Arizona women’s basketball snaps 6-game skid in big game for Blessing Adebanjo

The Arizona Wildcats are still searching for consistency. It’s been the story all season, especially since Big 12 play started. They weren’t entirely consistent on Wednesday evening against their fellow Wildcats from Kansas State, but it was good enough for a 72-62 win in McKale Center. UA never trailed.

“I’m so proud, so happy and so excited for this group, for them to feel this feeling again and win another Big 12 game, and we’ve been knocking on the door so many times, so close,” Arizona head coach Becky Burke. “Kansas State’s a really good team. Got their best player back for this game.”

While everyone pitched in, the biggest impact may have been made by freshman forward Blessing ‘Adde’ Adebanjo in her first start. She wasn’t the high scorer. She didn’t have the most rebounds. But she hit shots, moved her feet, stayed in front of the opposing offense, and just generally made life difficult for the visiting team.

“She played really well, really aggressive, I thought physical with us,” said Kansas State coach Jeff Mittie. “Played inspired basketball. I thought she beat us to spots, and I thought when we pushed her off the block, she made pretty good decisions as well off the block.”

Burke agreed, and said it wasn’t just about the game. It was about the two days before.

“I told our players after the Oklahoma State game, our starters will be determined based on how you practice this week,” Burke said. “And I think that’s what we’re going to go with moving forward is that your minutes and your starting, ability to start a game, are going to depend on how you practice the two days prior.”

Adebanjo ended the night with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 6 blocks, and 2 steals.

“She’s 6-3, athletic, so for her ability to be able to switch on the perimeter in emergencies and cover ground, I mean, she had six blocks, and they weren’t the blocks that are, like, just leaving their her their fingertips,” Burke said. “I mean, Adde is blocking them tt’s already four feet in the air. So, really, really impressive. Just athletic ability, length, size, which is why we got her here, and so it’s really nice to see it come to fruition.”

Junior Sumayah Sugapong had her first double-double in an Arizona uniform. She contributed 12 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals.

The home team was led in scoring by Lani Cornfield with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals.

Freshman Daniah Trammell came on late to give Arizona a fourth player in double figures. She ended the game with 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 steal.

The hometown Wildcats were hot out of the gates. They scored 27 points in the first quarter while shooting 61.1 percent from the field. Then came the second quarter.

UA fell in love with the 3-point shot in the second frame. It wasn’t a successful tactic. The team went 0 for 6 from outside, although the final 3-point attempt was a heave at the buzzer. The other five couldn’t be explained away so easily. They shot just 21.4 percent overall and turned the ball over four times in the second. Meanwhile, K-State scored 18.

They found their way again. After scoring just six points in the second quarter, Arizona had 21 in the third. It was the second frame scoring over 20.

Arizona made sound decisions despite turning the ball over 20 times. Against Oklahoma State, they often forced shots when out on the fastbreak. This time, they scored 17 fastbreak points because they pulled the ball back out and settled things when the opening wasn’t there.

“Every loss is a lesson,” Cornfield said. “I mean, obviously we learned from the game. We watched our film. We keep doing the same things and expect different results, you know, you’re crazy. So we switched it up.”

The home ‘Cats have typically been the team facing foul trouble and disqualifications this season. This time it was the visiting ‘Cats. K-State lost two players with over five minutes left in the game. Taryn Sides played with four fouls for much of the second half.

The win snapped a six-game losing streak for Arizona and gave the team its second Big 12 win. UA improved to 11-11 on the season and 2-9 in conference play.

Kansas State moved to 12-12 overall and 5-6 in league competition.

Arizona will travel to West Virginia on Saturday to play the No. 20 Mountaineers, but the Wildcats were also looking towards the visit by ASU on Feb. 14. Burke told that crowd that the Sun Devils thought that 6,000 fans for a rivalry game was a big deal. She urged them to bring in at least 10,000 for the matchup when Arizona next plays in McKale.