Arizona women’s basketball closed out the non-conference season with a strong team performance, a little something extra special from Jada Williams and a breakout performance from newcomer Sahnya Jah, to defeat Weber State 87-66 Monday night at McKale Center.
Arizona Wildcats guard Jada Williams (2) celebrates another three-point shot she made against Weber State in the first half at McKale Center on Dec. 16, 2024.
Arizona improves to 9-4 while Weber State drops to 3-6.
Williams’ performance ranged from collecting a career high 24 points – besting her previous high of 23 points in the win over Stanford last February for which she was named the Pac-12’s freshman of the week – to dishing seven assists and grabbing four steals.
But it was much more than that. Williams brought the energy, getting after her opponents on defense and was aggressive taking her shot. With Williams’ nagging tendonitis in her right Achilles, her shot hadn’t been falling as well as she would have liked.
“I put in a lot of extra work,” Williams said. “I know in the off season I worked my butt off. There's going to be games where I don’t shoot well and that's OK, that's basketball, it happens. But I don't think I ever let points affect how I play defense, or how I cheer on my teammates, stuff like that. I know the work is going to show, is going to prove itself. (It’s) really just trying to stay healthy, keep my body right, and I think this week, I did a good job of that and I felt great. So just coming out, I was able to do everything that I normally do.”
On this night, she took off scoring on mid-range jumpers, 3-pointers and driving to the hoop. She scored early – knocking down eight points in the first quarter – and late, accounting for the last five points – two free throws and a 3-pointer.
From the moment Jah stepped on the court, she started making positive things happen. She was driving to the hoop, passing, hitting from long range, getting put backs and pulling down rebounds, finishing with her first double-double (22 points, 10 rebounds) as a Wildcat.
Arizona forward Sahnya Jah (11) is defended by Weber State forwards Taylor Smith (20) and Rose Bubakar (24) in the first half on Dec. 16, 2024.
In 10 minutes of play in the first half, she scored 10 points (4 of 8, a pair of 3s) and pulled down six rebounds.
Jah said that some of this performance was about her confidence and not getting in her head, as well as “my teammates encouraging me to stay confident.”
Two other Wildcats finished in double figures Paulina Paris with 12 points (5 for 8) and freshman Mailien Rolf chipped in 11 (5 for 5), which was also a career high.
Arizona was only behind for 37 seconds at the beginning of the game and took a 45-33 lead into halftime.
Isis Beh started in place of Skylar Jones, who was out resting as she has planter’s fasciitis. She was on the bench, cheering on her teammates with her right foot in a boot.
Before the game started, Paris twisted her ankle during stretches as a ball was behind her and someone yelled “Ball, but I didn’t think it was near me,” Paris said.
“Then I came down on it,” she continued. “At that point, there's nothing I could do about it. (It) twisted, but yeah, I'll be good. I was thinking it was like adrenaline. I wasn't able to warm up because I was getting it taped. But once a game starts and the ball goes up, the pain goes away.”
The game itself was plenty physical. Williams walked into the media room after the game with a scratch down her face. She also was called for a technical foul in the fourth quarter on an odd play with 3:22 left.
After a scramble for the ball on a rebound, Williams ended up being pulled down to the ground. She got up and was upset. She was called for a technical for “taunting,” however Williams said, “I didn’t say any cuss words. I just said, ‘don’t grab my foot; that’s dangerous.’”
Erin Tack was also called for a common foul on the play. Weber State made three of four free throws to close the gap to 14 points, 78-64. Plus, Weber State got the ball. However, Arizona forced a travel and Rolf scored on a mid-range jumper and went on to score the last seven points of the game.
She said it
“The first thing I had liked and I complimented and talked to the team about was in shoot around their energy and their focus for the game, which is very hard this time of year. If you talk to any coach in the country, this is that time of year where it's the mental block for players this age. You have finals, it's almost Christmas but it's not Christmas. It's been a long season. You're getting ready to really start your real season. I think it's hard mentally for players, especially freshmen, it's that wall. They had great energy at shoot around. They were focused for the game and ready to play. That's a growth thing for us, because in the past, we'd have been, like, kind of lax and we would have been thinking about our finals, right?” – Arizona coach Adia Barnes
Stuffing the stat sheet
Montaya Dew: 3 steals
Paris: 4 steals, 3 assists
Rolf: 3 steals
By the numbers
23: Weber State had 23 turnovers and Arizona scored 22 points off these.
9: Arizona had only nine turnovers – their lowest this season.
40: Arizona’s bench scored 40 points.
