Arizona women’s basketball goes big in final nonconference game

The Bellarmine Knights have 14 players on their online roster. Eleven of them have played at least one game this year. Only seven were suited up to play the Arizona Wildcats on Thursday evening in McKale Center.

Eight Knights made the trip, but top scorer Triniti Ralston was a scratch due to a “coach’s decision.” It went about as expected with Arizona blowing out the Knights 105-59.

It was the first time the Wildcats had scored at least 100 points in a regular season game since scoring 113 against NAU on Nov. 10, 2022. They also scored 104 in an exhibition against Cal State LA that year. They scored 103 against West Texas A&M in an exhibition on Oct. 25, 2023.

“I’m really excited for our players,” Arizona head coach Becky Burke said. “That was a fun one. It just seemed like everybody was at ease, everybody was loose, but playing really, really hard at the same time. So excited to have a game where we come out from the beginning and set a standard, set the tone and play a complete 40 minutes and keep our foot on the gas. And so really excited for us to break 100 and everybody gets to score. Everybody gets some good, significant minutes while still playing hard, not letting loose, not getting complacent with a lead.”

With a 2-9 team suffering extreme personnel issues on the other bench, Burke had the opportunity to try different combinations. She put two bigs on the floor at the same time on several occasions, a lineup she has used very little this year. She rotated in various combinations of Daniah Trammell, Nora Francois, Adde Adebanjo, and Achol Magot throughout the game. The experiment lasted most of the game—far longer than previous tries.

The game got out of hand fairly early. In addition to coming in shorthanded, Bellarmine started to amass foul trouble fairly early. Ava Smith had three before the first quarter was up. Patricia Sherrill picked up her fourth with just over two minutes left in the opening half and fouled out with 2:14 to go in the third quarter.

Shortly after the fourth quarter started, half of the Knights’ six available players were saddled with three fouls each. When the game ended, they had two with three fouls each and two more with four.

Arizona didn’t have the severe personnel shortage that its opponent struggled through, but the Wildcats did go without one of its usual starters. Junior guard Sumayah Sugapong did not play. Sugapong had started every game this season.

“Just coach’s decision, but expect her to be good to go for Monday,” Burke said.

Tanyuel Welch started for the second straight game and MJ Jurado re-entered the starting lineup after coming off the bench last time out. Adebanjo, Magot, Molly Ladwig, and Kamryn Kitchen took the other available minutes.

Adebanjo returned to the court after injuring her leg against Eastern Kentucky on Dec. 10. She did not play against Chicago State on Monday.

Adebanjo played a career-high 21 minutes, the first time breaking into double digits. She scored six points on 2-of-5 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 shooting from the line. She grabbed 11 rebounds, including four on the offensive end. She added two assists, two blocks, and two steals.

The ability to play alongside Magot allowed the lanky forward to move to a more natural position.

“I’ve always wanted to like play with Achol,” Adebanjo said. “She’s big, and I’ve always wanted to play in the four position, to pass her the ball, to get her the ball, because I really trust her, and I know she can score all the time. So it’s really something I really look forward to more.”

To that end, Magot was able to score easily over the smaller Knights. She had 10 points in 14 minutes, going 4 for 6 from the field and 2 for 3 from the line. She also grabbed five boards and had one assist.

Both Magot and Adebanjo continued to struggle with fouls, though. Magot was whistled for three in her 10 minutes on the court and Adebanjo contributed three in 21 minutes.

“I think my duck-ins,” Magot said about what she’s working on to limit her fouls. “I think just timing it and my contact and just knowing time and place.”

Magot was one of six Wildcats to score in double figures. The team was led by Welch with 18 points. She added six rebounds and three assists while only committing one foul and one turnover in 24 minutes of play.

Welch even took over point guard duties when sixth-year guard Lani Cornfield went to the bench with fouls. Cornfield and Ladwig joined Magot and Adebanjo with three fouls each.

Despite her fouls, Cornfield still got close to a double-double. She had 15 points, eight assists, two rebounds, and five steals in 25 minutes.

Trammell started the game but played just 12 minutes. She contributed 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting and grabbed five rebounds. She added one assist and three steals.

Kitchen pitched in 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting. She also had two rebounds, one assist, one block, and one steal.

Jurado was the sixth Wildcat in double figures. She played a team-high 29 minutes while contributing 10 points, one assist, and one steal.

Burke took no prisoners. With the Wildcats up by 47 and 5:29 left in the game, she appealed an out-of-bounds call by the officials. The replay confirmed the original call and Arizona lost a timeout.

Perhaps Burke felt comfortable doing that in a blowout because of who was on the other bench. Former Louisville teammate Monique Reid is in her first year as the head coach of Bellarmine.

“That was my best friend in college,” Burke said. “We came in together as freshmen, and her and I were really, really impactful freshmen on that 2009 Final Four team. We played a bunch, and her and I were always in the gym together. And anytime I’m back in Louisville, I make sure—we just had dinner a couple weeks ago when I was back in town. And so, just somebody that’s a lifelong friendship, relationship, family. When you build bonds at a place like this or Louisville, it’s for life. And so that score is not an indication of the good job that she’s doing with that team. They’re banged up, they don’t have bodies right now. I feel for her, but she’s doing a really, really good job, and I’m really proud of her.”

The win wrapped up Arizona’s nonconference season at 9-2 and gave Burke her 100th victory as a Division I head coach. The previous 91 were at Buffalo and USC Upstate.

The challenge gets much bigger now. Arizona will host Utah (9-3) on Monday, Dec. 22 for its Big 12 opener. All three of the Utes’ losses came to Power 4 programs, including a loss to defending champion and current No. 1 UConn.

The Wildcats will then leave McKale for the first time this season to play at Colorado (9-3) on New Year’s Eve. Two of the Buffaloes’ three losses came to Power 4 teams, including a loss to Top 25 Louisville.

They will return to McKale after a trip to Texas Tech, which has been the biggest surprise in the Big 12. The Red Raiders sit at 13-0 with three wins over Power 4 teams.