Arizona Women’s Basketball loses to No. 20 West Virginia 87-68 as turnovers prove costly

Arizona Women’s Basketball looked to carry momentum from its 72-62 win over Kansas State to the Mountain State on Saturday and string together its first win streak since non-conference play. Mark Kellogg and the Mountaineers had other players though, using active hands on defense and lethal three-point shooting to put a damper on the start of the Wildcats’ two-game road trip. Check out our observations and takeaways as Arizona Women’s Basketball fell 87-68 to No. 20 West Virginia.

1) Turnovers spoiled an otherwise solid game from the Wildcats

Outside of one key statistical category, by the numbers, the Wildcats played one of their most complete games of the season. Arizona shot at a higher clip from the field than West Virginia (51.7% vs. 50.0%) and had a slight 36-to-33 edge on the glass, something that has proven to be a challenge for the undersized UA in Big 12 play.

Tanyuel Welch finished with 17 points, shooting an efficient 8-of-12 from the field, including 1-of-1 from beyond the arc. Daniah Trammell also had her best game in conference play, knocking down 6-of-12 shots for 15 points. Defensively, Adde Adebanjo had another outstanding night, hauling in six boards while rejecting four shots for the Wildcat.

Here’s where the problem comes in. Arizona turned the ball over a season-high 29 times, leading to 38 points on the other end for West Virginia. Sumayah Sugapong, who scored in double figures in her last eight games coming into contest, was held to just two points, finishing with a career-high 10 turnovers.

Since the Wildcats don’t have the fire power on offense, or the size or strength on defense, to play from behind, when they do put together a nice game like they did today, it makes the self-inflicted wounds that much more frustrating.

2) A sizzling hot start fizzles once again

In both the loss to Oklahoma State and the win versus Kansas State, Arizona got out to sizzling hot starts. In the win versus the visiting Wildcats, Arizona jumped out to a 27-11 lead, while the loss to the Cowgirls saw the UA’s early lead burn bright and fast. Against the Mountaineers, the Wildcats had the later of the two starts, with its hot start fizzling quick.

Arizona got on the board first with a jumper from Adebanjo, before jumping out to an 11-to-5 lead midway through the first quarter. At that point of the game, the Wildcats had shot 5-of-7 from the field, while holding WVU to just 2-of-5 FG with two turnovers.

From that point on, West Virginia outscored Arizona 18-to-6, as the Wildcats finished the first quarter trailing 23-to-17.

Like the turnover issues, the challenge for Becky Burke and her group is that they have proved they are capable of making winning plays, getting stops on defense, and translating them into offense. Whether or not that can be done with any level of consistency remains to be seen.

3) West Virginia shooting threes with ease

While turnovers ultimately cost Arizona this game, its inability to defend the three certainly didn’t do it any favors. West Virginia connected on 10-of-23 (43.5%) of its shots from beyond the arc, while the UA connected on an underwhelming 2-of-6 (33.3%) from deep.

It wasn’t just the volume of threes that WVU took and connected on, it was when they hit them too. After falling behind 11-to-5 in the first quarter, the Mountaineers drilled four 3-pointers as part of their 18-to-6 run to end the quarter and take a lead into the second frame. WVU then opened up the second quarter with back-to-back triples, before connecting on three more shots from distance to help it take a 24-point lead into the locker room.

None of Arizona’s usual standouts on defense, from Lani Cornfield to Welch, had any answers, as the Wildcats were unable to stop West Virginia’s lead from ballooning in the first half.

One encouraging note for Arizona as it looks ahead to Tuesday? Cincinnati does not shoot the 3-ball very well, connecting at a 31.3% clip, while averaging 5.1 3-point field goals per game.