Arizona showed it’s a much different team than the one that lost to Utah at McKale Center at the end of December.
The Wildcats took the host Utes to the wire before losing 67-58 Friday night at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.
Arizona is now 14-9, 5-5 in the Big 12, while Utah moves to 16-5, 7-3.
Arizona guard Jada Williams (2) extends her body in the air to get the ball in the net against Iowa State guard Reagan Wilson (22) at McKale Center, Jan. 11, 2025.
The Wildcats’ pressure and timely scoring was what got them back into the game after going down by 18 points early in the third quarter.
Jada Williams scored a career-high 25 points, with 17 coming in the second half. It was Isis Beh, playing in front of her hometown crowd, who spearheaded the pressure on the defense, forcing a number of turnovers in the backcourt.
Skylar Jones scored seven of her 11 points in the fourth quarter, going 3 of 4 in that frame.
It was back and forth as the Wildcats took the lead in the fourth quarter, then the Utes climbed back. With a little more than three minutes left, Utah went ahead and never relinquished the lead in ending the game on a 16-4 run.
Arizona forward Isis Beh (33) gains possession of the ball on the floor against Iowa State center Audi Crooks (55) at McKale Center, Jan. 11, 2025.
Arizona coach Adia Barnes said it was just fatigue in the end that didn’t let the Wildcats finish with the win.
After the Utes went up 42-24 at the beginning of the third quarter, the turning point came when Barnes called a timeout. The Wildcats came out with intensity on both ends of the court. They finished the quarter on a 13-4 run, holding the Utes to no field goals in more than six minutes.
“I don’t think I said anything specific (in that timeout),” Barnes said. “We just talked about our press and what we want to do and how we want to make some adjustments in the press and put a lineup that could press. And I think the press gave them some problems, and it gave us a little bit of momentum, and then we were able to score in a bunch there.”
Williams knocked down a 3, then scored on a layup out of that timeout. The Wildcats closed the gap to 46-39 heading into the fourth quarter.
“I like to win, so whatever I got to do for my team to win is what I do,” Williams said. “I’m a hustle player. I love the game of basketball, so every time I step on the floor, I’m gonna give it 110% whether that be assist, steals, whatever the case may be. Tonight, it was scoring. We were in a scoring drought. So that’s just what I did to try to get my teammates to win.”
In the first half, it was Beh who was aggressive on the offensive side. At the half, she led the Wildcats with 11 points (4 of 6) and one 3, with six points coming in the first quarter. She was especially needed as Breya Cunningham had two fouls in the first quarter and only saw six minutes of action in the first half.
It was a close, back-and-forth battle for a while, until the Utes went on run in the last 4-plus minutes to extend their lead to 10 at the half, 34-24.
Without Cunningham down low, the Wildcats couldn’t get into any rhythm on the offensive end, settling for not-so-great shots and missing them. Then, not getting back fast enough in transition, leading to easy baskets on the other end.
Arizona forced 22 turnovers and scored 20 points off them.
She said it
“I think those little runs, like in the first, first half, the 8-0 and then the 9-0, those runs hurt you. And (with) 18 point deficits, having to come back and have a 22-point swing, it’s really, really hard, and I think we just ran out of gas in the end and that led to fouls and silly turnovers.” — Barnes
Stuffing the stat sheet
Williams: 3 assists, 7 rebounds, 5 steals
Mailien Rolf: 2 assists, 2 steals
Beh: 3 steals, 3 assists
Jones: 3 assists
The other side
Gianna Kneepkens scored 28 points (8 of 15) and was 9 of 9 from the free-throw line for Utah. Maty Wilke chipped in 14 points, and Jenna Johnson had 10.
By the numbers
9: Utah outrebounded Arizona by nine, 38-29.
12: Arizona had 12 assists on 23 made baskets.
34: The Wildcats scored 34 points in the paint.
