As the Arizona women’s basketball team prepared to go on the road and face No. 10 TCU, head coach Becky Burke said that the Wildcats weren’t going to Fort Worth with the idea that they were already beaten. That was despite losing leading scorer Micky Perdue just over a week ago.
“What an opportunity for some other people to step up, what an opportunity for us to go get a couple wins…when there’s not one person outside this building that thinks that’s gonna happen,” Burke said on Wednesday.
The Wildcats
showed that mindset from the jump, forcing TCU into 8 turnovers in the first quarter and turning those into 9 points. They didn’t back down, and after 20 minutes they were up 30-28 and had become the first opponent to lead at the half in Schollmaier Arena since Feb. 23, 2024. TCU picked it up over the final 15 minutes of the game to survive with a 78-62 victory.
“We can go…and say we threw some punches because we gave it our all,” Burke said. “We fought, we battled, we followed a game plan to perfection that I think was really, really effective. TCU is a great team, well coached. We respected them at the highest level coming into this game, but we didn’t come in here like we were planning on losing, and I was really proud of our team’s effort for that, in our fight, in the situation that we’re in this year, and with losing our leading scorer…There’s a lot of things that our team could be down and out about, and they are not and they’re fighting and they’re battling, and just probably as proud as I’ve sat at a podium despite a loss.”
Sumayah Sugapong led the way, scoring 11 points in the first quarter. She ended the game with 17 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block, and 3 steals. She was also one of two Arizona players called for technical fouls after making big plays. Those led to four TCU points.
“In a game like this, where we’re sort of the underdog, I think that’s where a lot of us thrive, just coming in competing,” Sugapong said. “I was talking about, really no pressure on us coming into this game. So just going out there, playing hard, and sometimes emotions take over a little bit too much.”
Going into the week, Burke said that this game would be a prime opportunity for Achol Magot. The 6-foot-7 center would be needed against the 6-foot-7 pair of Clara Silva and Kennedy Basham. It worked. Basham fouled out in eight minutes without scoring.
Magot made her biggest impact in the third quarter. She had six points and three rebounds while drawing several fouls on Silva and Basham. She ended the game with 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 1 assist. She hit 4 of her 8 shots and went 4 for 5 from the free throw line. Most importantly, she had just 3 fouls in 16 minutes of play and was even diving to the floor to get to 50-50 balls.
“Achol had an interesting week, but she was ready when her number was called,” Burkes said. “And I’m just going to continue to challenge Achol to practice hard, to play hard, to be ready for opportunities. Because, you know, she looks a little bit different than anybody else on our team. She looks like the opposing post players, and from a size, physicality standpoint, we do need her presence. This is by far her best game. She was able to play 16 minutes. We haven’t gotten that out of her. She was able to get out there and contribute in a way that she hasn’t so far this season, and we’re going to need that in the second half of Big 12 play. So excited for her to gain that confidence today and build off of it.”
It wasn’t enough, though. TCU started to pull away halfway through the third quarter. The Horned Frogs were up by eight with 3:37 left in the frame and had a seven-point lead after 30 minutes.
They kept that momentum in the fourth. Arizona didn’t score over the first 3.5 minutes of the final quarter while TCU hit one after another. The lead hit double digits with 8:49 left in the game and was up to 18 by the time Arizona scored.
Lani Cornfield was the third Wildcat with double-figure scoring. She ended with 11 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 block. The block was followed by what the official deemed was an unsportsmanlike stare down, and she picked up Arizona’s second technical foul of the day. It was her fifth foul.
Blessing ‘Adde’ Adebanjo also fouled out for Arizona, but she made an impact before doing so. She scored 9 points on 4-of-5 shooting, grabbed 1 rebound, dished out 1 assist, and had 1 steal in 15 minutes on the court.
Arizona will return home to face Kansas on Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 6 p.m. MST. The Wildcats will try to grab their second Big 12 win after losing their last home game to UCF just 24 hours after learning Perdue would not play. They now stand at 10-7 and 1-5 in conference play.
TCU improved to 18-1 and 6-1 in Big 12 play. They earned a share of the Big 12 lead after Kansas State upset No. 17 Texas Tech in Lubbock earlier in the day.
