The University of Arizona women’s basketball team (6-1) had 24 turnovers, as the team suffered its first loss of the season in McKale Center on Wednesday, Dec. 3, to the Southern University Jaguars, 63-57.
This is the first loss suffered by the Wildcats under new head coach Becky Burke.
Mickayla Perdue led the Wildcats in scoring, as she ended the night with 17 points on 7-for-16 shooting.
The graduate guard, Perdue, ended the first half with 8 points on 3-for-8 shooting, but was the boost for Arizona, including hitting their first field goal of the game late in the first quarter. She had 9 points in the second half, finishing 4-for-8 from the field.
Junior guard Sumayah Sugapong led second, ending the night with 10 points on 2-for-4 from the field and 5-from-8 from the free throw line.
Overall, Arizona’s backcourt set the tone, with Perdue’s steady scoring and timely buckets keeping the Wildcats within striking distance all night. Sugapong’s efficiency and ability to draw fouls added another reliable offensive option. Together, their performances highlighted the poise and depth of Arizona’s guard play, giving the Wildcats a strong foundation to build on moving forward.
“I think it’s just basketball IQ. If somebody hits one, they hit two; you probably don’t need a big gap. You need to stay there, and we’ve got to contain the ball, so we don’t need the big gaps. We talk about that every day in practice, and we don’t bring it to the floor. Until we do that, we’re going to get the same outcome that we did today.” Perdue said.
For Southern University, the scoring was led by sophomore forward DeMya Porter, as she had 16 points on 8-for-13 shooting to go along with four rebounds. Fifth year, Nora Francois mentioned post-game the difficulties of guarding her throughout the night.
“I feel like we didn’t beat her above the freezer line. We weren’t jamming her. We were just allowing her to impose her will on us. She had good patience. She was very patient with her shot. With her takes.” Francois said.
Jaguars sophomore guard, Jocelyn Tate ended up with 9 points on 3-for-6 shooting with five assists and two rebounds. She made a lot of contributions to help her team win
Arizona ended the first quarter down by 5. The Wildcats ended the quarter shooting 30% on 3-for-10 from the field. However, they did end the quarter shooting 4-for-6 from the free-throw line. On the Southern side of the ball, both Porter and senior guard Demonnie Lagway led the Jaguars with 4 points apiece, as the team overall ended the quarter shooting 43%. Overall, the first quarter was pretty close, giving us a good indication of how this game was going to go.
The second quarter, for a while, felt like it was all Jaguars. Arizona didn’t score until 6 minutes into the game, getting a layup from Francois as the first shot of the period.
The shot sparked a 9-0 Arizona scoring run, which gave fans hope for the second half as the score was 27-20. Arizona ultimately ended the first half with 14 turnovers.
Arizona continued that run as they started the third quarter off on an 8-0 scoring run before Southern finally found the net. The quarter was neck-and-neck the rest of the way as Arizona outscored Southern 22-20.
“I think we punched them in the face in the second half and made some runs and pressed them a little bit there at the end and made some more runs.” Burke said
In the final quarter, it felt like every time Arizona tried to come back, Southern found a way to respond. Arizona had cut the lead with 1:51 left in the fourth, but missed two 3-pointers and had two turnovers that ultimately sealed this game for the Jaguars. Burke spoke about the overall performance and how it will help the team moving forward.
“Carry over from practice and what we work on in practice and coming into the game and doing it. Leadership on the floor and communication on the floor. We have to be so good at everything that we do,” Burke said. “We can’t turn it over 24 times. We need to be great in our actions. We need to be great with our communication. We cannot be losing easy in any area because we are so deficient on paper against some teams. There was a big time slip-and-jump tonight. You can’t afford to do that.”
Arizona’s first loss of the season ultimately came down to turnovers and missed details. Despite a strong second-half push and solid guard play from Perdue and Sugapong, the Wildcats couldn’t overcome 24 giveaways or the defensive breakdowns Southern capitalized on. For Burke’s team, the loss is a clear lesson: tightening execution, communication and discipline will be essential moving forward.
Looking ahead
Arizona looks to bounce back as the team plays the University of New Mexico Sunday, Dec. 7, at 2 p.m. in McKale Center. The game will also be available on ESPN+.
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