The Arizona women’s basketball team lost to No. 22 Oregon State 88-48 in Corvallis on Sunday to finish off what has been their toughest stretch of the season. In the past ten days, the Wildcats have played four top-25 teams: Stanford, Cal, Oregon and now Oregon State, but came up short in all four contests. Despite a close two-point loss versus No. 23 Cal at home, the ‘Cats have been on the road and losing steam against tough Pac-12 opponents.
In the 40-point blowout loss against Oregon State, key players for the Wildcats failed to have a good performance. Senior leaders Destiny Graham and JaLea Bennett scored four and six points respectively, and didn’t see the court for more than 20 minutes. Bennett, the team’s usual leading scorer with 15.6 points per game hasn’t played as effectively in the last week, and has barely averaged over ten points in the last four contests. Marlee Kyles, who also is one of Arizona’s more explosives scorers, is still getting back on her feet after sitting out four games two weeks ago. She played 36 minutes against the Beavers, yet only scored one point for the ‘Cats.
Other Wildcats, like Lucia Alonso and Sammy Fatkin, saw more time on the court and didn’t capitalize on scoring opportunities either, which led to a huge point deficit later on in the game.
Oregon State had scoring consistency across the board from top players. Led by 6’0 point guard Kat Tudor, who had eighteen points, the Beavers dominated the perimeter and the glass, and almost had four players with double-doubles. Oregon State, with three 6’0 plus guards, and more post players, outsized Arizona in the front and back courts, and suffocated the Wildcats on defense.
Kat Wright, with a couple of threes, and Sam Thomas held their own for the Wildcats in the first half, and the game sat tied at 15-15. However, in the second half the Beavers upped their scoring tempo and also shut down Wildcat shooters at the three-point line. They sat with an 11-point lead at the half, and didn’t look back for the rest of the game.
Even if the scoring margin was wide, one player for the Wildcats still didn’t lose momentum, and that was Sam Thomas. Thomas has been the most consistent scorer and rebounder for the Wildcats all season. The athletic freshman averages 13.8 points, and seven rebounds a game, which makes her one of the most valuable assets for the Wildcats right now. She had her second double-double against Oregon State all season and finished the day in Corvallis leading the team with 10 points and seven rebounds.
“She’s a special kind of player,” UA head coach Adia Barnes said in a press conference after the game against. Long Beach State. “She is, and will be very important for this team in the future.”
Barnes and the rest of the Wildcats look to take on Colorado at home this Friday. Tip-off is at 6:00 p.m. in the McKale Center.
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