Women's Basketball 11/22/2017 Arizona Athletics

Arizona Takes on CSUN in Third-Place Game

LOS ANGELES – It's a quick turnaround for Arizona (2-2) as they will face Cal State Northridge (0-5) on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. MST in the third-place game of the Warner Center Marriott Thanksgiving Basketball Classic.

Friday, Nov. 25 at 6 p.m. MST
Radio: 1400 AM (Derrick Palmer)
Twitter: @ArizonaWBB
#MadeForIt

QUICK NOTES

Both teams will be looking to bounce back as the Wildcats dropped their second game of the season last night with a loss to TCU and Cal State Northridge lost their fifth game of the season agaisnt Idaho.
Freshman Marlee Kyles is Arizona's leading scorer through the first four games of the season, which is impressive considering she is averaging just 22.8 minutes per game off the bench.
Sam Thomas has been nothing short of impressive as the freshman is averaging 11.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.8 blocks and 2.0 steals through four games. She scored 20 points last night against TCU, which is the most any Wildcat has scored this year and the most any freshman has scored since Taryn Griffey back on Dec. 21, 2015 against Gardner-Webb when she had 29.
The theme of year two of the Adia Barnes era will certainly be the amount of new faces on the team. After losing nine letterwinners due to graduation and transfer, Barnes and the rest of her staff went out and brought in 10 newcomers. Four freshmen, four transfers and two walk-ons.

Last Five vs. CSUN
11/17/12: at UA 53, CSUN 46
2/16/10: at UA 73, CSUN 50
2/16/94: at UA 98, CSUN 57
12/13/91: at UA 112, CSUN 66
12/1/78: CSUN 99, UA 77

Scouting the Matadors
Cal State Northridge still hasn't been on the right end of the win/loss column as they have opened the season with an 0-5 record. The Matadors are led by Channon Fluker, who nearly averages a double-double with 14.6 points and 9.6 rebounds per game while blocking 2.2 shots per game. Tessa Boagni also scores 13 points per game. Arizona hasn't lost to Cal State Northridge since 1978 and has won four-straight against the Matadors since then.

Thomas Does It All
Freshman forward Sam Thomas has been Arizona's version of Draymond Green through the first three games of her collegiate career as she has averaged 11.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 3.0 blocks and 2.8 steals per game while being on the floor for 154 of the 160 possible minutes. Thomas had a monster game against TCU as she scored 20 points on 7-10 shooting with seven rebounds and two blocks. She is the first freshman since Taryn Griffey to score 20 points in a game. Griffey had 29 against Gardner-Webb back on Dec. 21, 2015. In the season opener, she became the first freshman since at least 1987 to make at least two three-pointers and block three shots in their debut.

Kyles Off to a Hot Start
Freshman Marlee Kyles is Arizona's leading scorer through the first four games of the season by averaging 12.5 points per game off the bench while playing just 22.8 minutes per game, which is the sixth-fewest on the team. She scored 17 in the season opener and had 18 against Loyola Marymount on Tuesday (12 in the fourth quarter alone). Kyles' 50 points through four games is the most to start a career since Davellyn Whyte also had 53 in her first four career games back in 2009. Whyte eventually became Arizona's second all-time leading scorer.

It's Her Destiny
Junior Destiny Graham has stepped up her game so far in 2017. Through four games, she is fourth on the team in scoring with 10.8 points per game along with 6.0 rebounds per game, which is second on the team. Graham tied her career-high with 11 rebounds against TCU. The junior has done a good job of getting to the line and making her free throws as she is 17-19 (90%). Graham scored a career-high 15 points in the opener against Iona and followed that up with 12 points and nine rebounds against Utah State while playing a career-high 35 minutes. For the first time in her career, Graham scored in double-figures in back-to-back games. Prior to this season, Graham had scored in double-figures just three times.

We See Ya JaLea
JaLea Bennett is one of the two seniors on the team (Kat Wright) and will be looked upon as a leader for the young group of Wildcats this year. Not only do they look to her for leadership, but Bennett has been a good source of energy during the preseason. Bennett, the leading returning scorer, scored 6.9 points per game last season is certainly looking to up that number this year as she has the athletic ability to get to the rim with the best of them. Along with Destiny Graham, they are the two remaining student-athletes that played for former head coach Niya Butts. Bennett came out on fire against Loyola Marymount as she scored 12 first-quarter points and finished the game with 19 while tying her career-high of three made three-pointers.

Buenos Dias, Lucia
It's hard to believe, but Lucia Alonso is already the third-longest tenured Wildcat on the 2017-18 roster as a sophomore. The Leon, Spain native scored 5.3 points, dished out 2.4 assists and shot 43% (25-58) from downtown (top mark on the team) during her freshman campaign. Her 29.6 minutes per game were also second on the team as she started 27 of Arizona's 30 games, which is the fifth-most any UA freshman as started. Through three games this season, Alosno is an astounding 7-10 from downtown, which second in the Pac-12 and is fourth in steals (3.0). Against Utah State, she tied her career highs with 15 points, four made three-pointers and four steals and followed that up with 13 points and three made threes.

Your Newest WildKAT
After visiting campus this past April, Kat Wright decided to finish out her college career at the University of Arizona. A transfer from Florida Atlantic University, Wright comes in with 145 career made three-pointers, which would be sixth all-time in Arizona history. Wright was forced to sit out the 2016-17 season due to injury, but during her junior year in 2015-16, Wright lit it up as she made 87 trey balls on 40% shooting while scoring 11.7 points per game. To put that into perspective, only one Wildcat has made more than 82 three-pointers in one season, and that was Lisa Griffith wo made 92 in the 1996-97 season. The highlight of her career came on Jan. 30, 2016 when she drained 11 three-pointers against Charlotte, which is the second-most made three-pointers in NCAA history in a single game. Wright is 343 points away from 1,000 career points and should get there if she averages 14 points per game the rest of the season. The senior is one of four Pac-12 players to make every free throw this season.

They're Called Free Throws for a Reason
Arizona has done a good job of converting their free throws this season as they are shooting at an 81% clip, which is first in the Pac-12. Last season, the Wildcats shot 70% from the charity stripe. Kat Wright has yet to miss a free throw this season (9-9).

Lighting It Up from Downtown
Through four games, Arizona has knocked down 31 three pointers (7.8 per game) with Kat Wright (9) and Lucia Alonso (8) leading the way. Thirty-one made threes through the first four games of the season is the most since 2011 when Arizona made 40 to start the year.

Lots of New Faces
Of Arizona's 13 players on the roster, 10 of them are newcomers. Those newcomers include Kat Wright, Sam Thomas, Sammy Fatkin, Markee Kyles, Kiana Barkhoff, Ali Reese, Lindsey Malecha, Aarion McDonald, Dominique McBryde and Tee Tee Starks. Thomas, Fatkin, Kyles, Barkhoff and Reese are incoming freshmen, Wright, McDonald, McBryde and Starks are transfer students and Malecha was added as a walk-on, but is an incoming junior. Ten newcomers is the most in the Pac-12 this season. The last time Arizona had at least five freshmen was the 2008-09 season.

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