The UA women’s basketball team was ready.
From their opening huddle they felt like Friday’s matchup against Colorado was theirs — that they would pick up their elusive first win of the Pac-12 season.
And they did.
JaLea Bennett scored 23 points as the Wildcats (5-13, 1-6 Pac-12) defeated the Buffaloes (11-7, 2-5) 72-63 at McKale Center.
Bennet hit all three of her first-quarter shot attempts to help give the Wildcats a 15-14 lead — one they would hold for the rest of the game.
“I never for a second thought we would lose,” Bennett said. “We lost a couple of wars (five minute increments), but we won the most important one. I was feeling it early, which is always good.”
Bennett finished 11 of 15 from the field, but missed three of her final four shots. Her scoring barrage came one game after she got into foul trouble against Oregon State.
“JaLea was 7 for 7 in the first half,” said UA coach Adia Barnes. “She had a monstrous game. We haven’t seen this JaLea in a few games. In order for us to win, we need JaLea.”
The Wildcats extended their lead to 25-17 in the second quarter after a 10-3 run. As the Buffs cut the lead to four, Kat Wright hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead back to eight. It seemed like every time Colorado got close, Wright would hit from beyond the arc.
“Anytime a shooter sees a zone, your eyes light up,” said Wright, who was 5 of 9 on 3-pointers for 16 points. “I saw they were trying to trap the corner a lot so coach Barnes said get it to the corner and get it out quickly. Then find that open person because there’s going to be someone open. My teammates did a really good job at finding me out of the trap.”
Wright has scored in double figures in three consecutive games. She was a presence on the defensive end of the court, as well, pulling down a big rebound with a minute left.
“She hasn’t played 100 percent, but she’s been battling; she’s a fighter,” Barnes said. “Kat made big plays. She plays with heart whether she scores or not. When she’s playing good and feeling good, it’s big.”
The Wildcats held Colorado to 31.6 percent shooting for the game, while they shot 49.1 percent. However, the Buffs beat Arizona on the offensive boards 23-5. Colorado took 76 shots, yet made only 24 of them. It was getting second chances, but even most of those weren’t going in.
“They did get a lot of offensive rebounds, but we can’t stop playing and making it easy for them,” Bennett said. “We have to be more physical down there.”
Destiny Graham scored 13 points, hitting 9 of 10 at the free-throw line. Seven of her made free throws came in the final minute of the game.
Barnes was happy to win her first game in the Pac-12 this season, but as a competitor, she wants to win all the time.
“I am happy, but it’s hard when you are a competitor and you are used to winning,” Barnes said. “I’m happy we fought. We are undersized, yet we found a way. We can’t get too high or too low. We will celebrate tonight, but tomorrow’s different. Utah is way bigger than Colorado and we have to box out against their post players. They are a good team.”
Rim shots
- The UA drew 1,426 fans for its first-ever Unity Game.
- The Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality (RISE) and the Detroit Pistons started a “Sideline Racism Challenge” on Friday. Pistons player Stanley Johnson, a former UA standout, appeared on a video at McKale Center where he twice ran from one sideline to the other. Johnson then challenged Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green and the UA men’s and women’s basketball teams to run the sidelines, videotape it and post to social media within 72 hours using the hashtag #SidelineRacismChallenge.
