Arizona took a tough 69-66 loss to Grand Canyon on Thursday night.
The Wildcats have lost to two of their three in-state opponents — NAU and GCU — and have gone 2-4 in the last two weeks after a 5-0 start to the season.
During the rough patch, one of the most consistent and steady Wildcats has been Breya Cunningham. She has been a dominant force inside, averaging 13.7 points and 7.9 rebounds.
When the Wildcats need a spark offensively, they look to get the ball inside to Cunningham.
The 6-4 forward scored a career-high 20 points against GCU. She is ranked seventh in the nation in field goal percentage – making shots at a clip of 65%.
“She’s been a force,” Arizona coach Adia Barnes said. “She’s been super consistent. She continues to score at a high rate, efficiently.”
Those shots didn’t just magically appear. It’s been hours of effort in the gym for Cunningham to get to this point.
She spends extra time in practice with UA assistant Salvo Coppa, working on what has become her signature turnaround move inside the paint and it shows in games. She works on the little details, from her footwork to getting her shot up perfectly every time.
On the other end of the court, she is standing up tall to defend and taking better angles for blocks. Cunningham currently is tied for 16th in the nation with 20 blocks this season — three of them came against GCU. She’s had numerous games with multiple blocks — six against Grambling State, two against Chicago State, three against UC San Diego and Tarleton State and two against UT Arlington.
One thing in her game that is a work in progress is free throws. She went 0 for 5 against GCU and has a 58% free-throw rate.
“Breya has not shot free throws well all year,” Barnes said. “… They are really flat this year, I think, compared to last year. Some of it, honestly is we’re going into … so much offense that I think she’s a little more gassed at the free-throw line. Not a bad thing, but she’s in a lot more action. Just think about it, she’s doubling her shots from last year, and she’s playing a lot more minutes. It’s not an excuse because that’s a free shot.
“That’s been a focal point at practice because I am aware of that. I’ve been having her shoot, she shot 100 the other day. … Breya is going to go to the line more because she’s attracting a lot of defense and she’s playing so well inside.”
Not at full strength
It’s hard to remember a game that Arizona has been at full strength. Brooklyn Rhodes hasn’t been available for numerous games as she has been in and out of concussion protocol. Cunningham was out against Cal with a family emergency. Jada Williams was out with a concussion against NAU.
Lauryn Swann was out resting her shoulder against Seattle. Isis Beh has been in concussion protocol this week and missed both the Seattle and GCU games. Sahnya Jah was unavailable for the GCU game. Barnes said that both should be back for CSU Bakersfield on Tuesday night.
Barnes said missing Beh and Jah against GCU really hurt the Wildcats. Arizona had a hard time containing the speedy 5-10 Trinity San Antonio and not having these two, who play the four or small forward position, put them at a disadvantage.
“We didn’t have any four subs,” Barnes said. “… this is the game we really needed the fours. They played small, like a 5-11 four and a shooting four. Sometimes, we had to play two fives. It’s hard for us to guard a versatile post player. … We should still be able to get the ball to get the job done but we couldn’t then guard because then when we’re really big and they’re all playing outside and versatile. It’s a hard matchup for us because then we were getting back fours offensive rebounds and getting driven on.”
That was evident when Cunningham, typically a five, said she was playing out of position all night. It was hard for her to collect rebounds and it’s why Arizona gave up 11 second-chance points.
“The big was out on the corner more so I was a little farther away from rebounds, and that’s something I struggled with is like out of position rebounds,” Cunningham said. “If I’m not right there, it’s hard for me to go get it.”
The not-so-good
In the first half against GCU, the offense was working much better than it has been in previous games. The Wildcats were moving without the ball and passing to find the best percentage shot — just like they’re supposed to do in the system.
In the second half, things shifted. Despite five Wildcats finishing in double figures (Cunningham, Paulina Paris, Williams, Skylar Jones and Swann), they were playing a step or two slow.
Barnes said that GCU ran the same zone as the first half but for some reason the Wildcats were the ones getting disrupted.
“They went on a run, we never reacted and got a stop, or we took bad shots and it led to fast break runs,” Barnes said. “I think when you’re more experienced, let’s say you don’t take those quick shots. You get the ball reversed because you understand, ‘OK, they’re killing us in transition. Let’s use a better offense.’ We didn’t get there, the ball stuck, then it’s bad shots that led to fast breaks.
“An unorganized offense is an unorganized defense. That’s what it hurts. It’s not about us scoring or not, but using the shot clock, getting the reversals and getting good quality shots that you’re prepared for after running offense (that) doesn’t lead to bad transition. But getting shots not running the play, we didn’t even run the play. It never got reversed to even get our action.”
The Lopes, who have mainly fifth-years and seniors, used that experience to overtake the Wildcats in the final two minutes.
For the Wildcats, it’s back to learning on film. Seeing is believing.
“We’re going to figure it out,” Barnes said. “… I think the players need to see it and understand that we had some of that stuff in Palm Springs. Those lulls that go four minutes, you lose the game. (We) just have to be able to understand what shifts in that when they are going to trap us and put two people on the ball, reversing the ball. Understanding that and then two passes out of a trap is open shot or a layup. I think just understanding and showing it on film helps us.”
