Arizona women’s basketball wins commandingly in second exhibition game

Nathanial Stenchever

October 30, 2024

Skylar Jones a guard on the Arizona women’s basketball team drives to the hoop on on Tuesday night Oct. 29 in McKale Center. Arizona won its second exhibition game of the season 82-53.

The University of Arizona women’s basketball team defeated California State University, Los Angeles 82-53 on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. in McKale Center. The Wildcats complete exhibition play remaining undefeated heading into the regular season.

Recap

Arizona started the game winning the tip-off and immediately going on a 6-point scoring run, taking the early lead 6-0.

However, the Wildcats trailed behind after California State answered with an 11-0 scoring run of its own. Being down so suddenly head coach Adia Barnes called a time out to get her team a minute to reset.

Coming out of the timeout, the Wildcats scored their first points in five minutes. As the first quarter came to close Arizona was able to tie the game with California State at 19 apiece.

The Wildcats were the first to score in the second quarter as Skylar Jones hit a 3-pointer to reclaim the 22-19 lead. The Wildcats held their lead into the half now up 47-33, the team’s largest margin yet of 14.

At the end of two quarters Arizona was leading in almost every category including steals where they had 11 compared to California State’s two. Arizona shot 57.6 percent from the field in the first half, making 19-33 field goals and going 1-5 from the 3-point line.

Jones led the team into half with most points with 13, shooting 6-7 from the field and one 3-pointer. Paulina Paris and Sahnya Jah followed close behind Jones with 8 points apiece after the first half.

Arizona started the second half as strong as it did the first half. Continuing to extend their lead to 20, California State couldn’t find a way to stop the Wildcat’s offense.

Arizona’s defense in the second half also performed outstandingly, only allowing 8 points in the third quarter and 12 points in the fourth. The Wildcats’ defense ended the game with 20 steals, one block and 14 turnovers.

“I think it’s confidence [on defense]. I think when one person gets a steal the other person is like ‘ok let’s go let’s go’ so it’s a rally,” said sophomore point guard Jada Williams. “The fans help a ton whether you believe it or not so I think having trust in each other knowing our teammates have our back we can pressure more.”

Jones ended on top for the Wildcats, leading with 16 points for the night in 20 minutes on the court. Williams, who had a big fourth quarter, where she scored 8 points, followed close behind Jones with 15 points of her own.

The Wildcats shot as a team, hitting 32-59 field goals and 3-11 from beyond the arc. Arizona’s bench also played a huge role in the team’s success, adding on 38 points to the night. Arizona turned the ball over on offense only six times in the game and gave up five steals.

Though Arizona secured the win, Barnes said after the game there is still much to improve on as the season progresses.

“We’re getting better. We’re not where we need to be at all but much better than last game,” said Barnes. “We are kind of starting off slow and I don’t know if that is because we are waiting around or why. […] Good film, you know.”

Notably Williams had to come out of the game briefly in the first quarter after catching an elbow in the head and biting her tongue. Williams came back into the game in the second quarter and played out the rest of the game as normal.