University of Arizona
7-4
Tennessee Martin
4-9
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| UT Martin | 31 | 25 | 56 |
| Arizona | 34 | 27 | 61 |
Arizona Turns Away UT Martin In Non-Conference Finale
12/30/2014 | Women's Basketball
TUCSON, Ariz.--- For the third straight game, it was senior guard Candice Warthen who led the way for Arizona, recording a team-high 17 points and 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the season, as the Wildcats took down UT Martin, 61-56, in their non-conference finale, Monday night inside McKale Center.
For Arizona (7-4), the victory extends its home win streak to five consecutive games, while it notches UA's fifth victory over its last six contests overall.
Warthen has now led the Wildcats in scoring in three straight games and in seven of 11 contests overall, while she also picked up a game-high equaling three assists and team-high tying two steals. Her 17 points came on an efficient 7-of-15 shooting from the field.
Sophomore forward LaBrittney Jones nearly notched her third double-double of the season, as she scored nine points on 3-of-6 shooting, while pulling down eight rebounds and collecting a couple of steals in the win.
Sophomore guard Malena Washington continues to impress, as she scored nine points, grabbed four rebounds, and dished out two assists. Arizona improves to 5-1 in her starts this season.
As she has so many times this year, sophomore forward Dejza James made her presence felt off the bench, as she scored eight points on a near-perfect 4-of-5 shooting from the floor, while grabbing four rebounds and recording a steal.
Arizona outrebounded the Skyhawks 45-34, while winning the battle on the offensive glass 21-12. The Cats also outscored UT Martin 10-2 in fast break points, improving to 5-0 on the season when winning that category.
The Wildcats outscored the Skyhawks 34-28 in the paint, while claiming an 18-14 edge in points off of turnovers. In addition, Arizona shot a stellar 85.6 percent from the foul line on the night.
After initially falling behind 2-0 to start the contest, the Wildcats launched a 13-4 run to claim a 13-6 advantage with 12:13 remaining in the first half, after James converted on a layup.
The two squads traded leads nine times in the first half, but it was Arizona who eventually won the first 20 minutes of action, as it took a 34-31 lead into halftime.
The second half was a different story, while UT Martin was able to keep it close, the Wildcats never surrendered the lead, at one point going up by as much as 55-41 with 9:20 remaining, after Alli Gloyd converted down low.
The Skyhawks made a run to eventually cut the Arizona deficit to five points, but it was too little, too late, as the Wildcats hung on to win their non-conference finale.
Arizona will continue its season-long four-game homestand this weekend, as it'll begin Pac-12 play with Washington State, Saturday at noon MST, inside McKale Center.
GAME NOTES: Arizona improves to 4-1 when scoring in the 60s this season…Cats improve to 4-0 against first-time opponents this season…UA finishes December with a 5-1 record….With the win, the Wildcats have now won on every day of the week except Saturday this season….Arizona has clinched a winning non-conference record for the seventh time in the last eight seasons…the Wildcats' five-game home win streak is their longest since 2011-12.
ARIZONA POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Niya Butts
Opening Statement
“This was part of my Christmas present, although I would have liked it to look a lot better than it did today. In the win column they don't ask you how it looked, so we'll take it. Obviously we fell apart down the stretch of the basketball game and we know that we can't make mistakes like that, especially going into conference play. If you have command of the basketball game, you have to be able to keep your foot on the gas and continue to make plays. We coughed the ball up, but the good thing for us is we were able to keep the ball alive on some of those miscues, so we had some good offensive hustle there. We had 21 offensive rebounds and anytime you're doing that, you give yourself an opportunity to win. We have to take better care of the basketball and we have to get to the free throw line more. When we got there, we shot almost 85 percent, but we didn't get there enough.”
On the defensive effort
“Defensively for us, we feel like if we can hold opponents to around 54 points per game, we are going to give ourselves an opportunity to win. Obviously there are some teams who score really well, and that may not be realistic. We may let them score 60, but we certainly don't want anyone scoring 70, 80 or 90 points on us. Defensive rebounding will always give us the chance to win. We've outrebounded our opponents more often than not this season and that has been something that we've struggled with in the past, so I think defensively we're doing a pretty solid job.”
The differences between this year's team and last year's team
“We lost a lot of ugly, close games last year. This year, thanks to depth and not as many injuries, we know we can win grind out games. And I've learned that. That's very important because last year these games would not have been the same. I've learned that we can win in close situations; we just have to grind it out. We're making a lot of mistakes right now and still able to come out with victories. As much as I don't like it, we are finding ways to win. I would like for it to be a lot smoother.”
On Dejza James' performance
“She's only a year out from her knee injury and she's performing well. We don't cut her any slack because of her ACL and how she is just returning. We want her to make plays and I think she understands that. She knows she can and she gets more confident the more opportunities she gets.”
On beginning Pac-12 play against Washington State and Washington this weekend
“I expect us to play the way we need to play. These are two tough opponents. They've done a great job so far. Both have played a tough schedule, both have two prolific scorers offensively, so we are going to have to match that intensity. I expect us to come in and rise to the occasion. I would like us to put the ball in the basket a little more and not turn it over so much so that we can show that defensive speed more. We would like to mix it up a whole lot more, press a little bit more, but we have to score in order to press.”
Senior Guard Candice Warthen
On creating scoring opportunities in one-on-one situations
“That's something I'm pretty good at. One-on-one is something I've gained confidence in the past couple of games.
On the difference between last year's team and this year's team
“The players and our mentalities are different this year. We know last year wasn't fun and that's something that still motivates us. We're trying to create a winning culture here. We need to keep going.”
On her defensive intensity
“Honestly, I have to thank coach Butts for that. Defense is something we focus on every day in practice and that's who we are as a team. We know that in order for us to win a game we have to play defense and rebound because if you can't stop a team and you can't score on your end, it's going to be a bad night. Coach put a lot of emphasis on my defense and that's something I've been improving on.
