Zone, fouls doom shorthanded Arizona women’s basketball at NAU

It was never going to be easy. Arizona women’s basketball has played a lot of games in a short amount of time with less-than-ideal travel accommodations. Things just got worse when starting point guard Jada Williams was announced out for the night. Then came the whistles with four starters getting three fouls in the first half. It all added up to a 92-75 loss at NAU, the first loss to the Lumberjacks since 2017 when the Wildcats (5-1) won six games all year.

“It wasn’t about scoring,” said Arizona head coach Adia Barnes. “It was about our defense. We had a very tough time. They started four guards, and they outrebounded us, and they kind of manhandled us from the second quarter on, and we never really responded.”

Barnes said that she knew from warm-ups that the team wasn’t ready. She pulled them together and told them they would lose by 20 if that’s the way they played. When the game started, that seemed to have passed. It didn’t last, though.

“A couple things told me that we don’t have the discipline and the maturity that I thought we had before,” Barnes said. “So I take accountability in that and have to go back to the drawing board on some specific fundamental things and some non-negotiables. And maybe it’s like people are too comfortable, and we got to get out of our comfort zone a little bit and figure out a way.”

Breya Cunningham fouled out in 14 minutes on the court. Isis Beh fouled out in 17 minutes. Skylar Jones had three in the first half and ended with four in 31 minutes. Mailien Rolf, who started in place of Williams, had three in the first half.

Williams collided with Paulina Paris during practice. The sophomore point guard was in concussion protocol while the junior shooting guard wore a clear mask over her face because of an injury to her nose.

Arizona took a 14-point lead in the first quarter and ended the first 10 minutes up by 11. They were up by 16 early in the second quarter. Then the whistles started piling up.

Both Jones and Rolf had already been whistled for two fouls apiece in the first quarter, but the bigs started getting hit hard.

Cunningham picked up her second foul less than a minute into the second quarter. She had eight points, three rebounds, one block, and one steal in the opening 10 minutes, but she was headed to the bench.

Less than two minutes in, Beh picked up her second. She was headed to the bench.

NAU started cutting into the lead. Barnes put her bigs back in to stem the tide, but the gamble didn’t pay off. Both picked up their third fouls as NAU came back and took a three-point lead into the half.

“They manhandled us,” Barnes said. “They rallied, and they were pumped. They were ready to play. We were not ready. So when you are not ready…you get your ass kicked.”

Arizona often has difficulty playing against a zone. With a lot of reserves on the floor and their starting bigs out for most of the game, the Wildcats struggled even more than usual against NAU’s zone. They turned the ball over trying to pass inside, ending with 17 turnovers.

“We settled,” Barnes said. “We could not move the ball. We had a tough time executing. We didn’t penetrate the gaps. I’m not going to blame it on altitude or foul trouble, but it also hurts when Breya plays 14 minutes. Breya’s our force inside. She’s our bucket inside. When she’s not in the game, we have a hard time scoring in the post because Isis isn’t aggressive offensively, Montaya (Dew) is not aggressive offensively, so we struggle with scoring.”

Arizona didn’t score for long periods as the Lumberjacks both hit shots and marched to the free throw line all game.

NAU shot 29 free throws to 18 for Arizona. In the critical second quarter, the Lumberjacks went to the line nine times while the Wildcats didn’t shoot a single free throw.

To make matters worse, Arizona left almost half the free points on the table with Jones going 3 for 5 from the line and Paris hitting 3 of 8 shots from the charity stripe. As a team, they were 10 for 18 with only Sahnya Jah hitting all of her free throws.

With the foul trouble pressing in on them, the Wildcats didn’t defend well. NAU ran off seven straight points to start the second half. Two were short jumpers that weren’t even challenged.

Paris led the team with 20 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the floor. She had eight rebounds, three assists, and four steals. She also played a good deal at the one with Rolf in foul trouble, Williams out, and Lauryn Swann dealing with a shoulder injury that she played through.

“I think Paulina, she stepped up, for sure, but we didn’t have, really anybody else,” Barnes said. “I think Jah stepped up on offense but defensively she has to be better and hustle plays and execution. But I think she stepped up offensively. We need Montaya just to be a little bit more of a threat on offense.”

Jones had 11 points, five rebounds, and two assists. Cunningham ended with 10 points, six rebounds, one block, and one steal.

Barnes said she expects Williams back quickly, perhaps as early as this weekend for Grambling State.

Arizona announced another addition to the 2025 class during the game. Jasmine “Jazzy” Gipson is a guard originally from Albuquerque, N.M. She plays for Duncanville (TX) High School and the Lady Jets travel team. She was originally committed to Florida Gulf Coast but decommitted when the head coach left to coach the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream.

As a junior, Gipson averaged 6.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. In seven games so far this season, she’s averaging 13.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.0 apg, and 2.0 spg.

Lead photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics