Coming off its first Big 12 win on Tuesday, Arizona Women’s Basketball looked to build momentum into the month of January and move to .500 in conference play. Instead, an injury to the Wildcats’ leading scorer and a tough day shooting had other plans, as Arizona fell 58-55 against UCF.
Prior to tip-off, Arizona Athletics reporter Mackenzie Hamilton reported on ESPN+ that Mickayla Perdue suffered a wrist injury and is out indefinitely for the Wildcats. Perdue, the team’s leading scorer, is averaging 17.1 points per game and shooting 35.0% from beyond the arc this season. And today, Arizona’s shooting was reflective of Perdue’s absence.
The Wildcats connected on 22-of-64 (34.4%) from the field, and went just 1-of-17 (5.9%) from the perimeter. The Knights steered cleared of the deep ball, shooting just three 3-pointers, but connected on 22-of-45 (48.9%) of their shots. Arizona also struggled on the glass, securing 30 rebounds versus 39 for UCF.
But even though they were shorthanded, Becky Burke’s crew played well on defense, turning 23 turnovers into 21 points, while only giving the ball away 12 times. It’s the second game in a row Arizona’s defense has forced 20 or more turnovers, after forcing 27 against BYU.
Nora Francois followed up her season-best performance against BYU her first double-double of the season, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds on 5-of-8 from the field. Sumayah Sugapong also scored 10 points, shooting 3-of-7 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. Lani Cornfield was active on both ends, leading the team with seven assists and seven steals.
Arizona led for much of the first quarter, but UCF used a 7-0 run to end the first period and take a 15-12 lead into the second quarter. From there on out, offense was pretty even, with both teams matching point totals in the second, third, and fourth quarter. The second quarter was a low-scoring affair, but did include the game’s lone triple from Mireia “MJ” Jurado, as Arizona trailed 25-22 at the half.
The Wildcats took a brief one-point lead with 1:36 to play in the third quarter on a Tanyuel Welch bucket, but gave up two layups in the final 63 seconds of the third as UCF preserved its three-point margin.
And while the Wildcats could not retake the lead in the fourth quarter, true freshman Molly Ladwig did give the UA some quality minutes. She scored 8 points in nine minutes, keeping the game within one- to two-possessions down the stretch.
Up next, Arizona faces a tough test at No. 13 TCU on Saturday, January 17.