On a night meant to celebrate Baylor’s seniors, the Arizona Wildcats made sure the No. 15 Bears had to work for every minute for its 74-60 win.
Facing a veteran Baylor squad that’s 22-6, 11- 4 in the Big 12 and led by seniors Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, Bella Fontleroy and Taliah Scott, the Wildcats opened the game in Waco, Texas, with confidence and rhythm, taking an early lead.
Arizona came out with the exact tone Head Coach Becky Burke wanted.
“The plan was to come out and act like we had nothing to lose and be ourselves defensively,” she said.
The ‘Cats did just that.
Arizona scored efficiently inside the paint early, moved the ball well and knocked down timely shots. A deep corner three from freshman Molly Ladwig and strong free throw shooting from Tannyuel Welch helped build the Wildcats momentum.
Sumayah Sugapong’s jumper gave Arizona a four-point lead midway through the first quarter and the Wildcats continued to draw fouls and create stops, stunting the Bears momentum early on.
The Wildcats led 22-15 to end the first quarter against a team loaded with seniors.
“We got away from the ball screens because they were trapping us, and get their bigs off the boards on every possession,” Baylor Head Coach Nicki Collen told ESPN reporter Faith Lynch going into the second quarter.
The second quarter flipped the script.
Baylor’s energy was completely different. The Bears tightened defensively, forcing early turnovers and disrupting Arizona’s rhythm. After starting off 0-7 from the three-point line, Baylor began to find its shots. A three from Jana Van Gytenbeek gave the Bears their first lead since the middle of the first quarter; Scott added another from deep as Baylor went on a 19-6 run, entering halftime 38-30.
“We put together 20 minutes of good basketball and they believe that,” Burke said of her team. “I’m just proud of our group’s resilience and ability to just never quit.”
The third quarter created even more obstacles for Arizona’s offense. An early foul on MJ Jurado was upgraded to flagrant after review, allowing Baylor to extend its lead to 10 while maintaining possession. Back-to-back threes from Van Gytenbeek pushed the Bears’ advantage to 15.
The Wildcats continued battling on the defensive end, working to create stops and fighting to cut into the deficit. Baylor led 58-43 heading into the fourth.
Arizona opened the final quarter with urgency. Blessing Adebanjo and Noelani Cornfield sparked early momentum, helping trim the deficit to near single digits at 49-60. Baylor, which missed eight straight shots at one point, felt the pressure as the Wildcats went on an 8-2 run.
With 4½ minutes left in the 9-point game, a win was still within reach for the Wildcats.
Sugapong knocked down a three with just over two minutes remaining but a deep buzzer beating three from Scott and Baylor’s late game execution sealed the outcome.
Scott finished with 22 points to lead Baylor, while Marcayla Johnson added 12 and Littlepage-Buggs chipped in 10. For Arizona, Daniah Trammell and Cornfield each scored 11, Ladwig added 10 and Adebanjo contributed 8.
Despite the 14-point final margin, Burke said she was “super proud of our team’s effort.”
“It would be really, really easy for them to be quitting in games,” she said in post-game comments. “This crew battles, they fight, they play their butts off.”
In a rebuilding year with just one returning player and a first-year head coach, Arizona has consistently put itself in position to compete against some of the league’s best. Against a ranked Baylor team celebrating a class of seniors who have spent their careers building the program, the Wildcats showed resilience and growth.
“The amount of games that we’re in position to win and being highly, highly competitive with what we have makes me so excited for the future,” Burke said.
Arizona has two more games left, facing Houston at McKale Center on Tuesday and finishing their season with a road game against Utah Saturday Feb. 28
Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.
