TUCSON – After back-to-back close games, Arizona Women’s Basketball finally got its first 20-point win, beating Grambling State 85-64 to remain perfect to start the season. The Wildcats, which dominated on both ends of the floor, had four players in double-figures after another second quarter offensive explosion.
“I just told them in locker room, winning is hard,” said Becky Burke after the 85-64 win over Grambling State. “Winning is hard at any level against any team, and I’m just continuing to see improvement three games in. We’re just getting better and better every game.”
True freshman Daniah Trammell and veteran guard Mickayla Perdue led the Wildcats with 15 points apiece. Trammell shot an efficient 7-of-10 from the field, adding two rebounds and two blocks in 22 minutes. Perdue connected on 5-of-9 field goals, while also shooting 5-of-6 from the free throw line in 28 minutes.
“D [Daniah] is something else. She’s a very, just incredible person, and she’s so fun to coach. Like, D has no idea she’s good at basketball, like, she’s such a gifted athlete,” said Burke of the true freshman.
“Just her physicality and how hard she plays and her motor. I mean, that gets you so far in college basketball, but we’ve been relying on her heavily, somebody that we can throw the ball to in the post and know that they’re going to be able to finish it. She’s undersized, but I think her physicality and athleticism makes up for that. You saw her being able to rip it from the high post today and do some things facing the basket, which I think separates her a little bit from some of our other bigs.”
Point guard Sumayah Sugapong finished with 13 points, shooting 6-of-8 from the free throw line and 1-of-2 from 3-point range, while Tanyuel Welch scored 13 points and recorded eight rebounds, a block, and a steal in her coming out party for the Wildcats. Veteran point guard Lani Cornfield finished with 10 assists, giving her back-to-back games with double-digit assists.
The Wildcats shot 31-of-59 (52.5%) from the field and out-rebounded the Tigers 42 to 34. Arizona leaned into its physical style of playing, taking 30 shots from the free throw line. While Becky Burke’s squad did tun the ball over 18 times, the defense forced 17 turnovers, leading to 21 points on the other end. After starting the game 9-of-15 from the field, Arizona turned it on defensively, limiting Grambling State to just 12-of-45 from the floor through the remainder of the game.
Arizona trailed Grambling State 22-13 after 10 minutes of play. The Wildcats did not score a field goal in the final 5:17 of the first quarter, but erupted in the second quarter, out-scoring the Tigers 25-11 to take a 38-33 lead into the locker room. Burke said after the game that the slow starts are a concern for Arizona.
“There’s eventually going to be a team that doesn’t let you close that gap and come back. And I don’t want to find out, right? And so it is a concern, absolutely, that we have these slow starts. But I do think this is a team that is comfortable when they get comfortable with the other team.”
Burke added, “We’ve got to do that quicker. We’ve got to expect things right from the jump of the game, and not not take 10 minutes to settle in, because there will be a team that doesn’t let you come back and close that gap.”
Arizona opened things up in the second half, using a 14-1 run lead over the final 4:32 of the third quarter to take a 63-47 lead with 10 minutes to play. The Wildcats then used a 15-5 run through the first five minutes of the fourth quarter to take a 26-point lead, their largest of the night.
Up next, Arizona host in-state rival NAU on Friday, November 21, at 6:00 PM MST. Legendary point guard Aari McDonald, who led Arizona to a national championship appearance in 2021, is being honored at the McKale Center during the game.