The Arizona Wildcats played a much different game against the Utah Utes this time than they did earlier in the month. The end result was still a loss as the Utes withstood a Wildcat comeback to win 67-58 in Salt Lake City.
“Most of the teams we are facing are better and more experienced than us,” Arizona head coach Adia Barnes said. “But we fight and we don’t give up, and we showed some heart today.”
One of those showing heart was sophomore point guard Jada Williams. She went off for a career high 25 points to go with seven rebounds, three assists, and five steals. She hit 9 of 20 shots from the field and 5 of 6 free throws, although she only hit 2 of 8 outside shots. The biggest shortcoming was her three turnovers.
“I was getting great looks,” Williams said. “My bigs were setting great screens off the ball. They were going under, so hitting pull-ups off the re-screen was really important for us. And just staying aggressive. I think sometimes I live and die by the 3, and so just getting to the basket was big for me tonight. Just trying to get in there, draw fouls, things like that.”
Isis Beh, who was likely playing her final college game in her home state of Utah, carried Arizona early. She scored 11 points in the first half. She added two rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
“She had probably 85 people,” Barnes said. “I think she used all the tickets on the ticket list. But she’s been playing really well for us. And what I’m proud of, I’m really proud of Isis because she’s been a leader for us this year. She is a player that’s had an amazing journey. She’s been to a lot of different schools…and she was always that role player. So for all the young girls that say, you can’t do it or it’s not possible, she is a testament. Someone who fought, who found a way, found an edge, and finally had someone that believes in her, and then she’s capable of doing some special things. It’s the best basketball she’s ever played, and I’m really proud of the work she’s put in to be at this level. So I’m glad she was able to do that in front of all her family.”
Skylar Jones came off the bench and scored 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting. She added one rebound, three assists, and one steal.
Arizona improved upon many of the shortcomings it had in Tucson. It didn’t fall into a big hole from the get-go. It reduced the rebounding deficit from 18 to eight and won the offensive rebounding battle 8-7. It got to the free throw line 10 times after only getting four free throws in Tucson. It got three players into double figures instead of just two.
Some problems persisted, though. The Wildcats still lost the rebounding battle, even if it was not by as much. They lost Breya Cunningham for a good chunk of the first half after she again picked up two fouls in the first quarter. They were still on the end of a significant free throw disparity, seeing Utah go to the line 13 more times than they did.
“I thought our press gave them problems,” Barnes said. “I thought we didn’t get a lot of calls in the second half. That’s not the reason for the game at all, but some calls didn’t go our way, and then from fatigue, because we play a short bench, we had some turnovers. In a stretch, we had three in a row, and those really hurt us. But it’s those small things that are the difference in winning and losing. It’s those single possessions.”
As for those free throws, they were especially important in the fourth quarter. Arizona had quieted the Utes on offense. Utah’s only points over the final seven minutes of the third quarter were two free throws by Gianna Kneepkens and a layup by Jenna Johnson over the final 90 seconds. Arizona held them to 36.4 percent shooting in the third.
“I don’t think we’ve ever held Utah to 37 percent in a quarter,” Barnes said. “They’re usually like 40, 50. They’re so efficient offensively.”
The Utes’ drought continued into the fourth quarter. What was an 18-point Utah lead at 7:18 in the third quarter was a one-point Arizona lead at 7:20 in the fourth. A made 3 by Jones put Arizona up four about 30 seconds later. Utah still had just four points going back almost 10 minutes of game time.
Then came the free throw parade.
Utah’s first points of the fourth quarter were two Johnson free throws with 6:14 to go in the game. Thirty seconds later, she hit another one. Thirty seconds after that, Kneepkens hit two.
The Utes’ first field goal of the quarter came with just under four minutes left in the game. It cut Arizona’s lead to one. The Utes ended the quarter with 21 points, 11 of which came from the line. All 21 were scored over the final 6:14.
In Tucson, Arizona didn’t score for nearly four minutes to open the game and had just nine points after the first quarter. The Wildcats didn’t wait to get started this time. Instead of facing a 16-9 deficit after the first 10 minutes, it was a 13-13 game.
The Wildcats took their first lead over the Utes this season about a minute into the second quarter when Jones drove to give Arizona the 15-13 lead. The Utes pushed back in front but couldn’t shake Arizona.
Then came the final five minutes of the first half.
With 4:38 to go in the half, Williams hit a jumper to cut Utah’s lead to one point. Arizona didn’t score again until the 1:36 mark when Beh got two free throws. Utah went into the half with a 34-24 lead.
It only got worse to open the second half. Williams hit a 3 with 6:22 to go in the third quarter to finally get Arizona on the board again. It cut the Utah lead to 15.
The game of runs swung dramatically back in Arizona’s favor. The Wildcats hit 37.5 percent of their shots in the third quarter despite starting cold as ice. They followed it up by hitting 47 percent of their shots in the fourth.
It just wasn’t enough.
“Those little runs, like in the first half the 8-0 and then the 9-2, those runs hurt you,” Barnes said. “Because an 18-point deficit, have to come back and have a 22-point swing. It’s really, really hard. And I think we just ran out of gas in the end, and that led to fouls and silly turnovers.”