Two more conference losses for Arizona women’s basketball have the team in the midst of the worst 10-game conference skid of Arizona head coach Niya Butt’s six-year tenure.
The more recent of the two Arizona (4-17, 0-10 Pac-12 Conference) defeats was to the Oregon State Beavers (13-9, 5-5) by a score of 64-50 on Sunday.
“Honestly, I’m disappointed,” Butts said. “We obviously have to play better.”
Arizona did not have a lead for the entire game and was down by 20 points for the majority of the second half.
“The frustrating thing is not being able to get over the hump,” freshman forward Breanna Workman said. “I feel like we try to push, and we don’t get over the hump. The game just gets away from us.”
The Beavers were led by a balanced inside-out attack throughout the game and had three players score in double-digits. OSU guard Sydney Wiese led the way with 13 points and was 3-6 from 3-point land.
The Wildcats struggled to put points on the scoreboard and had only two players score above eight points for the game. Senior guard Kama Griffitts and Workman paced the team by combining for 22 points, six rebounds and 3 assists.
It really was a tale of two halves, as Arizona was outscored 35-24 in the first half but fought back to keep a close 29-26 margin in the second half.
“We just need to put it all together,” Griffitts said. “We need to have a great first half and a great second half.”
The first of the two Arizona defeats came on Friday at the hands of the Oregon Ducks (12-8, 3-6). Oregon dictated the tempo for the game en route to a wire-to-wire 84-72 win.
The Wildcats played tough in the second half but couldn’t keep the Ducks off of the offensive glass. Oregon forward Jillian Alleyne led the way by shooting 11-11 from the field and contributing 29 points and 20 rebounds, 10 of which were offensive rebounds.
As a team, Oregon finished with 19 offensive rebounds and scored 23 second-chance points.
“I think for the most part, we did okay,” Butts said. “With the exception of not rebounding the basketball, they had 19 offensive rebounds. I am not happy with that at all. I think we continue to do things that hurt us, and [it’s] not so much what the other team is doing to us, it’s what we are doing to ourselves.”
Luckily for Arizona, senior forward Erica Barnes stepped up and had one of her best performances of the season. Barnes put up 20 points and 11 rebounds to keep the Wildcats close with the Ducks.
Looking forward, Arizona travels to Tempe to face the ASU Sun Devils on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. MST. The game can be watched on the Pac-12 Networks.
Follow Roberto Payne @HouseOfPayne555