Arizona women’s basketball went through a tough stretch — possibly the toughest of the Big 12 season — over the last two weeks.
It started with two games at home at McKale Center against Baylor and Iowa State. Then, the Wildcats hit the road for two in Kansas against now-No. 10 Kansas State and Kansas. They came out the other end with only one win — in the final game to end a three-game losing streak.
Arizona Wildcats forward Breya Cunningham (25) makes a move towards the basket as she’s defended by Seattle Redhawks guard Candy Edokpaigbe (23) in the first half at McKale Center on Dec. 2, 2024.
There were bright spots in each game, including stellar defense from Breya Cunningham and Isis Beh against some of the best post players in the country in Baylor’s Netty Vonleh, Iowa State’s Audi Crooks and K-State’s Ayoka Lee. There were also moments when the ball was moving on offense, but it wasn’t until the Kansas game on Sunday when all the parts came together.
During the stretch, Arizona never gave up. The Wildcats took Baylor to overtime. Against Iowa State the offensive spurt came in the second quarter, with a halftime buzzer-beating 3 from beyond halfcourt from Lauryn Swann.
The Star sat down with Arizona coach Adia Barnes ahead of Wednesday’s game against Cincinnati at McKale Center and learned about what worked at Kansas, how the Wildcats got there and what she’s seeing in Swann.
After the loss to K-State, you talked about getting everyone to raise their level of play at the same time. This happened on Sunday against Kansas. What did you do in those few days to get this outcome?
A: “We just looked at film to show them how we’re going to share the ball, how we don’t have to stall the ball at the end of shot clocks and what we can do to not do that. Just how to move the ball, what to do in certain situations and just the importance of the flow of it. I thought that we did some really good things in the Kansas State game. They are a better team; they have more depth. They were a hard matchup for us, and they’re smart and they’re really good defensively.
“I think we grew because of those (offensive) runs. I think the Baylor game, making that big run, being down 18, being down 19 in Kansas State, those are the victories within the loss. They help you. I thought we did a good job putting that together after three losses, which is really hard for a young team. We could have canned it; we could have laid down like ‘Whatever, we’re going to lose this.’ But we came in focused and just were able to put it together. I’m happy about that.”
What specifically did you show them on film?
Arizona head coach Adia Barnes has a last-second chat with guard Skylar Jones before the start of the third quarter against CSU Bakersfield in Tucson, Dec. 10, 2024.
A: “You have to show players that 11-0 start (against K-State). There was no offense. The ball stayed on one side. Against good teams, you can’t start the game like that. Make them play defense for 25 seconds, make the ball move. You’ll get a better shot, at least if you miss a better shot after movement, it’s not so fast, and it limits possessions. I think (it was) understanding what that looks like because I think players think they ran offense, but then you show them, ‘OK, the first six possessions, we didn’t run offense. Two fast shots, and that leads to a fast break, because a bad shot is like a turnover.’ I think just showing that, and they’re going, ‘Aha,’ they have these aha moments. And they’ve done a better job of applying that. We also talked about how we’re not doing the little things like running the floor and kicking the ball up. And then understanding for young players, they’re always on the same side, just little things that you show and talk about and try to emphasize when you have a couple days.”
The Kansas win could be a pivotal moment in your season as it stopped the losing skid. It was a long road trip; what was the vibe going into that game?
A: “I don’t think we played awful. I think against a team that’s not as good we probably win that game. I think that you’re not satisfied with losing at all, but you’re happy at some of the good things you did. If you take out that 11-0 run, it’s a different game. Or if you have a couple better possessions during this little run, it’s different. … I was very transparent and blunt ‘We need to win this Kansas game.’ We lost to (K-State) a better team. They were like No. 2 defense in the country and we did some good things. We’re capable of doing better and we just have to put it together. … To me, the Kansas game was huge psychologically for our team, because now it’s a lot easier to get the Cincinnati and the West Virginia. I think if you lose that game, you could potentially lose six in a row. I think that’s a tough situation. Getting back on track, getting out of that losing streak, and then we’ve got to win this game on Wednesday. I think just understanding where we need to be, what’s realistic, and then you go steal another one but we need to try to win to be in good standing and try to make the NCAA Tournament. It’s not pressure. We need to turn things around, it’s up to us. These are great things we’ve done in the last three games, now it’s putting them together.”
Swann came off the bench against Kansas and scored 17 points. She is also averaging 12 points in Big 12 play. What are you seeing in her play?
A: “She’s big on confidence, and when she’s feeling mentally good, she’s ready. She had a really awesome practice the day before, and I knew she was going to play good. I believe in her. I think I’ve been putting her in some good situations to score, trying to run stuff to her early, where she gets some confidence. I think she can be really special. When she gets it all together, she’s able to get a little bit more mentally strong, like all freshmen need to. I think she can really help us because she can score, and she’s a natural scorer, and she can get to her mid-range game. She’s the only guard we have, besides Jada (Williams), that can actually get into her mid-range game and create a shot. She’s even good at the end of shot clocks. I think once we utilize that more, I think her confidence will grow. She’s got to get better defensively and she is. I like that she’s a great kid, she wants to learn and she wants to be good. All those things are a formula for success.”
