After a challenging first season, Arizona women’s basketball coach Becky Burke believes the Wildcats have made significant strides in rebuilding their roster and are ready to pursue a bigger goal in 2026-27, including making a return to the NCAA tournament.
Burke made that expectation clear Wednesday during Big 12 Basketball Media Days in Kansas City, where she joined Arizona players Sumayah Sugapong, Gerda Raulušaitytė and Aliyahna “Puff” Morris in discussing the team’s offseason progress.
Sugapong is Arizona’s returning point guard, Raulušaitytė is a Lithuanian forward who transferred from USC and Morris is a former standout guard at Cal.
“Our goal at the end of the season is to be an NCAA tournament team, and we’re not afraid to say that,” Burke said. “We feel like we’ve got a great opportunity if everything goes well, we get a little bit lucky, that we can do that at the end of the season.”
The next level awaits 🙌
#EarnTheA https://t.co/b8HPqT7TEe
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaWBB) October 22, 2026
The confidence comes after an offseason in which Arizona worked to address the talent gap Burke identified during her first year in Tucson. The Wildcats added players through recruiting and the transfer portal while retaining key pieces of the roster.
Burke believes those changes have positioned Arizona to take a meaningful step forward.
“I think obviously we knew that we had a talent deficit, and we addressed that in the off season with recruiting our freshman class, the returners that we brought back, but also the transfer portal class that we brought in,” Burke said. “So we really feel like we’ve narrowed that gap.”
Burke emphasized that improved personnel must be accompanied by the same preparation and effort that defined the team’s approach last season.
“We understand how hard we have to play in this league every single night to give ourselves a chance,” Burke said. “We understand how prepared we have to be every single night.”
Offense showing early progress
Lights, Camera, Action
#EarnTheA https://t.co/D0aXsYnIR6— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaWBB) October 21, 2026
Arizona’s early results in closed scrimmages have given Burke reason to believe the team could be more productive offensively.
She described the Wildcats as a potentially balanced scoring group capable of getting contributions from several players rather than depending on one or two primary options.
“I think it’s going to be a really balanced attack with any given night, us being able to have a 20-point-plus score,” Burke said.
Arizona had five players reach double figures in its first couple of scrimmages, according to Burke. The Wildcats also approached 90 points in their second scrimmage, a benchmark she said took much of last season to approach.
“We’re miles ahead from an offensive standpoint while still trying to keep our blue-collar defensive mentality,” Burke said.
Maintaining that defensive identity while increasing offensive production will be central to Arizona’s progress. The Wildcats will need to demonstrate that the improvement carries over from closed practices into competitive games, particularly against the demanding opponents on their schedule.
Sugapong embraces leadership role
For Sugapong, entering her senior season with greater familiarity with Burke and the coaching staff has helped build confidence.
The guard said comfort with the system and a stronger relationship with the staff have made a difference as she prepares for her second season in Tucson.
“I think comfortability is a big piece, and then confidence coming with that,” Sugapong said. “Just knowing what Coach Burke wants and being comfortable with the system, and just the coaching staff, and my relationship with them has given me more confidence this year.”
Sugapong also shares Burke’s ambition to reach the NCAA Tournament, describing the opportunity as especially meaningful in her final collegiate season.
“Everyone wants to play in March Madness,” Sugapong said. “I think we’re gonna take care of business this season and hopefully end up where we want to.”
Arizona’s schedule will provide opportunities to measure its progress against high-level competition. Sugapong singled out the season-opening game against Stanford at Las Vegas on Nov. 2 and UCLA at Pauley Pavilion on Nov. 12 as games she is particularly looking forward to.
She previously faced Stanford while at UC San Diego and said she hopes for a different result this time. She had a team-high 21 points when the Toreros lost at Stanford 84-54 on Nov. 29, 2024.
The UCLA matchup also carries appeal, with Sugapong anticipating the atmosphere of playing against a program coming off a national championship.
Raulušaitytė said she was excited for the opportunity to face both programs. She has played UCLA previously with rival USC but has not faced Stanford.
Raulušaitytė brings versatility to the frontcourt
Burke also highlighted Raulušaitytė’s versatility as a potential difference-maker for Arizona.
The forward’s ability to contribute around the basket, stretch the floor and defend multiple positions gives the Wildcats options on both ends of the court.
Burke praised Raulušaitytė’s basketball intelligence and experience, saying she can make decisions within the offense without requiring constant direction from the sideline.
“She’s probably 6-2, 6-3, but she’ll bang with 6-4, 6-5 because of her grittiness and her toughness down there,” Burke said.
Burke added that Raulušaitytė, who has a professional background in Lithuania, can switch onto perimeter players defensively while also providing shooting range and finishing ability offensively.
She also pointed to Maryland transfer Breanna Williams’ recent progress, describing the two post players as a promising combination.
“Between our one-two punch with Gerda and Bre, it’s a massive step up from what we had in the post last year,” Burke said.
A challenging schedule with a purpose
Burke believes Arizona’s schedule was designed to test the team while providing opportunities to strengthen its postseason résumé.
The Wildcats will face opponents capable of exposing weaknesses, games that could go either way and matchups in which Arizona will be expected to win. Burke views that balance as important preparation for the NCAA Tournament selection process.
She argued that challenging games can provide more postseason value than comfortable victories against lesser competition, even when the results are difficult.
“It is more beneficial to you sometimes to take a loss than it is to win a game,” Burke said.
Before the season begins, Arizona will have exhibition opportunities to test its progress in front of spectators.
The Wildcats host Embry-Riddle for a preseason exhibition game Thursday at 6 p.m.
Burke said the team has approached its closed scrimmages as full 40-minute games, focusing on whether it improves from the opening tip to the final whistle.
“We want to make sure that we’re working on us,” she said. “Obviously, it’s more important that every game that we play, we feel like at the end of the 40 minutes that we’ve improved. We’ve had two closed scrimmages, and those have been the exact same thing. We’ve approached those like real games.
“We’ve played those as if they were 40 minute games, and the important thing in those scrimmages was that we started the game and ended the game and felt like we improved throughout those 40 minutes. So two exhibitions now with actually open doors and eyes on us is going to be really good to get a feel for the environment and just feel for how these guys play with people in the arena and people watching them. A little bit more pressure, if you will.”
Arizona will have a second exhibition at home against Cal State Monterey Bay next Thursday before playing Stanford in the opener in the Hall of Fame Series game at Las Vegas.
The regular-season home opener is Sunday, Nov. 8 against Iona at 1 p.m.
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