Arizona started last night’s game against New Mexico State on a 16-2 run and the Wildcats didn’t look back from there, leading for the entirety of an 84-67 victory.
Sophomore guard Candice Warthen scored seven of the 16 points on the game-opening run and finished with 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting, tying junior guard Davellyn Whyte for the game-high. Whyte also contributed five assists and five rebounds in the win.
The Aggies trailed 22-6 with 11 minutes left in the first half, but managed to make it a one-point game when Kelsie Rozendaal made a layup to close the score to 33-32 with 1:04 to go.
Whyte followed that basket with a jumper and Warthen hit a layup of her own, and the Wildcats (4-0) went in to the half leading 37-32. That was the closest the game would be, as Arizona opened the second half just as successfully as the first with a 9-0 run.
The Wildcats shot 48 percent from the field and 33 percent from 3-point range. Following last week’s win over Wichita State, head coach Niya Butts cited rebounding as one of the team’s bigger concerns after being outrebounded by the Shockers.
The same thing didn’t happen against New Mexico State as Arizona outrebounded the Aggies, 37 to 35, led by forward Erica Barnes who grabbed nine boards — five of which were offensive.
After struggling through the majority of her first three games, especially on the boards, 6-foot-5 freshman center Aley Rohde had the best game of her young career with 12 points and seven rebounds.
The Wildcats are off until Monday, Nov. 28 when they play North Texas.
“We just have to continue to take care of the basketball and if we continue to do that we will be successful,” Butts said in a post-game interview.