Last Night
The road woes continued for the Arizona women’s basketball team as it fell to the Southern California Trojans 81-72 in Los Angeles.
Things never really got going for the Wildcats (13-6, 4-4 Pacific 10 Conference), whose efforts were consistently stopped by a superior Trojans (13-6, 5-3) team.
The Wildcats only lead came with 7:45 left in the first half when Soana Lucet laid the ball in for a 16-15 Arizona lead.
USC easily controlled the rest of the game.
Trojan standout Briana Gilbreath dropped 20 points and also managed to haul in nine boards.
For Arizona, guard Davellyn Whyte also scored 20.
Ify Ibekwe continued her double-double averages, chipping in 16 points and bringing in 10 rebounds.
Tomorrow Night
The Wildcat’s finish their tour of Southern California at UCLA’s historic Pauley Pavilion tonight to take on the No. 10 Bruins.
The Bruins come stacked with playmakers on both sides of the ball.
Who to Watch: UCLA
Junior forward Jasmine Dixon, who was named to the Wooden Award Midseason Top 20 list, and with good reason. Her 11.6 points per game and team-leading 6.6 rebounds per game proves how vital she is to the second place Bruins.
Along with Dixon, senior guard Darxia Morris is leading UCLA with 12 points per game and just came off a career high 22 points against Cal on Saturday.
Who to Watch: Arizona
The Wildcats have three players in double-digit point averages, with forwards Ify Ibekwe and Soana Lucet, averaging 13.8 and 11.4 points per game, respectively, and guard Davellyn Whyte leading the team with 14.9 per game.
Ibekwe also leads the team and the conference in rebounds with 9.8 boards per game and 166 on the season.
Coming Up Next
After tomorrow’s contest the Wildcats return home to Tucson to defend McKale Center, where they are undefeated on the season.
Their perfect home record will be tested when Cal and No. 3 Stanford come to Southern Arizona. In their previous meeting, Arizona fell hard to both schools, but will be hoping for the fury of the home crowd to be at its backs.
