Arizona returned home on Tuesday with one goal — send their seniors Lani Cornfield, Nora Francois and Micky Perdue out on a positive note and close their final home game in McKale Center at ALKEME Arena with a win over Houston.
The Wildcats completed that goal, earning a 75-67 hard-fought victory over the Cougars.
“Really excited for our team, our program our players, coaches and I’m really excited for our fans,” Arizona coach Becky Burke said. “What a way to wrap up the regular home season. And just can’t say enough about how they supported us this season, and day in and day out, showing up and filling this place for a team that just battled and battled and battled and may not have shown up in the wins or loss column.
“But this fan base stayed true to us this year, and it was absolutely a difference maker. It was absolutely incredible. So really just thankful for our fans and what they showed us all season. I’m really just thankful that our players get to go out of McKale and end this season on a win. We’ve been scraping, clawing and fighting and putting ourselves in a position to win games and haven’t been able to close the door as of late but today we did.”
Arizona’s struggles during the first half had the 5,576 Wildcat fans not sure if the night would end with a Wildcat victory.
Another single-digit second quarter put the Wildcats (12-16, 3-14 Big 12) down by seven going into halftime. Houston outscored Arizona 26-19 in the first half.
“We scored as many points in the third quarter as we did in the entire first half,” said Burke. “We’re really good when we do certain things and we’re really bad when we go away from those certain things that we do to give us success. So we’re a very small-margin-for-error team.
“When the ball’s moving, we’re pretty good. When we’re guarding, we’re pretty good. This is no news to anybody at this point … the six-point quarter, we’ve been there. We’ve done that. We have one per game, right? It’s just like, have we been able to score enough in those other three to win. But this team knows that. I didn’t go into halftime today telling them anything they didn’t know was coming.”
Becky Burke when ESPN+'s Mackenzie Hamilton asked her what the message will be at halftime to her team, which trails 26-19 to Houston (which is 1-15 in the Big 12):
"Pass the ball. The ball doesn't move. We just set basketball back 100 years. The ball doesn't move when we're on…
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) February 25, 2026
The Wildcats came out of the half on a mission to overcome their six-point second quarter.
Arizona went on a 5-0 spurt to start the third quarter and took the lead with 33.9 seconds to go in the quarter. but Houston (7-21, 1-16) responded and held a 47-46 lead going into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Arizona shot 60% from the field and converted 15 of 16 free throws, outscoring Houston 29-20 to complete the comeback and take the win.
The Wildcats made 25 of 27 (92.6%) at the line, which was a big reason Arizona was able to close out Houston.
“Congratulations to Arizona,” Houston coach Matthew Mitchell said. “They really came out and played a great second half and made it very difficult for us. I know it’s exciting to get a victory on Senior Night, so they certainly played a fantastic second half.”
Sugapong’s composure against Houston
Sumayah Sugapong had struggled with keeping her composure while on the court in the last few games.
She had back-to-back games where she was assessed a technical foul and was in foul trouble in numerous games during the season.
Tuesday against Houston, she flipped the script on her foul issues.
Sugapong was charged with her first foul of the game at the 9:31 mark in the fourth quarter and ended the game with two fouls.
Staying out of foul trouble and on the court for the duration of the game allowed Sugapong to get a team high 20 points.
Cornfield takes charge
With 6.49 left in the second quarter, Cornfield was hit in the face and had to leave the game.
Arizona trainer Bart Jameson took a bleeding Cornfield to the locker room and did a quick stitch job on the sixth-year senior guard’s lip.
“Bart told me she had to go get stitches, and I said, ‘Tell them to hurry up and stitch her up, get her back in’.” Burke said.
Cornfield was back on the court with 3:17 left in the quarter.
In the second half, Cornfield took charge, scoring 14 of her 18 points and dishing out seven of her nine assists.
She was one assist shy of notching her third double-double on the season.
“I thought Cornfield just really was a woman on a mission, and I thought she set the tone there early,” Mitchell said. “I think her early play in the third quarter really kind of set a tone for them.”
Molly Ladwig’s season progress
Freshmen guard Molly Ladwig got her ninth start of the season on Tuesday and scored nine points. She also had three rebounds, one assist and a steal.
Ladwig is a true freshman and has progressed her game tremendously during the season, earning more playing time because of that progress.
“Coach and my teammates have helped me a lot just growing as a player,” she said. “Obviously, like coming out of high school, there’s a lot of growing even just in basketball to do. So, I think at the beginning of the season and in throughout the middle, I was kind of like more conservative.
“I’d go in and I wanted to like just kind of like not do a lot, just go in and not mess anything up. And then kind of at the end, obviously like coach and my teammates, I kind of got more confident scoring and kind of doing some other things.”
A tribute to the seniors
Senior Night.. Thank you @ArizonaWBB Seniors! @AllSportsTucson pic.twitter.com/NMelNEfPdj
— Lori Burkhart (@loriburkhart) February 25, 2026
Perdue came to Arizona as a sixth-year senior from Cleveland State.
Perdue was averaging 18 points a game for the Wildcats before a wrist injury sidelined her for the rest of the season.
Even though her year didn’t go the way anyone at Arizona would have liked, Perdue was a big part of the team, helping coach her teammates from the bench and keeping things positive even during a season with many valleys.
“Not very emotional usually but when I really care deeply about something and I care very deeply about just the game of basketball and this team it kind of gets to me,” Perdue said. “I’m thankful to be here. I’m thankful to for coach Burke giving me the opportunity to be here this is my dream as a little kid just to play at this level and I accomplished that.”
She kept things positive for herself as well, looking at the injury as an opportunity to grow as a person.
“I think that basketball has always been my identity and it gave me opportunity to just find who I am outside of basketball,” she said. “I’m glad that I had people around me to support me, to lean on.”
Francois transferred to Arizona from New Orleans, where she averaged 15 points and 8.2 rebounds a game.
On Tuesday, Francois added 12 points, seven rebounds, two assists and a steal to help the Wildcats secure the win.
“She was solid, and I think we’re at our best when Nora’s solid, right?” Burke said. “She’s not doing too much. She’s not pressing. She’s taking the game that comes to her.
“She took good shots. I thought she set great screens and was really good defensively when they were in ball screens, which is where she’s always really good.”
Cornfield was part of Buffalo’s WNIT championship team and followed Burke from Buffalo to Arizona when Burke took over the head coach position.
She earned WNIT All-Tournament Team and MAC All-Defensive Team honors at Buffalo
The point guard quickly became the leader on the floor for the Wildcats.
Cornfield is averaging 14.1 points and 6.7 assists a game.
A member of the Seneca Nation from the Cattaraugus Indian reservation, Cornfield was presented with special gifts from the Tohono O’Odham Nation during the senior ceremony.
“We knew this game meant a lot,” Sugapong said on the three seniors. “These three bring a lot to our team. Leadership wise, we all look to them. We just wanted to send them out with a win.”
Stats Roundup
Sugapong had a team high 20 points and added five rebounds, five steals and an assist to her stats.
Cornfield ended the game with 18 points, nine assists and a steal.
Francois grabbed 12 points, seven rebounds, two steals and one assist.
Ladwig had nine points, three rebounds, one assist and a steal.
Blessing “Adde” Adebanjo came off the bench and contributed seven points and four rebounds.
Up Next
Arizona closes out the regular season on the road at Utah (18-11, 9-8) on Saturday at 5 p.m.
In the last matchup with the Utah in McKale on Dec. 22, Arizona played the Utes down to the final buzzer losing 63-62.
“It was a one-point game and we missed 20-something layups, and that’s a real number,” Burke said. “So going into there, knowing that we have to play really well, they’re a really good team, but also the fact that we can win.
“So let’s go act like it. Let’s go execute well. Let’s go be some road warriors, see if we can’t win another one.”
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