you’ve got to have some pride. Right now, we’ve got to work. We’re going to work.”
It was Arizona’s first loss to NAU since 2017, when Sam Thomas was a freshman in an 84-66 defeat in Flagstaff. The Wildcats had defeated the Lumberjacks five consecutive times, including wins of 113-56 and 87-64 the last two seasons at McKale Center.
After Arizona led 27-11 following interior baskets by Isis Beh and Sahny Jah to start the second quarter, the game belonged to NAU.
The Lumberjacks (4-1) went on an 18-2 run to tie the game at 29 with 3:22 left before halftime.
Leia Beattie, who finished with 17 points, made two of her five 3-pointers and scored eight points in that game-turning stretch.
Beh, Breya Cunningham and Skylar Jones were each assessed a third personal foul by that time.
Mailien Rolf, who replaced Williams as the starting point guard, was also whistled for three fouls before halftime.
NAU outscored Arizona 30-15 in the second quarter en route to a 41-38 lead.
The Lumberjacks continued to outplay Arizona to start the second half, scoring the first seven points on 3-of-3 shooting from the field.
Barnes called a timeout less than a minute into the second half with NAU leading 48-38.
“We couldn’t defend them,” Barnes said. “We got in a little bit of foul trouble, so we started playing a little bit more passive. I mean, 30 points in the second quarter, 31 the third (for NAU) … you’re not gonna win games like that. They just did whatever they wanted starting in that second quarter. It was brutal.”
NAU outscored Arizona 61-32 in the second and third quarters making 21 of 39 shots, 53.9 percent, and 9 of 18 from 3-point range.
Beattie had 14 points in the second quarter on 5-of-6 shooting from the field. She made all four of her 3-point attempts in the quarter.
Nyah Moran, who led NAU with 22 points, was 4 of 5 from the field for eight points in the third quarter.
Cunningham, who scored eight of her 10 points in the first quarter, fouled out early in the fourth quarter. She played only 14 minutes.
Beh finished with two points in 17 minutes before also fouling out in the fourth quarter.
NAU did not have any players foul out. All of its starters scored in double figures, including Beattie, Moran, Sophie Glancy (17 points), Taylor Feldman (16) and Olivia Moran (10).
Arizona’s execution on offense was stagnant against NAU’s 2-3 zone. The Wildcats committed 17 turnovers that resulted in a 19-9 points-off-turnovers edge for the Lumberjacks.
Arizona’s defensive woes which resulted in many of the fouls, allowed NAU to make 22 of 29 shots from the free-throw line while Arizona attempted 18 free throws and made 10.
The Wildcats’ foul problems, especially with interior players, made them hesitant on defense and allowed NAU to score 40 points in the paint and drive past defenders to register 23 fast-break points.
The 92 points are the most allowed by a Barnes-coached team against an opponent outside of the Power 5 or Power 4 since her tenure started in 2016-17.
“We’ve never given a team that many points in a game that we should win,” Barnes said of NAU. “I mean, hats off to them, but we should win this game. To come in here and give them 90 points, that is a lack of pride, and that’s a lack of defense. We have to improve and get better.”
Arizona’s practices figure to be intense leading up to Saturday’s game against Grambling State at McKale Center at 6 p.m.
“Right now, we’re not disciplined, and it really showed,” Barnes said. “I’m not upset about losing. We can lose a game here. I’m upset about the lack of hustle and intensity, diving after balls, the 50-50 balls. That’s effort. That stuff, it’s not acceptable.”
A couple of positive developments — North Carolina transfer Paulina Paris, who wore a mask during the game to protect her nose, had 20 points, eight rebounds and three assists, and Jah, a South Carolina transfer, had 16 points in 14 minutes off the bench.
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