4th quarter rally too much as Arizona women’s basketball falls to Colorado 78-70

After an emotional overtime loss at home to ASU on Saturday, Arizona had every reason to lay down the next time it took the floor at the McKale Center at ALKEME Arena. Instead, the Wildcats showed plenty of grit and fight, but came up short against their former Pac-12 foe. Despite a career-high from senior Noelani Cornfield, and a season-high in turnovers by Colorado, Arizona didn’t have enough in the tank to close it out, falling 78-70 at home against the Buffaloes.

The first quarter belonged to Sumayah Sugapong. The junior from San Diego connected on 4-of-5 shots from the field, including 3-of-4 from distance, to lead all scorers with 11 points through the first ten minutes. But despite the early offense from Sugapong, Arizona still trailed Colorado 23-to-19 after the first quarter, largely in part due to the Buffaloes’ efficient 9-of-15 shooting.

The Wildcats made things interesting in the second quarter though, with Sugapong and Cornfield trading roles as lead scorer. Sugapong was scoreless and picked up her second and third fouls, while Cornfield scored eight points. Arizona was out-rebounded 8-to-3 in the second quarter, but forced nine CU turnovers, outscoring the Buffaloes 16-to-13 and cutting the visitors’ lead to one at halftime.

The third quarter brought more of the same for the UA. Cornfield scored 11 points in the third, including a rare 3-pointer from the point guard, one of three by the Wildcats in the third quarter. Arizona also offset its disadvantage in the paint, where it was out-rebounded 13-to-3, by forcing seven more Buffalo turnovers. But Arizona hurt itself as much as it helped itself in the third, committing seven fouls, including a technical foul by Sugapong, her fifth, ending the hot hand’s night with 3:27 to play in the third. Cornfield capped off the third quarter with a buzzer-beater triple from the logo, giving her team a one-point lead heading into the final frame.

In the fourth quarter, the Buffaloes channeled some winter weather from Boulder, as the Wildcats went cold over the final six minutes of the game. After leading by seven with 6:34 to play, Colorado ended the game on an 18-to-3 run, outscoring Arizona 23-to-13 in the final quarter to steal a win on the road.

Following a career-high 24 points in the overtime loss against ASU, Cornfield one-upped herself, finishing with a career-high 25 points on the night. In her truncated 22 minutes, Sugapong finished with 14 points, connecting on 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. And after getting the start in place of Cornfield or Kam Kitchen, freshman Molly Ladwig impressed as well for Becky Burke’s group, scoring nine points, all of which came in the second half, on 4-of-7 shooting. On the night, the Wildcats shot an efficient 7-of-14 (50%) from the perimeter.

Colorado finished the night +20 in rebounding margin and outscored Arizona 50-to-26 in points in the paint and 20-to-1 in second chance points. Despite the lack of size, the UA used quick and active hands to force a season-high 25 CU turnovers, leading to 31 points for the Wildcats.

Up next, Arizona has a tall task ahead of it, as it look to snap its four-game losing streak on Saturday when it visits No. 15 Baylor in Waco at 6 PM MST.