Sumayah Sugapong was an unlikely hero in the Arizona women’s basketball team’s first Big 12 victory of the season.
Before Tuesday’s game against BYU, the junior guard’s playing time had declined. After starting all 10 nonconference games in which she played, Sugapong came off the bench against Utah and Texas Tech. She averaged just 14 minutes in the first three Big 12 contests.
It wasn’t that Sugapong was struggling or unworthy of playing time. Rather, UA coach Becky Burke explained, it’s difficult to play Sugapong, who’s 5-foot-7, and fellow guard Noelani Cornfield, who’s 5-6, at the same time against certain opponents.
BYU was not one of them. Sugapong played 37 minutes — her most since the opener vs. UC Riverside — and scored a season-high 18 points, including Arizona’s last nine as the Wildcats rallied for a 75-72 victory.
“A lot of it's been game plan, size of opponents,” said Burke, whose team hosts UCF on Saturday. “I told somebody this the other day: It's really hard to have (Sumayah) and Lani on the floor at the same time.
Arizona guard Sumayah Sugapong (3) looks for confirmation from an official after drawing an offensive foul late in the fourth quarter against BYU in their Big 12 game, Jan. 6, 2026, at McKale Center.
“Given this game plan, how aggressive we were going to be and how they're very guard-oriented, we knew Sumayah would play a ton in this game. And she did.
“So it's really not a Sumayah thing; it's a game-plan, personnel-on-the-other-teams thing. It was nice to see her go out there and just pick up where she left off.”
Sugapong did more than that. She sank six free throws in six attempts in the final three minutes and hit a tying 3-point shot with 1:08 to play.
Sugapong made just 1 of 6 3-pointers, but she was 9 for 9 from the foul line. She added three rebounds, three steals and two assists and didn’t commit a turnover for the second straight game.
Asked about her mindset while awaiting her opportunity, Sugapong said: “Just mentally staying locked in. I trust the coaches, the game plan going into every game. Just staying locked in, being ready when my number’s called.”
Sugapong played alongside Cornfield for most of the game — until Cornfield fouled out with 2:04 remaining. That meant the ball would be in Sugapong’s hands down the stretch.
Arizona guard Sumayah Sugapong is on the court early, getting ready to face BYU for their Big 12 game, Jan. 6, 2026, at McKale Center.
She worked off a dribble handoff from Nora Francois to get open for the tying 3 from the top of the arc. Sugapong then got knocked to the floor twice in the final 20 seconds, truly earning those trips to the foul line.
The transfer from UC San Diego upped her season free-throw percentage to 82.1%, best on the team among rotation players.
“My teammates trust me with the ball down the stretch, which does a lot for my confidence,” Sugapong said. “And then all the hours in the gym, getting up free throws and free throws. That's what gave me confidence to step up to those shots and knock them down.”
Bounce in their step
Francois was Arizona’s leading scorer, pouring in a season-high 21 points. It was the 12th time in her college career, which began at New Orleans, that she has scored 20 or more.
Francois did most of her damage on pick-and-rolls with Cornfield handling and dishing the ball. Francois had nine made field goals, and Cornfield assisted on eight of them.
Arizona guard Noelani Cornfield (4) scoops her way to an and-1 past BYU forward Heather Hamson (21) in their Big 12 game, Jan. 6, 2026, at McKale Center.
It took a little bit of time for Francois to adjust to the way Cornfield feeds the post.
“I'm used to picking-and-rolling and putting my hand up to get the ball up here,” Francois said, holding her hand above her head. “But with Lani, it's a lot of bounce passes, so making sure your hands are ready — because she'll find you.”
Cornfield had eight turnovers, her second-highest total of the season. But, for the most part, BYU struggled to stop the pick-and-roll actions she initiated.
“Typically, we're pretty good at ball-screen-coverage defense,” Cougars coach Lee Cummard said. “Without seeing the film, I thought it was OK. There were lapses in it. And Cornfield is a really smart ball-screen point guard, playmaker out of it. She’s shifty. We had some lapses on the weak side where she got a couple pocket passes and laid it in.”
Outside the boxout
Rebounding continues to be a challenge for the undersized Wildcats.
BYU outrebounded Arizona 41-28. The Wildcats ranked last in the Big 12 in rebounding margin (minus-2.1) entering Wednesday’s games.
Arizona forward Nora Francois (13) takes a hit on a drive into the paint from BYU forward Bolanle Yussuf (3) during their Big 12 game, Jan. 6, 2026, at McKale Center.
Late in the second quarter Tuesday, the Cougars’ Delaney Gibb missed a pair of free throws. That triggered the free Eegee’s giveaway for the crowd at McKale Center. But as the announcement was being made — “Free Eegee’s!” — BYU’s Bolanle Yussuf snatched Gibb’s second miss and put it back in for a layup.
“We're boxing out well,” Burke said. “It's the pursuit to go get it after we box out.”
Burke noted that Arizona forced 27 BYU turnovers — which meant 27 fewer opportunities to get rebounds. Still, guard Tanyuel Welch had half of the team’s boards — a career-high 14 — and no other Wildcat had more than four.
“Don't get me wrong: We're not a great rebounding team, ever,” Burke said. “I'd rather (have) live steals than rebounds. ... But we have to be better at going and pursuing the ball.”
Rim shots
– The five UA starters each played 35 or more minutes vs. BYU. No reserve played more than four minutes. “I told everybody at practice, ‘I'm going with who's going to do what I'm asking them to do at a really high level,’” Burke said. “So if it's five or six the rest of the way, we'll call plenty of timeouts; we'll get plenty of treatment; and we'll see what these guys got. But the five or six that played the heavy minutes (Tuesday) were the ones that were getting it done. So if it's not broke, I'm not going to fix it.”
– UCF lost 68-45 at ASU on Wednesday night. The Knights are 0-4 in the Big 12, with every loss by at least 15 points. UCF was 138th in the NCAA NET rankings entering Wednesday, third lowest among Big 12 programs. The second-lowest-ranked team, Cincinnati (159), upset Iowa State (23) on Wednesday night.
– Burke didn’t have much intel on the Knights immediately after Tuesday’s game. “I don't have to know anything about them to know that we need to bring our best on Saturday,” she said. “We need to play high-level basketball. We need to build off this momentum. We need to be extremely locked in.”
