If anyone was wondering who would take over as the leader on the court this season for the Arizona women’s basketball team, look no further than senior JaLea Bennett.
Competitors won’t forget her number easily, as No. 33 was everywhere on the floor in Monday night’s 69-50 victory over Eastern New Mexico in an exhibition game at McKale Center.
“(Coach) told me to attack,” Bennet said. “I was just trying to be aggressive.”
She was definitely that, coming off the bench with less than three minutes to go in the first quarter and taking over the game. From diving for 50-50 balls, grabbing rebounds, stealing the ball and finishing fast breaks, and quietly making all seven of her free throw attempts in the first half.
She ended the half with 17 points, 5 rebounds.
Her first basket came right after she checked into the game: a layup after a steal by Marlee Kyles. Next time down the court Bennett drew a foul and hit two free throws. And on the defensive end of the court she grabbed a rebound.
At the end of the first quarter, the Wildcats were down 14-13, but it didn’t take long for them to pull ahead with Bennett in the game.
The second half was more of the same, as she finished with 35 points — a career high — and 10 rebounds while going 13 of 13 from the free throw line.
In another sequence in the second quarter, Bennett got a put-back on her own miss, stole the ball on the very next defensive possession and hit a layup, and drew fouls on back-to-back possessions to give the Wildcats a 32-22 lead at halftime.
“I was all over the place,” said Bennett. “I was where I needed to step up to get my teammates going. If we’re confident (her and Lucia Alonso) and they see us, then they are confident. Sammy (Fatkin) did a good job at stepping up.”
Fatkin played 23 minutes, shot 2 for 3 and added a free throw for five points while grabbing three rebounds and two assists.
Alonso scored 6 of her 10 points in that first quarter to keep UA in the game, as the freshman had the newbie jitters. And for a team that on paper has good three-point shooters in Kat Wright, Kyles and Alonso, they only went 2 of 14.
“It was ugly at times,” said UA coach Adia Barnes. “We had pretty good execution for young players and they did better than I anticipated. We took tough shots and when you take those they don’t go in. It (our percentage) will go up when we take better shots.”
“Sammy (Fatkin) and Sam (Thomas) were scared and they should be. They are freshman. People don’t remember that Kat has been out for a long time and she’s going to be rusty at first. It’s just a matter of time. I’m optimistic.”
Arizona plays its second and final exhibition game next Monday at 7 p.m. at McKale against Western New Mexico.
