Arizona returned to McKale Center at ALKEME Arena on Sunday after a big win over Stanford in the Hall of Fame Series to take on the Iona University Gaels in the Wildcats’ season home opener.
As impressive as the win over Stanford was, the Wildcats’ 74-61 win over the Iona Gaels was just as unimpressive.
“My apologies for a very ugly win but we will take the win, and we will learn from it and get better,” Arizona coach Becky Burke said.
“I just think we’ve played down to our opponents here at home.”
Arizona’s defense that usually swarms the ball and created 30 turnovers against Stanford, created just 15 turnovers while committing 17 against Iona.
“I told them all week we did not have a great week of practice,” Burke said. “I did not like their approach this week. I told them this is like the quintessential trap game, right? You beat Stanford, everyone’s telling you how good you are, and then you have an Iona that comes in here, and you have UCLA looming (Thursday at Pauley Pavilion) in the background, right?
“It’s your typical game where you can let up, you can let loose, and you can either make it messy like we did today, or you could potentially lose.”
At the end of the first quarter, Arizona held a 17-15 lead with most of the Wildcats’ points coming from Makayla Presser-Palmer and Gerda Raulusaityte with six points each.
The Wildcats pulled away in the second quarter, outscoring the Gaels 23-13 to take a 40-27 lead into the locker room at the half.
Priyanka Ponnam accounted for three of those second quarter points. The freshman came in and nailed a three and dialed in her defense causing issues for Iona with her height and length.
“Pri is one of the most intelligent human beings and basketball players that I’ve coached,” Burke said. “She doesn’t get a lot of reps in practice right now. She’s in and out of the lineup every game, but I always know she’s going to be ready because of how intelligent she is. She stays locked in on the bench and she’s a great teammate.”
Arizona went on a 7-2 run to start the third quarter and led by 22 points with 2:57 to go in the quarter before Iona found some rhythm on offense pulling to within 15 at the end of the quarter.
Two of those points came at the 2:03 mark when Raulusaityte was called for a flagrant one after an inadvertent elbow to the face of a Gael player.
The Wildcats extended their lead to 20 points with 4:13 left in the fourth quarter before the Gaels chipped away at that lead eventually winning the quarter 19-17.
Arizona had three players in double digits with all but one player scoring.
Breanna Williams led the team in scoring and rebounds with 12 points and seven rebounds in the 19 minutes she was on the floor.
“You know, I just try and go in there and work hard, try and grab some boards, try and get to the free throw line, draw fouls, and try and make free throws,” Williams said. “But I don’t really overthink it. I just go in there, try and give energy, and try and be that presence on defense.”
By the Stats:
Sumayah Sugapong had 11 points, three assists and two steals.
Jasleen Green also contributed 11 points, five rebounds and one assist.
Presser-Palmer and Raulusaityte had nine points each.
As a team, Arizona out rebounded Iona 36-27, had 38 points in the paint to 28 for Iona.
Next Up:
Arizona (2-0) travels to Westwood, Calif., to take on UCLA on Thursday at 8:30 p.m.
“We know what we are getting ourselves into,” Burke said. “We respect them. Really good. So well coached. We’re going to go give them our best. We aren’t going there to lose. We’re going to give it our best shot.”
“We have to have a better week of practice; we have to have a better prep for UCLA.
Game Extra:
The Wildcats started a new postgame tradition after each home win. A player chooses a fan of the game and goes into the stands to present them with a block A necklace to represent earning the A.
Burke is also awarding one member of the Zona Zoo who stays the whole game with a crisp $100 bill.
New post game tradition after each home win. A player chooses a fan of the game. Today Molly Ladwig was the designated player. In true Molly form, she didn’t choose an easy first five rows option.
As promised, Coach Burke presented one lucky member of the Zona Zoo with a crisp $100 post game.
@AllSportsTucson
— Lori Burkhart (@loriburkhart) November 8, 2026
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