Arizona Women’s Basketball splits exhibitions with 59-43 win over Cal State LA

TUCSON – After a wake-up call loss against West Texas A&M in the first exhibition of the season, the Arizona Women’s Basketball showed plenty of growth and improvement on Thursday night with a 59-43 exhibition win over the Cal State LA Golden Eagles.

That Winning Feeling

Becky Burke opted for a different starting five than the previous game, with true freshmen Mireia Jurado, Molly Ladwig, and Daniah Trammell getting the start alongside veteran guards Noelani Cornfield and Sumayah Sugapong.

Arizona fell behind early, trailing Cal State LA 7-2, before an offensive eruption that ended the quarter on an 11-0 run. With a 21-9 lead, the Wildcats didn’t have the same urgency on offense in the second quarter, but leaned on solid defensive play from MJ Jurado and Lani Cornfield to take a 34-23 lead into the locker room. With both teams heading to the locker rooms for halftime, Cal State LA’s Nevaeh Asiasi was issued a technical foul, giving Cornfield and Arizona two free throws and a 36-23 lead to start the second half.

The Wildcats’ offensive struggles, coupled with foul trouble for Cornfield, saw the lead shrink to just seven points at the end of the third quarter. Cornfield picked up three fouls in the third frame, including a technical foul, while the Golden Eagles connected on 5-of-13 (38.5%) field goals. The momentum swung when Sumayah Sugapong received a flagrant one foul. While rolling over the ball after a hard fall, Supapong’s foot made incidental contact with a Cal State LA players’ face, warranting the escalation.

With Arizona’s most productive player, Lani Cornfield, in foul trouble, the fourth quarter was the Mickayla Perude show. Perdue exploded for eight points, shooting 4-of-6 from the field in the final quarter, as the Wildcats ended the game on a 10-0 run to secure the exhibition victory.

Cats by the Stats

Overall, Arizona shot 21-of-51 (41.2%) from the field, including 4-of-16 from beyond the arc, while assisting on 12 of the 21 made baskets. The Wildcats also won the rebounding battle 45-31, holding the Golden Eagles to seven offensive boards, after giving up 16 in the previous exhibition. Arizona also edge out Cal State LA in the turnover battle, forcing 18, including four steals from Cornfield, while committing 17.

Three players finished in double figures, including Cornfield (13), Perdue (11), and Nora Francois (10), who shot an efficient 5-of-6 from the floor, while also securing nine rebounds in a near-double-double performance.

Head coach Becky Burke called Francois’ 10-point, nine-rebound performance something of a “coming out party” after the game.

“I challenged Nora this morning. I’ve challenged her for last week in practice. We’ve had great conversations, but at the end of the day, we needed somebody to step up. I thought she came in and I thought she did her job at a high level.”

True freshman Mireia Jurado also flashed her range early, finishing with eight points on 3-of-7 from the field, including two made threes in the first quarter.

Arizona won the battle down low and in transition, out-scoring Cal State LA 32-14 in the paint and 12-5 in fast break opportunities.

Up Next

Following the 59-43 exhibition win over Cal State LA, the real test now begins for Arizona. The Becky Burke era officially begins on Thursday, November 6, at 6:00 PM MST when Arizona hosts UC Riverside in the season opener.