There are few if any coaches in the world who will publicly say that a game is “winnable.” Arizona head coach Becky Burke has made it clear that the Wildcats can’t look at any game that way, especially this year.
Still, both the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Arizona Wildcats had to like their chances in Tuesday night’s game. The hometown Bearcats are coming in at 8-16 overall and 3-9 in the conference. They sit at 13th in the Big 12 standings, just one game ahead of the 2-10 Knights of UCF and the visiting
Arizona. Almost half of their wins have come since league play started, partly because they got healthier around the time Big 12 competition started in late December.
Healthy is the last thing anyone would call these two teams right now. Alexander listed as out for this contest after missing the Bearcats’ loss to Kansas last Saturday. The team has also been missing Kali Barrett for the entire conference season. Those two aren’t alone on the injury report.
Kylie Torrence is questionable for UC. Torrence leads the team in rebounds (7.3) and blocked shots (1.1) per game. She is second in steals (1.2) and fourth in scoring with 8.1 points per contest.
Mya Perry and Caliyah DeVillasee have at least enough nagging issues to be listed as “probable.” That is a huge concern for the Bearcats.
Perry leads the team in points (17.2) and steals (1.7) per game. Her 34.7 percent 3-point field goal percentage is also tops on the team. DeVillasee is the leader in assists (4.2) and comes in second with 15.8 ppg. The pair ranks fifth (Perry) and eighth (DeVillasee) in the Big 12 in scoring.
As for the Wildcats, Montaya Dew and Micky Perdue were expected to be out. Dew has been out all season rehabbing a second knee injury. Perdue has been out since the UCF game on Jan. 10 with a wrist injury. The fact that starting point guard Lani Cornfield and regular contributor Nora Francois are listed as questionable is a surprise, though. A really concerning surprise, at that.
The Wildcats have dropped two games they likely had a shot to win. Both of those—Kansas and UCF—came at home. It looked like this road contest against a team that’s also trying to find its way could be the opportunity for a third win.
The Bearcats had a rough start to the year. Alexander was the centerpiece to a great recruiting class that also included DeVillassee. Alexander could have gone anywhere as the No. 11 player in the class, but the Cincinnati native opted to stay home.
Things didn’t start great for Alexander or her Bearcats. An ankle injury was first supposed to keep her out “indefinitely,” then the announcement was updated to the first half of the season. It looked like it would put a crimp on the season.
While it certainly wasn’t the only reason, the injury coincided with a 5-7 nonconference season. Well, it was actually a 4-7 season since the win over NAIA Georgetown (KY) College doesn’t count as far as the NCAA is concerned. The Bearcats lost to several low- and mid-majors and one exceptionally weak Power 4 team.
That said, they showed flashes. They beat the New Mexico team that took Arizona down in McKale Center. And when Big 12 play came around, they got their first conference win over then-No. 11 Iowa State in Cincinnati. They played ranked Texas Tech and West Virginia to respectable losses, and they got wins over the UCF and ASU teams that beat Arizona.
Those wins came with a more complete team, though. Not only had Alexander returned, but DeVillasee and Perry weren’t in question. Of the five on this week’s injury report, only Barrett was absent.
On the other bench, the absence of both Cornfield and Francois could limit the possibilities for Arizona’s coaching staff, but the loss of Cornfield would be especially difficult to overcome.
The diminutive point guard is second in the league with 6.8 assists per game. She ranks sixth in the Big 12 with a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio. With Perdue long-since sidelined, Cornfield is now Arizona’s leading scorer and No. 18 in the Big 12 with 13.2 ppg.
If she should sit this one out, it might open an opportunity for Kamryn Kitchen to spend some more time on the court. Kitchen has come on lately as she has earned more playing time. While she doesn’t have the defensive presence of Cornfield, she can keep the team running on the offensive end.
Kitchen has shown herself to be both an adept scorer and a capable passer since she started to get more minutes. The 5-foot-9 guard has played double-digit minutes in every game since the outing at Kansas. In those six games, she averages 2.2 assists per game despite not being the primary ballhandler. However, she will need to rein in her turnovers. She has turned the ball over 2.5 times per game in those six games.
Up Next for Arizona Women’s Basketball
Arizona Wildcats @ Cincinnati Bearcats
When: Tuesday, Feb. 10 @ 4:30 p.m. MST
Where: Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati, OH
Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 1400 AM (KTUC)
Stats: Arizona Live Stats
Sumayah Sugapong might be an option to take some of the load if Cornfield cannot play. The turnover problem is an even bigger issue for her, though.
After playing limited minutes for a few games, Sugapong returned to the starting lineup on Jan. 6 in the win over BYU. She has been an extremely reliable scorer for Arizona over that period, but the BYU game is the only one during which she did not turn the ball over. She has averaged 3.3 turnovers per game in those nine games, including 10 against West Virginia last Saturday. She has 20 assists during that span for a 0.67 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Arizona’s other option is to put freshman Molly Ladwig on the court more. Burke has praised Ladwig for doing precisely what she is asked. While Ladwig has had very limited minutes this year, she has shown that she is steady with the ball. She has 2.6 assists and 1.2 turnovers per 40 minutes. That’s a total of 13 assists and six turnovers in a total of 198 minutes on the court. It’s tough to extrapolate from such a small sample size, but it does provide some hope that Ladwig can help pick up any slack.
The concerns will be less severe if Francois cannot go. While Francois is a steady experienced hand in the frontcourt. Burke is not wedded to any of her frontcourt players. She’s not even wedded to the idea of playing two of them.
Burke could turn to Blessing ‘Adde’ Adebanjo once again. The athletic big has done good things for Arizona over the last several games when she got more minutes and more grace when she makes mistakes. Daniah Trammell could provide another big, or Burke could opt with one of her bigger guards at the four. That would likely mean either Tanyuel Welch or MJ Jurado.
The questions for both Burke and Cincinnati head coach Katrina Merriweather are numerous and important. The teams have six games left on the schedule and are jockeying for position in the Big 12 Tournament. There’s an outside chance for Arizona to earn a spot in either the WBIT or WNIT. Cincinnati’s current 8-16 record will make it more difficult for the Bearcats, but the WNIT has taken teams that finish far below .500 since the introduction of the WBIT. Managing these injuries could be the biggest decision of the season for both women.
