Despite another double-digit road loss for Arizona women’s basketball, Becky Burke was pleased with her team’s effort Saturday night at Baylor.
The Wildcats played hard for 40 minutes against the 15th-ranked team in the nation and had the lead down to nine points multiple times in the fourth quarter. Burke had relatively few complaints afterward.
“I don't think a lot of people thought we had any business being in in the ballgame today, and we were with maybe a little less talent, less length, less athleticism,” Burke said after Arizona’s 74-60 setback at Foster Pavilion in Waco, Texas.
“It's a group that's battled. We battled at TCU. We battled here. We've battled everybody that we've played and been in positions, late in games, to win. So I couldn't be more proud.”
Arizona (11-16, 2-14 Big 12) also has less experience and continuity than Baylor (24-6, 12-4).
The Bears honored four players on Senior Night, all of whom are starters. Two of the four (Bella Fontleroy, Darianna Littlepage-Buggs) have spent their entire careers at Baylor. Another (Jana Van Gytenbeek) is in her fourth year after transferring.
Arizona's Daniah Trammell, right, goes up for a shot against Baylor's Darianna Littlepage-Buggs on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, in Waco, Texas. Trammell tied for team-high honors with 11 points in the Wildcats' 74-60 loss to the 15th-ranked Bears.
Coach Nicki Collen is in her fifth season after succeeding three-time national champion Kim Mulkey. Collen has kept the train rolling, leading Baylor to 20-plus wins five straight times.
Burke is in Year One, which she acknowledged is a year of transition.
“I say this with all due respect to everybody,” Burke said. “The amount of games that we're in position to win — and being highly, highly, highly competitive with what we have — makes me so excited for the future. Makes me proud of this group. But makes me really, really excited for Arizona women's basketball's future in this league.”
Arizona raced to a 22-12 lead in the first quarter before Baylor began to assert its physicality and length. The Bears took a 38-30 advantage into halftime and led 58-43 entering the fourth quarter.
The Wildcats began the final period with a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to nine. Senior guard Noelani Cornfield’s jumper with 4:55 remaining kept it there. But Cornfield made a shooting gesture toward a Baylor player after making that shot, drawing a technical foul for taunting.
Arizona got it down to nine two more times but played the rest of the way without Cornfield, its best player, whom Burke benched for the remainder of the contest.
“I'm done with the immaturity,” Burke said. “It's not just Lani. There's a couple people on our team that have done that multiple times this year. You made a shot. So what? It's so immature. It's so selfish, in my opinion.
“This is nothing against Lani. Doing that and that act in a nine-point game with 4½ minutes left at Baylor is immaturity, selfishness, and I'm just not gonna tolerate it from this point forward.
“It wouldn't have mattered who it was. It's not just Lani. That's a very ‘me, me, me’ type of gesture after you make a shot and your team's down. That's not how I roll.”
Burke said Cornfield would not be benched for the three games Arizona is still guaranteed to play — the final two regular-season contests and the opener of the Big 12 Tournament. Burke noted that Cornfield already has been removed from the starting lineup for disciplinary reasons.
“She's got some work to do from a maturity standpoint,” Burke said. “She’s a huge part of what we do. We need her.
Arizona guard Tanyuel Welch dribbles the ball up the court against Baylor on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, in Waco, Texas. Welch had a team-high nine rebounds in the Wildcats' 74-60 loss to the 15th-ranked Bears.
“We're coaching 18- to 22-year-old young women. (I’m) doing the best I can to teach lessons through the game of basketball. But we're not gonna be a team that's getting technical fouls when we make shots.”
Cornfield scored 11 points, tying freshman Daniah Trammell for team-high honors. Fellow freshman Molly Ladwig had 10 points, matching her career best, in a career-high 33 minutes.
“Molly is the epitome of what we're going to be about at Arizona in our women's basketball program,” Burke said. “She is mature. She is an elite teammate. She is extremely coachable. She does everything you ask her to do the way that you ask her to do it with no questions asked. She takes care of business on and off the court. I'm gonna play her the rest of the way out, because that's somebody I'm gonna build around. I couldn't be more excited for her.
“She's (still) a freshman. She's gotta get quicker. She's gotta get more explosive. She’s gotta work on her shot. She's gotta do all those things. But when you talk about a culture and what we're building here, Molly's gonna be in the center of that.”
Taliah Scott, the lone non-senior in Baylor’s starting five, had a game-high 22 points. She shot 11 of 11 from the foul line.
Rim shots
– UA junior guard Tanyuel Welch had a team-high nine rebounds, her fifth game this season with nine or more.
– Arizona has lost five games in a row. The Wildcats are 0-8 away from McKale Center.
– Upcoming foe Houston has lost six straight and is the only team behind Arizona in the Big 12 standings at 1-15.
