Arizona women’s basketball tipped off its season with a southern sweep, winning two games on the road against Georgia Southern 88-46 and Georgia State 79-66. Sophomore Candice Warthen controlled Sunday’s win against the Georgia State Panthers, scoring a total of 36 points for the Wildcats.

“Candice Warthen was hot, shooting the ball really well,” head coach Niya Butts said to the media.

“She also bailed us out when Davellyn Whyte got into foul trouble in the first half,” Butts added. “Davellyn only played six minutes in the first half. Candice stepped up and we know she was capable of a performance like that.

“We just hope it continues. This was a great team win overall.”
Despite her foul trouble, Whyte scored 19 points.

Sophomore forward Erica Barnes had her second double-double of the season after getting her first on Friday with 10 rebounds and 11 points. Sunday, she had 12 points and 11 boards.

Butts was also happy with the team’s play in the victory against Georgia Southern.

“Everyone who got into the game played well and did some good things,” she told reporters after Friday’s win. “I wasn’t happy with our turnovers, but we shot the ball extremely well.”

The Wildcats committed 19 turnovers, but they also forced 24 turnovers on GSU, scoring a total of 31 points with them.

Arizona shot 53.4 percent from the field, 62.5 percent from beyond the arc.

Whyte led the team in shooting with 17 points in 17 minutes.

Senior guard Shanita Arnold suited up after some prior coaching disagreements and followed Whyte with 16 points in 27 minutes.

Both Arnold and Warthen contributed five assists each.

Barnes also made five of the team’s 16 steals.