The University of Arizona women’s basketball team (11-7, 2-3 in Big 12) lost to Iowa State University (12-6, 3-2 in Big 12) 79-58 on Saturday, Jan. 11 in McKale Center. The Wildcats’ losing streak extends to two games after falling on Jan. 8 to Baylor in overtime 81-76. 

Jada Williams led Arizona dropping 17 points, shooting 42.8 percent from the floor with four assists and four boards. The sophomore guard had 10 points through the first two quarters on 4-7 shooting with all 10 coming in the second quarter.

Arizona started the game slow, shooting just 15.4 percent in the opening quarter and getting outscored by the Cyclones 15-6. In the second quarter, however, the Wildcats shot 53.3 percent as a team, with Big 12 Freshman of the Week Lauryn Swann shooting 3-5 and dropping 9 points in the period after drilling a half-court buzzer beater to cut the deficit to 34-28 going into halftime. 

“She [Swann] has a chance to be a really good player,” head coach Adia Barnes said.

In the second half, Iowa State did not look back as the Cyclones shot 61.5% as a team to Arizona’s 42.9 percent outscoring the Wildcats 45-30. The Iowa State defense contained Breya Cunningham to just 37.5 percent shooting finishing with 7 points and eight rebounds before fouling out of the game. 

The Cyclones also held senior Isis Beh to 7 points on 3-10 shooting, leaving the Arizona offense one-dimensional when playing through Williams. 

“When Breya [Cunningham] is having a tough time, we need other people to step up,” Barnes said.

Arizona went toe-to-toe with Iowa State in points in the paint getting outscored 30-26, yet the Cyclones’ bench dominated the game outsourcing the Wildcats’ second unit 30-16.

Looking Ahead

Arizona will go on the road to take on No. 12 Kansas State University on Thursday, Jan. 16 in the Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kan. at 5:30 p.m. The matchup on Jan. 16 will be a first for both programs, having not faced each other in their program’s histories.