The Arizona women’s basketball team defeated Ole Miss 72-70 behind senior forward Ify Ibekwe’s 24 points and 17 rebounds, marking the first time the Wildcats have started 3-0 since the 2001-02 season.

“”Ify Ibekwe was really a star for us tonight,”” Arizona head coach Niya Butts said. “”We started off slow, but we really got it together in the second half.””

Ibekwe shot 9-of-17 from the field in 39 minutes, which was a team high for the Wildcats.

Arizona went into the half with a three-point lead, but Ole Miss (2-1) opened the second half with a 9-0 run, and held the lead until the 4:20 mark of the second half. Sophomore guard Davellyn Whyte hit a 3 to tie the game at 64, and the Wildcats never looked back.

Whyte’s 3-pointer, her only one of the night, got the ball rolling on a 7-0 Arizona run, which saw the Wildcat lead grow to 68-64.

“”Davellyn Whyte’s 3-pointer late in the second half generated a lot of momentum for us, and we were able to build on that to seal up the win,”” Butts said.

Whyte, who shot 8-of-19 from the field, and senior forward Soana Lucet both had 17 points of their own, and Lucet also grabbed nine rebounds.

Freshman Candice Warthen had seven points to go along with an assist and three rebounds.

Arizona shot only 6-of-22 from 3-point range but shot 51 percent from inside the arc. The Wildcats also only had 15 turnovers, a season low. The teams shot a combined 15 free throws, also a season low for an Arizona game.