After fighting back from a double digit lead, University of Arizona women’s basketball watched foul trouble stalled its momentum in an 80-69 loss to the University of Kansas on Tuesday night at McKale Center.
It was the first time Arizona met Kansas as conference opponents since 2022.
Arizona faced an uphill battle during the first half, trailing 32-44 and struggling to slow down Kansas’ offensive rhythm in their third game without their leading scorer Mickayla Perdue. Perdue is out indefinitely with a wrist injury.
The Jayhawks took advantage when Arizona’s defense left Kansas shooters including junior Brittnay Harshaw open to make easy threes from the corner.
The Wildcats were quick to answer with threes of their own while forcing Kansas to commit 13 first half turnovers.
The Wildcats came out in the second half with more energy and grit. Sumayah Sugapong opened with a three and Noelani Cornfield continued her hustle on defense while Kamryn Kitchen put her first six points on the board with back-to-back corner threes.
Kansas struggled to respond in their next two possessions, missing back-to-back three-point attempts. Cornfield answered with an easy jumper to tie the Wildcats 53-53 with less than a minute left in the third.
Noelani Cornfield shoots a jumper against University of Kansas Tuesday night in McKale Center.
Despite the comeback, Arizona once again found itself unable to finish a winnable game. First time head coach Becky Burke said the opportunity was there.
“We’re in position to win some games.” Burke said. “We need to be able to do that, pull that out. That’s my expectation daily.”
Kansas forced nearly four consecutive fouls in the final 30 seconds of the third quarter, three of them called on junior Achol Magot.
Daniah Trammell goes for a block on Tuesday night against University of Kansas in McKale Center.
Arizona had an astonishing 19 personal fouls in the second half. Kansas capitalized on this, making four free throws in the final 30 seconds of the third quarter.
Still, Burke pointed out the Wildcats’ ability to get rid of a 12-point deficit as a positive takeaway moving forward. “Coming back, tying the game, down 12, coming back, tying the game… there are things to be optimistic about and happy about.” she said.
Kamryn Kitchen takes a three-point shot Tuesday night against University of Kansas in McKale Center.
Kitchen led the second half momentum finishing with 16 points after knocking down four threes in the final half. Cornfield added energy on both sides of the floor, drawing fouls and creating turnovers as the Wildcats tried to keep the pace.
In addition to its foul issues and a short bench, execution in key plays cost them.
“We need everybody that checks in the basketball game for Arizona this year to be at their best.” Burke said. “We can’t have no shows on the defensive or offensive end.”
Tuesday’s 11-point loss comes after their nearly 20 point loss against No. 21 Texas Tech on Jan. 3. Their only conference win was against BYU on Jan. 6 when they edged out the Utah school 75-72.
“I’m not going away from the fact that I believe there’s some wins left in our Big 12 season for this group.” said Burke.
The Wildcats are on the road to Iowa State on Saturday for a 2 p.m. matchup with the 2-5 Cyclones at Hilton Coliseum before coming home to face instate rival ASU in Tempe on Jan. 28. The Iowa game is being broadcast on Fox Sports; the ASU game will be on ESPN+.
Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.
