Arizona women’s basketball shows fight in 74-60 loss at No. 15 Baylor

While the results have not materialized in the win column for first-year head coach Becky Burke this season, she is proud of the fight her team has shown as of late, taking in-state rival ASU to overtime, before playing a physically-dominant Colorado team down to the wire. On Saturday, Arizona women’s basketball (11-16, 2-14) fell 74-60 at No. 15 Baylor (23-6, 12-4), but Burke says she was pleased overall with her team’s performance in the Lone Star State.

“Going in the locker room with not a ton of complaints and a game that we feel like, honestly, we put ourselves in a position to win fairly late into it. So just proud of our group, would be really, really easy for them to be quitting in games and stop playing as hard as they are. This group battles, they fight, they play their butts off, and I’m proud of them as their head coach.”

Freshman Daniah Trammell and senior Noelani Cornfield led the Wildcats in scoring with 11 apiece. Trammell connected on 5-6 from the free throw line and also recorded one of two blocks for the UA. Cornfield hit 4-10 from the field, adding three rebounds, three assists, and three steals on the day. Freshman Molly Ladwig, who made just her fifth start on the season, but second in as many games, finished with 10 points, six rebounds, three assists, and zero turnovers in a team-high 33 minutes for the Wildcats.

“Molly is the epitome of what we are going to be about at Arizona in our women’s basketball program. She is mature. Molly is an elite teammate [and] is extremely coachable. She does everything you ask her to do the way that you ask her to do it with no questions asked [and] takes care of business on and off the court. She’s somebody that – I’m gonna play her the rest of the way out, because that’s somebody I’m gonna build around.”

Arizona struggled offensively, connecting on 32.4% of its attempts from the field, including just 2-15 (13.3%) from 3-point range. But the Wildcats kept it close, largely in part to their defense, which forced 13 turnovers, leading to 13 points on the other end.

While it was senior day in Waco, sophomore Taliah Scott lit it up on the scoreboard for the Bears, scoring a game-high 22 points. She went 11-11 from the free throw line, part of a 13-15 day at the stripe overall for Baylor. Marcayla Johnson added 12 more points off the bench, while Darianna Littlepage-Buggs tacked on 10 more points.

Arizona jumped out to a blistering start, outscoring Baylor 22-15 in the first quarter. Neither team shot it particularly well, but the Wildcats were aggressive around the rim, drawing five fouls which led to a perfect 9-9 start from the free throw line. Ladwig knocked down her lone triple, one of just two on the night for the UA, giving Arizona a 15-10 lead. From there, the Wildcats used a 7-0 run largely spurred by Tanyuel Welch and Adde Adebanjo at the line to dominate the first 10 minutes.

Offense cooled off significantly in the second and third quarter for the Wildcats. After a 22-point explosion in the first, the UA was held to just 21 points in the second and third combined, shooting just 8-32 (25.0%) during the 20-minute stretch. The Bears used two 7-0 runs in the second to take a 38-30 lead into the locker room, before jumping out to a 58-43 lead after three.

But the Wildcats never stopped clawing, outscoring Baylor 17-16 in the final quarter. Ladwig got things going in the fourth, as Arizona opened the last 10 minutes with a 6-0 run to cut the lead to single digits. The game was back and forth from there, as Arizona cut lead to single digits four more time after trading baskets with the hometown team. After knocking down a jumper to cut the lead to single digits, Cornfield picked up a technical foul for making a firearm-like gesture and sat for the remainder of the contest.

“Yeah, I’m done with the immaturity. It’s not just Lani. There’s a couple people on our team that have done that multiple times this year. Like, you made a shot, so what,” said Burke after pulling Cornfield the final 4:53 of the game.

“It’s so immature, it’s so selfish, in my opinion. This is nothing against Lani. It’s like, doing that and that act in a nine-point game with four and a half minutes left at Baylor, is immaturity, selfishness, and I’m just not gonna tolerate it from this point forward.”

“So it wouldn’t mattered who it was, it’s not just Lani, but that’s a very me, me, me, type of gesture after you make a shot and your team’s down. And that’s not how I roll.”

The Wildcats looked like they might have one last push following a 3-pointer by Sumayah Sugapong, but were outscored 7-2 in the final 1:58 of the game.

Arizona returns home to face Houston (7-20, 1-15) on Senior Night as it looks to secure a victory in its final home game of the season.