Home is a good place for the Arizona Wildcats. They struggled in their two games last week, the first road games of the season for the team. They found their footing against BYU in McKale Center as all
five starters scored in double figures on the way to a 75-72 win to improve to 1-3 in the Big 12 and 10-5 overall.
“I am overjoyed,” said Arizona head coach Becky Burke. “I’m so excited for our group. You know, we needed this. We worked our butts off for this. That’s a really, really, really good team. And I just like, you know, I’ve played, I’ve won games, I’ve done it. I am so happy for them. For a lot of these, literally, all three of these guys to win their first Power 4 game, especially here in Arizona, it’s really special.”
Nora Francois and Sumayah Sugapong both had huge impacts after seeing their minutes and roles fluctuate fairly wildly. Both started and, along with the other three starters, played 186 of the possible 200 minutes of the game.
Francois had her best game in a Wildcat uniform, leading the team with 21 points and five steals. She also had four rebounds, five assists, and two blocks. One late block was especially huge as Francois grabbed it out of the air to give Arizona possession late in the game.
Francois’ defense might have been more important than her offense. She spent much of the game hard hedging, helping force BYU into 27 turnovers.
“On the plane leaving our last game, Coach asked me, she’s like, ‘Nora, do you know how to hedge?’” Francois said. “I was like, this is my time to shine. This is my time definitely. Very familiar with hard hedging, soft hedging, anything, but I mean drop cover just fine, but just being prepared for that, going into practice, knowing that I’m going to have my moment.”
Sugapong was the last Wildcat to get into double figures. She went into the fourth quarter with nine points and ended with 18 for the game. She went 9-for-9 from the free throw line and hit a huge 3-pointer with just over a minute left in the game to tie it at 71 points apiece.
“She hit the big three, like 1 for 6, the one she made was crucial,” said BYU head coach Lee Cummard.
Arizona came out extremely aggressive on defense, forcing eight turnovers in the first quarter on the way to a 22-20 lead after 10 minutes. It was Arizona’s first advantage at the end of a quarter since the opening 10 minutes against Utah on Dec. 31. The Wildcats fell behind early against both Colorado and Texas Tech last week.
The Wildcats kept it up through the first half, forcing the Cougars into 17 turnovers on the way to a 33-33 tie at the end of 20 minutes. BYU came in averaging 17.5 per game this season.
It was a good tactic, especially considering BYU’s last game. While the Cougars handed Arizona State its first loss of the season on Saturday, it did so while turning the ball over 26 times. They couldn’t overcome the 27 on the road against Arizona, though.
“Shout out to our staff and Coach Julie [Hairgrove’s] game plan was absolutely phenomenal,” Burke said. “Shout out to them for executing it to perfection…They played the hardest they’ve played all season tonight. So I could not be more happy for these guys.”
It wasn’t just about the turnovers, though. BYU had trouble defending without fouling and Arizona went 30 of 33 from the line. The Cougars didn’t take advantage of their opportunities, hitting just 15 of 25 free throws.
Arizona had used the pressure to try to get back into games, but it didn’t wait to fall into a hole before locking in against BYU. The defensive intensity and shortened bench seemed to wear the Wildcats down in the third quarter. They led for most of the frame, but BYU went on a 10-0 run over the final 2:03 to go into the fourth up 57-51. On several occasions, they were able to grab the offensive rebounds and force Arizona to continue defending.
The Wildcats rose to the occasion, especially Sugapong. Her nine points in the fourth came over the final 2:54 of the game. Six came from the line.
BYU still had a chance, though. The Cougars trailed by just one and had possession with just 17 seconds to go. The inbound pass was picked off by Francois. It ended up in Sugapong’s hands and she was fouled.
“I read the rebounder’s eyes, and she was trying so hard not to look at my person,” Francois said. “So I was like, All right, coming to her. So I just got an arm up, tipped it. Thankfully, Sumayah turned around, secured it.”
Lani Cornfield had a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists. She added three rebounds and two steals, but fouled out with 2:01 left in the game.
Tanyuel Welch also had a double-double with 13 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. She added a block and a steal.
Micky Perdue contributed 13 points and one assist.
Despite two blowout losses last week, there were 6,504 fans in the building for the game. It was the largest crowd for a game this season except for the kids’ day game in December. BYU had a large contingent, especially those from the Navajo Nation who came to cheer on freshman guard Sydney Bennally, but the Arizona fanbase continued to back the home team.
“One thing I can say, after being on the road for two games, we definitely missed being home and having those fans,” Welch said. “You know, it doesn’t matter what the what’s going on in the game. We could be down, we’d be up, we could be having a bad stretch. The other team could have a stretch, but they really helped change the momentum for us. You know, we get a little stop and they’ll make it seem like we just won the championship.”
It was the first Big 12 win for Burke and 10 of 12 Arizona players. Only center Achol Magot and injured forward Montaya Dew had ever been part of a team that won a game in the league.
