The Wildcats were hoping to ring in the New Year with some fireworks. Instead, Becky Burke and her squad will head into 2026 riding a two-game losing streak, after Arizona Women’s Basketball (9-4, 0-2) fell to Colorado (10-4, 1-1) 75-56 in Boulder in its first road-game of the season.
The Wildcats once again struggled to get anything going on offense or defense in the first quarter. Arizona was outscored 17-5, and was held scoreless from the 6:34 mark until the 0:18 mark in the first quarter. After the game, Burke pointed to the UA’s inability to get out of the gate quick as a cause of the second-straight loss.
“Obviously our start really hurt us. It’s been an Achilles heel for us, whether it’s been a quarter that we’ve had a lull, or a start to a game, or our ability to finish it, to put together a full 40 minutes. You know, we lose the last three quarters by seven. So I think it was fairly even through those last three quarters, but that first quarter, obviously, coming out, not being prepared to compete at the highest level that we needed to.”
The Wildcats turned things up in the second quarter, but were unable to dig themselves out of the first quarter hole. Tanyuel Welch scored seven of the UA’s 13 second quarter points, ending the first half on a personal 5-0 run, with Arizona trailing 32-18 at the half.
In the third quarter, things got a little more interesting, as Mickayla Perdue once again found her stroke from beyond the arc. The Wildcats used an 11-1 run midway through the third quarter to cut Colorado’s lead to eight points, but foul trouble killed any momentum Arizona had built coming out of the locker room. Colorado went 2-2 from the free throw line in the first quarter, 4-4 in the second, 4-6 in the third, and 9-13 in the fourth. By comparison, Arizona attempted 10 less free throws, going 10-15 from the charity stripe.
“Yeah, it’s discipline. We’re swinging for the fences, home run hitters. When people are going up for shots, that’s not discipline, that’s bailing them out, putting them on a free throw line. That’s not what we practice, that’s not what we preach, that’s not what we teach. So it’s discipline.”
Three players finished in double figures, with Mickayla Perdue scoring a game-high 22 points. Perdue has now scored in double figures in four of the Wildcats’ last five games. She shot an efficient 7-15 from the field, including 5-11 from 3-point range. Perdue also hauled in three rebounds for the UA.
Noelani Cornfield added another 13 points, shooting 5-13 from the field, while Tanyuel Welch finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, two assists, and a steal in a team-high 38 minutes.
Freshman big Daniah Trammell, who’s been the Wildcats’ most dominant post player this season, struggled in her first road game, fouling out with zero points in 18 minutes. After the game, Becky Burke said Trammell has to better.
“She’s good, she’s fine, and again, not gonna give us excuses. First road game we get a pass, like no, D went 0-3. She was a minus 23, she wasn’t ready to roll, she wasn’t aggressive. We can’t just give ourselves passes all the time for accountability that needs to be had. She wasn’t tough enough tonight, she wasn’t focused, her motor wasn’t very high. I would say all those things to her, and I probably will right after this.”
As a whole, Arizona shot 20-54 (37.0%) from the field, while Colorado connected on 26-58 (44.8%) of its shots. The rebounding battled favored the Buffaloes, which out-rebounded the Wildcats 41-30. Arizona finished with 10 assists, while Colorado assisted on 20 field goals.
Ultimately, Colorado’s size was too much for Arizona. The Buffaloes finished with 34 points in the paint compared to the Wildcats’ 22, and blocked four shots compared to Arizona’s one.
Up next, the Wildcats head to Lubbock for a show down with No. 15 Texas Tech on Saturday, January 3, at 5:00 PM MST.