Back from the Big 12’s holiday break, the Arizona women’s basketball team is about to take on its second new challenge in as many games.
The Wildcats’ last game before the break, on Dec. 22, was their first conference contest of the 2025-26 season. They lost a nailbiter to Utah, 63-62, nearly pulling off a miraculous comeback after trailing by 10 points with 5:45 to play.
Now the Cats are set to hit the road for the first time this season. After playing its first 12 games at McKale Center, Arizona (9-3, 0-1) will visit Colorado (9-4, 0-1) on Wednesday night.
The outcome of that game will determine whether Becky Burke and her squad enjoy a happy New Year.
Although frustrated with the outcome against Utah, Burke wasn’t necessarily unhappy with the way the Wildcats played — especially after they got down. (Arizona trailed by as many as 18 points during a disastrous second quarter).
Arizona head coach Becky Burke disagrees with a referee’s call in the second half during a game at McKale Center on Dec. 10, 2025. Arizona defeated Eastern Kentucky 87-83.
That was one of the topics Burke discussed during a phone interview with the Star on Monday. Other subjects included preparing to play on the road, the team Christmas party she hosted and the trend of professional basketball players joining college programs. The conversation has been lightly edited.
Even though you lost in the end, can you use the comeback against Utah as an example of how you start to build a culture here?
A: “You appreciate the people that see those things. It's the second layer behind it, right? We know we may have a little bit of a lack of size or talent or whatever this year. But ... it's about laying the foundation about who we are. You can choose to fold, you can choose to give up or you could choose to be scrappy and fight, roll your sleeves up and do what we've been doing all season.
“If you take out that second quarter where we score four points ... it's just consistency. We can't have a quarter like that. But when we do, we have a choice to make. And I think we've made the right choice the whole year so far, which is to fight through adversity, be scrappy, continue to battle. And that says a lot.
Arizona head coach Becky Burke, right, talks to forward Nora Francois (13) in the second half of a game against Utah at McKale Center on Dec. 22, 2025. The Utes won 63-62.
“What type of program is this? What are the characteristics that these players embody? Despite the skill level or the size, that's what we're going to be about moving forward. And when that talent and that size and that athleticism does match our competition, (that’s) gonna be when the success really comes.”
What’s been the message to the players about going on the road for the first time?
A: “The message is the fact that you gotta bring your own juice. ‘BYOJ’ — that's what we've been telling them. You're not gonna be playing in atmospheres like McKale. ... Places are not gonna bring the energy and the juice, whether it's for you or against you, like we (have) at McKale.
“So, having to bring our own juice from the bench, from the locker room, from the two rows that are behind us. That's where we're gonna have to get our energy from, our motivation from. It’s gotta come from within. If we need to have people cheering for us to win basketball games on the road, then we're not a mature team right now.
“The good news is, there are some freshmen, there are some young ones, but there's a lot of players on our team that have played a lot of road basketball games. ... So they're ready. They've experienced it. It's not like we're going into the complete unknown.”
Tucson has an elevation of about 2,400 feet. But Boulder is a different deal (5,430). Is that something that you are preparing for or concerned about?
A: “This isn’t a team that does well when you put things in their mind like that, just from a maturity standpoint. I'm sure it'll be plastered all over the walls in the arena. But that's not something we're going to address or bring up. After the fact, they may have noticed a difference. We don't dwell on stuff like that.”
You tightened the rotation against Utah, playing five players 30-plus minutes. Do you imagine it being like that moving forward?
A: “Just from a size standpoint in the Big 12, I think it's going to be a little bit tighter as far as the rotations go. We're gonna have to play big a little bit more. You saw (forwards) Daniah (Trammell) and Nora (Francois) out there for the majority of that game together. I think that's what you're going to see a ton moving forward, especially in league play. It's going to be really hard, I think, to have (point guards) Samayah (Sugapong) and Lani (Cornfield) on the floor together a lot in Big 12 play. From a skill standpoint, it would be fine. But from a size standpoint, it's really gonna hurt you.”
Utah forward Reese Ross (20), Arizona forward Daniah Trammell (33) and Utah guard Maty Wilke (23) scramble for a rebound in the first half at McKale Center on Dec. 22, 2025.
You hosted a team Christmas party the weekend before the Utah game. What was that like?
A: “We played a bunch of games outside and had some food for them, opened up some gear, some presents. So it was amazing. Super competitive, as you can imagine, with the Christmas games. I'm sure my neighbors were wondering what was going on over here. But it was really, really fun. It's something that I just love to do with teams — just take it easy, get outside the basketball court, have some fun together while enjoying Christmas.”
What was your favorite game at the party?
A: “Oh, man, we did so many. We did a Christmas skit where there were two teams. You had like five minutes to prepare, and you had to do a Christmas skit in front of the panel of judges. My team won. We used Banks (Burke’s son) as Baby Jesus. It was so funny. It was hilarious. Just the girls being silly and getting creative was fun to see.”
Colorado has several players who are 6 feet or taller. What is your scouting report on the Buffaloes?
A: “Lot of size, lot of athleticism. Not a great perimeter-shooting team, but definitely that size/athleticism piece is going to be something that we're gonna have to handle — make sure we build a wall, keep them out of transition, keep them off the (offensive) boards.
“We're not winning the size/athleticism piece ever. There's not one game we will win that (this season). So we gotta make sure that we do the things that are required from our standpoint. Control what we can control.
“Every game is such a different game plan. That's my favorite piece of it, prepping our team and giving us a chance in every single game because of how we game-plan. We're not a team that just rolls the balls out and plays and hopes we win. There's extensive game-planning and strategic things that we're doing, especially with this group, that we're going to have to do. We executed our game plan to perfection against Utah. You just have a quarter where you score four points.
Colorado forward Anaëlle Dutat (15) plays against Louisville on Nov. 12, 2025, in Louisville, Ky.
“It's going to be a really big contrast. I was telling them you're going from (one of) the best 3-point shooting team in our conference to (one of) the worst. So flipping your brain from guarding Utah the certain way that we did to now guarding Colorado a certain way. (It’s) a quick turnaround (to) be able to buy into and execute a new game plan every couple days.”
The Baylor men’s team just added a player, James Nnaji, who was drafted by the NBA. The Kansas State women’s team has a player, Nastja Claessens, who was picked in the WNBA Draft. Is this a big topic of conversation in women’s college basketball?
A: “One hundred percent. We're talking about using it to our advantage. There are professional players that will be eligible to play college basketball and we're not going to be behind the eight ball when that does happen. So we are all ears and we are exploring all opportunities. I wouldn't be surprised if you see it happen at Arizona at some point, men or women. I'm obviously not speaking for Tommy (Lloyd), but I'm open to all options.”
Why do you think there’s been pushback about pro players joining college teams?
A: “I think people are up in arms because they didn't think about it first. But they'll be the same ones that are joining the party.”
Rim shots
– Burke said the team is flying charter for most of its road games. The Wildcats will return to Tucson before visiting Texas Tech on Saturday.
– Arizona ranked second in the Big 12 and 13th nationally in average home attendance (5,592) entering Monday’s games. Colorado (2,045) was 12th and 82nd, respectively. Texas Tech (4,936) was third and 20th.
– The Wildcats tied their season high with six blocked shots vs. Utah. Forward Blessing Adebanjo had three blocks in five minutes. She’s averaging a team-best 5.2 blocks per 40 minutes.
