Arizona Wildcats (4-0) vs. Chicago State Cougars (0-4) | Jones Convocation Center | Noon Saturday | NEC Front Row | 1400-AM
He said it
UA assistant coach Anthony Turner on Chicago State: “We know that they're a team that wants to get out and score in transition. Our ability to really run our offense, run it well and take good shots that are in the flow, so that everybody knows when the shot's going up, we know who is supposed to rebound, who is supposed to get back to floor balance (is important). That has been a big emphasis — shoring up and cleaning up our offense. Defensively, we want to get out and run on them. We think that that's an area that we can really have some success in. Playing great, solid defense and either turning them over or getting them to take contested shots from the perimeter.”
On the sidelines
Bet on Jada: After spending all offseason working on every aspect of her game — especially her shooting — UA's Jada Williams found herself in a bit of a slump in the first few games of the season.
Williams went 2 for 15 in the home opener against UT Arlington, 3 for 8 against Tarleton State and 1 for 7 against UC San Diego. She scored 10, 9 and 4 points in these games. That didn’t quite seem like even the Williams from her rookie season when she was hitting baskets at the right times.
Arizona Wildcats guard Jada Williams is defended by UT Arlington Mavericks guard Kendal Robinson in the first half during a game at McKale Center on Nov. 4, 2024.
Some of her shots were rushed, but she also passed up easier looks. She was also forced to put up shots toward the end of a shot clock on a broken play.
Arizona coach Adia Barnes’ faith in Williams never wavered — she liked everything she was seeing from her point guard. She knew the scoring would come; it was just a matter of time. On Monday, one day before the UNLV game, Barnes was all in on Williams.
“Jada is doing a great just running our team,” Barnes said. “I don't put Jada's value on scoring. If she scores, it's really good, but she's a point guard. She's been a little bit cold lately. I don't care about that, because she puts in the work. Those shots will fall, and I bet you they'll fall tomorrow.”
And fall they did. In the second half against UNLV, Williams broke loose finishing with 15 points — tallying three from beyond the arc. She knocked down big shot after big shot to help the Wildcats come away with the 75-66 win.
During the shooting slump, Williams was doing all the other things that make her who she is — that gritty, never give-up, leave-everything-on-the-floor player. She was diving for 50/50 balls, taking charges, running the offense, setting up her teammates, getting steals and whatever else was needed.
“(Jada) is still hard to take off the floor,” Barnes said.
If this is reminiscent of another Wildcat, Barnes said, “An example of that (is) Sam Thomas — very hard to take off the floor because they did so many things, but just help us win. And it's not all about scoring.”
Deep Chicago roots: While Chicago State coach Corry Irvin might be new to the school, she isn’t new to the Chicagoland area. A standout player at Elgin’s Larkin High, she was the school’s all-time leader in rebounds and blocked shots, and second in scoring.
Her coaching career started off at DePaul with legendary coach Doug Bruno. She also had stints as head coach at Chicago’s St. Xavier University and Whitney Young for 18 years — leaving just one year before Wildcats’ own Skylar Jones was a freshman at the high school.
Irvin knows Chicago, which is important when coaching not only for recruiting but for building back the program in the community.
A rough patch: Chicago State won only one game last season. It came in January over DII school Kuyper College. The two prior years, the Cougars won six and four games.
It was time for a big change at the top and that’s where Irvin comes in. While the first four games of the season have been losses, they’ve come at the hands of Iowa State, Butler, Cleveland State and Florida. Chicago State also plays Mississippi State, Oklahoma State and SMU during nonconference.
Turner said that this program is headed in the right direction.
“Chicago State is a young team, developing program,” Turner said. “The coach is a brand new coach this year, and she's trying to put her imprint on things. She's done a really good job in recruiting and bringing in some players, but they're all really young and so similar to us last year. We had a bunch of freshmen starting and playing a lot. They're kind of in that boat this year, and they're learning some lessons as they go along. They've played four games now, and you can tell that they're getting a little bit better every time out.”
Efficient shooter: Montaya Dew took a big step forward in her comeback against UNLV. She played 25 minutes, confidently knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner that extended the Wildcats' down the stretch in the fourth — just one of her long-range shots — and was making a difference on both ends of the court. Dew was consistently in the right spot whether she was setting screens on the offense or disrupting her opponent on the defensive end.
Arizona forward Montaya Dew (12) stops a close range shot from UNLV guard Amarachi Kimpson on Nov. 12, 2024.
Barnes said that Dew won't be a high-volume shooter — although she has the shot.
"She's going to take the good shots; she's not going to force it," Barnes said. "(Against UNLV) she was fighting and pursuing rebounds. She was getting some blocked shots. She does all those little things. She's a good teammate, a great person, and I just love coaching her."
By the numbers
3: Arizona has taken all three matchups against Chicago State. The last time they faced off was in 2019, when the Wildcats won 82-50. Aari McDonald led that one with 24 points (9 of 11 from the field). Helena Pueyo scored 11 points, picked seven steals, grabbed five rebounds and dished three assists. Dominique McBryde had six steals.
4: Breya Cunningham is hitting 62% of her shots (23 for 37) and sits fourth in the Big 12 in field goal percentage. Cunningham is averaging 13.3 points per game — hitting double figures in each of the first four games.
1: Williams is perfect from the free-throw line heading into Saturday’s matchup against Chicago State. She has made all 15 of her free throw attempts and she is tied for first in the Big 12 in free throw percentage with Macey Huard of Oklahoma State, who has made eight.
Arizona guard Jada Williams and the crowd celebrate her long-range 3 that forged some space late against UNLV on Nov. 12, 2024.
