After going 6-0 to start the regular season, Arizona dropped its next two games to Southern and New Mexico.
Needing to get back on the winning track, the Wildcats held off Eastern Kentucky to take an 87-83 victory on Wednesday in McKale Center.
Arizona coach Becky Burke was happy with the win that halted a two-game skid but she emphasized there was still work to do.
“I think at the end of the day, I’m really glad we are back in the win column,” she said. “I mean, whether you win by one, or 30 or 40, we need to win this basketball game. Ultimately, that’s what we did, so I’m excited for them and I’m proud of them for that.
“Am I proud of how it kind of played itself out down the stretch in the forth quarter? No, obviously that is frustrating, but at this point with this team, we need to win basketball games and we did that today. We’ll have to really have a conversation about the fourth quarter and slippage and letting things get loose and keeping things interesting all the time. We’ve got to be a mature enough team to finish a game the way we should.”
Wednesday was the yearly “Field Trip Day” game in McKale.
Approximately 3,000 school children made their way to the arena to watch the game. They took up the whole student section and were hyped all game, especially when the “6,7 Cam” was shown on the scoreboard and when Arizona hit 67 points during the fourth quarter.
“The kids were great,” Burke said. “It’s a different vibe. It’s a different feel. I’m so appreciative of all the schools that took the time. It’s a lot to get kids on a bus and get them out here and feed them and make sure they behave and do all those things.”
Lani Cornfield started the scoring for Arizona with a 3-pointer from the left side of the arc, but the Wildcats only scored two more points. At the 5:32 mark in the first quarter, Eastern Kentucky held a 13-5 lead,
Arizona charged back as Cornfield hit her second 3, followed by a jumper to get the Wildcats within three.
Sumayah Sugapong drove to the basket for a layup and was fouled. After hitting the and-one Arizona took a 15-14 lead.
At the end of the first quarter Arizona held a 21-20 lead.
In the second quarter, Arizona outscored Eastern Kentucky 19-15 to take a 40-35 lead into the locker room at the half.
The Wildcats were getting frustrated with the smothering defense from the Colonels. That frustration showed itself when with 1:28 left in the half, Micky Perdue wrestled the rebound away from Eastern Kentucky and then threw an elbow to get the player off of her. A foul was called and upgraded to an intentional foul.
“Sometimes the dog comes out and little too aggressive and sometimes I need to tone it back a little bit,” Perdue said. “I apologized to the ref and told him like it was just one of those things, I’m just playing hard really.”
Perdue went 11 for 18 from the floor and hit on 5-of-9 from 3-point range, ending with 27 points, two rebounds and one assist.
Arizona outscored Eastern Kentucky 22-16 in the third quarter and held a 62-51 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
That’s when the wheels started falling off for the Wildcats. Eastern Kentucky wouldn’t go away and pulled to within one point with 1:51 left in the game.
“Little controllable things that we can control and we will control from this point moving forward, because nine times out of 10, you know you’re not escaping like we did today,” Burke said on giving up 32 points in the fourth quarter.
The Wildcats were able to hit their free throws during the final seconds to secure the win.
Cornfield went 8 for 10 from the free-throw line and had 22 points and five rebounds. The biggest stat for Cornfield was her eight assists to zero turnovers, an improvement from the nine turnovers she committed in the loss to Southern.
On being in the position of having to hit free throws in a tight game, Cornfield said, “I don’t feel or have any pressure when I’m up there, so I mean, if I’m supposed to make the shot, I believe I’m going to make the shot.”
Tanyuel Welch’s seven points didn’t tell the full story of how well she played.
Welch was the spark the Wildcats needed on both sides of the ball. She had three assists, one steal and 11 rebounds, matching her career high she set when she played for Memphis.
“T gives us length and athleticism on the perimeter that we are going to be relying on heavily from this point forward, and we have so far this season,” Burke said.
After the loss to New Mexico on Sunday, Burke commented on seeing improvement in her team.
“The ball isn’t sticking anymore,” Burke said. “It’s sharing and trusting the next action and trusting your throw backs on ball screens, and when we throw it back. having a plan of what we are going to do with it. It’s all things we’ve been working on a ton in practice and ultimately going out and trying to do exactly what we execute in practice, which I’m super proud of.
“We are seeing more 3’s go in because it’s moving more and it’s going inside out. I think all of those things and scoring 87 doesn’t come from playing iso ball.”
Arizona will next welcome Chicago State to McKale on Monday. Tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m.
Recommended for you
