Your eyes aren’t deceiving you.
Breya Cunningham’s performances this season — especially during Big 12 play — have been quite something.
She’s shut down a number of the best post players in the conference — and the country — in Iowa State’s Audi Crooks and Kansas State’s Ayoka Lee. And that’s just two games. Cunningham has consistently dominated down low this season.
Now, opposing coaches are keeping an eye on Cunningham and trying to figure out ways to slow her down. She’s become that player who gets a lot of the focus in their scouting of Arizona.
Arizona forward Breya Cunningham (25) sweeps aside West Virginia forward Celia Riviere (37) for a basket in the first half of their Big 12 game in Tucson on Jan. 25, 2025.
But one thing is for sure, as she continues to get better in all aspects of the game, it’s getting harder for opponents.
“She’s gotten so much better because now she’s turning into this defensive stopper,” Arizona coach Adia Barnes said. “I think she has more pride in that; she was not like that last year. … I think it’s overall confidence. She’s having so much success on one end, feeling good. She’s worked really hard in the offseason. She’s worked really hard to get stronger, worked on her footwork, and I think she’s seen the fruit of her labor. Then you get more confident. Before she would never be able to play the defense she has against these top offensive players. That’s been fun to see.
“I think she still has the little letdowns when she’s tired, but I can read it more, too. If she’s getting really tired, I need to pull her for a second because that’s when a stupid foul is coming. But she’s in such a better mental space of having confidence in the things she’s doing and not getting down on herself.”
Arizona (14-8, 5-4) will rely on Cunningham when it plays Utah (15-5, 6-3) Friday in Salt Lake City.
Ahead of the season, ESPN HoopGurlz’ Shane Laflin said he thought Barnes would get more out of Cunningham this season.
“Breya could really be a foundational piece, that steady, foundational, night-in, night-out piece,” Laflin said.
Cunningham has done just that.
Measuring up
Just looking at her numbers, Cunningham is ticking off all the categories in and out of the box score. She’s got active hands on both ends of the court, which have allowed her to pick 37 steals this season — up from a total of 31 last year. Twenty of those steals have come in Big 12 play, and half came when playing opposite Baylor’s Netty Vonleh, Crooks and Lee. She also had three steals against then-No. 16 West Virginia.
Arizona forward Breya Cunningham (25) gets hit from behind by Cincinnati forward Jillian Hayes (20) trying to run down an inlet pass in the first quarter of their Big 12 game in Tucson on Jan. 22, 2025.
Of her 39 blocks, 15 have come in Big 12 play. Seven blocks came in that Baylor-Iowa State-Kansas State stretch, with three more coming against West Virginia.
Cunningham has already surpassed her defensive rebound total from last season with 123, up from 98.
She’s also very efficient with her shot and is the top sophomore in the country in field goal percentage at 60.96%, which is 14th in the nation among all players. Cunningham is averaging 12.1 points per game. She scored 18 points (7 of 11) against West Virginia.
Even her fouls have decreased. Last season, Cunningham averaged around four per game and now that’s down to around 3.3.
“I think it’s important to tell people that it’s only in 23 minutes of play right now,” ESPN analyst Anne O’Neill said. “When you’re averaging 12 points and 7½ rebounds in 23 minutes, if she watches those fouls a little bit more, which I know is an emphasis for coach Barnes, it’s going to make a huge impact. To be able to have her on the court, it frees up the guards. It also allows her to get into more of the flow and a rhythm for her game.”
Arizona forward Breya Cunningham (25) contains Iowa State center Audi Crooks (55) before she can get her layup off on Jan. 11, 2025, at McKale Center.
A number of Big 12 coaches were impressed just watching the film on Cunningham ahead of their games against Arizona.
“I wouldn’t use the word surprised, but I’ll say this, anybody that does that with Audi is a really, really good player because Audi is as good as it gets down there,” Kansas State coach Jeff Mittie said. “Anybody that is able to match that and win some of those battles has my attention. Let’s put it that way.”
Crooks was held to just 11 points, her lowest total of the season. She came into the matchup averaging 23.
Lee only scored six points being covered by Cunningham. Lee was averaging 17.2 points coming into that game. She broke her foot against Arizona State a few days later and is out indefinitely.
Cincinnati coach Katrina Merriweather said that her assistant Abby Jump, who prepared the scout for the Arizona game, referred to Cunningham as “somebody who was going to be tough and not give up and not quit.”
Another Bearcats assistant said Cunningham was in the mix for the third-best post player in the league behind Crooks and Lee.
Cunningham has adapted quite well to the style of Big 12 posts. Part of this is that she put in the work in the offseason, improving in all aspects of her game. Plus, she does a little bit of everything well.
“What I’ve loved about Cunningham’s game is how she posts up,” O’Neill said. “I swear her wingspan looks way longer than her actual height (6-4). The way she posts up and has such a big target, and that makes her a very dangerous post because once you can establish that inside game, whether that’s just a touch and then a kick back out or a touch and finish with points in the paint, that’s so big. You have players like Cunningham who can do that but then they can also step out and run that two-man game where you’re going to pick-and-roll. …
“When you have a post player who can get touches, who’s a big target, like Breya, who can pass out of it and see where the offense is flowing to and be an outlet for the action, whether it’s three on two, or someone’s driving down the lane, that’s just a really big deal.”
O’Neill, a former All-American guard at Iowa State, is an analyst for the Big 12 and SEC and in her spare time is coaching the Laces in the new Unrivaled league.
“Whenever I’ve watched her games, I’m like, that’s a post player you want to play with because you can get her the ball and she knows to take either one dribble and up, or she keeps the ball high and is able to finish,” O’Neill said.
