When Arizona Wildcats head coach Adia Barnes was asked if fans would see more minutes for the younger players who did well in the second half of the blowout loss to Utah, her answer was quick and to the point.
“Yeah, you will.”
She held to that by removing sophomore Skylar Jones and junior Paulina Paris from the starting lineup in favor of freshmen Lauryn Swann and Mailien Rolf. While Paris was out for health reasons, the ongoing body language issues where the primary reason for Jones’ starting the game on the bench.
“The main reason is the way we want to play, the mentality we want, body language and attitude and cohesiveness we want, and that’s the standard,” Barnes said. “And I think Sky did a really good job of responding in a positive way. I thought she was so much more coachable today. I thought her body language was so much better. But those are things that affect your team. These are always teaching moments. And I think I always look at the bigger picture. It’s not just about basketball. It’s about life. So it’s our job as coaches to teach these things that are going to help our players for their lives and long term. I’m proud of the way that she responded. I’m proud of the way that the team responded because it’s not easy. And she could have hung her head, not played hard, and she actually played awesome offense and defense. I thought in every way she was great. She was great on the bench. So that’s the expectation I have for her, that she’s capable of doing.”
It paid off in more ways than one. Not only did the Wildcats (11-5, 2-1) get off to a dominant start in a 75-53 win over UCF (7-6, 0-3) in Orlando, Fla., but Jones responded by having one of her biggest games of the season off the bench.
“I thought they did a good job taking care of the ball, played solid defense, and then Sky was great off the bench,” Barnes said. “You know, sometimes when you make a change in lineup, people are really motivated. I thought she did a good job of responding. Paulina wasn’t 100 percent today, so I knew I was playing her limited minutes, but I thought everybody did a really good job. But then the second half was like two different games, and we gave seven offensive rebounds the first half, then gave up seven in the first five minutes of the third quarter.”
The Wildcats started both the first and second quarters on 10-0 runs. They did it by getting the ball inside to Breya Cunningham and turning the Knights over. The Wildcats scored 18 points on 13 UCF turnovers in the first half. They ended the game with 28 points off 23 Knights turnovers.
Cunningham had nine points, two rebounds, and a block in eight minutes in the first half, but she also had two fouls and had to go to the bench. In the past, that has meant the opponent is able to cut into the lead. That has happened even against “lesser” opponents that Arizona should dominate. It didn’t happen this time.
Jones came off the bench and scored 12 points on 3-for-3 shooting in the first half. She ended the game with a team-high 17 points on 5-for-5 shooting, one rebound, three assists, and one steal. She also had four fouls and three turnovers.
It was the second time this year that Jones has come off the bench. The previous was in an exhibition game against Cal State LA.
Jones also started the second half on the bench. Despite not being on the floor to start either half, Jones still ran into foul trouble. She picked up her fourth with just under two minutes to go in the third quarter after just 14 minutes of play.
Cunningham ended the game with 15 points, five rebounds, and four blocks. The Wildcats’ dominant post was able to keep out of foul trouble in the second half. She ended with the same two fouls she had in the first half. She only turned the ball over once.
As a team, Arizona shot over 50 percent from the floor—both from inside and outside the arc—in the first half. They held UCF to 27.6 percent overall and 33.3 percent from 3-point distance over the first 20 minutes.
Things weren’t as strong for the Wildcats in the second half. Arizona scored the first four points of the third quarter then went cold. Fortunately for the visitors, the Knights were still struggling, too. They also had just four points until the 4:56 mark, but UCF rebounded and outscored UA 16-11 in the quarter.
With Rolf taking some of the ballhandling load, Jada Williams had her most efficient game since Dec. 16 against Weber State. Arizona’s sophomore point guard had 15 points on 5-for-13 shooting. She hit three of six 3-point shots. She tied Montaya Dew for the team high with four assists. She added three rebounds and one steal while only turning the ball over once.
Williams had her 500th career point on a free throw in the fourth quarter. She reached the milestone in 48 games.
Rolf did a strong job of helping run the team in her second career start. She corraled a team-high seven rebounds while scoring three points, dishing out three assists, and grabbing three steals.
Swann didn’t have a lot of points in the first start of her career, but her all-around contributions helped the Wildcats to a hot start. She ended with six points, three rebounds, two assists, and three steals.
“What I really liked about today was, with the guards we had on the floor a lot, they did a good job of creating shots for each other,” Barnes said. “And I thought this was the first time (Williams) actually got some one, two-step 3-point shots that were created for her. And I just wanted her to have the confidence to take them. I mean, she did that. So I thought she did a really good job.”
Barnes was especially pleased with her young guards in the first half, although she thought the entire team let down in the second half.
“Starting today with Mailien and Lauryn, it spread the floor a little bit because people had to guard them, and that left Breya to go one-on-one,” Barnes said.
As a team, the Wildcats tied their season high with 19 assists, a number they matched against Seattle and Weber State earlier in the year.
“The ball moved really good,” Barnes said. “And that showed with we had seven assists on 11 field goals in the first half, and so almost every basket was assisted on. So that’s the positive thing. That means our offense is going well and doing a good job. And that was against man or zone.”
Despite the big win, Barnes still sees things her young team needs to do.
“Breya got to the free throw line a lot, didn’t convert, and that’s been kind of something we’ve been working on all year, and we’re continuing to work on that because she’s capable of making free throws, but getting there is the main thing,” Barnes said. “We gave up too many in the second half. Second half, we can’t give up offensive rebounds and then fouls and just not disciplined…UCF, give them credit, because they were down, and they were so scrappy. They never gave up, and they were super aggressive and a lot tougher the second half. It’s just they had built themselves a deficit, but they did a really good job outplaying us in the second half.”