TUCSON, Ariz. – The Arizona Wildcats will host Colorado Sunday afternoon at McKale Center, following a strong comeback attempt Friday night in a 60-55 loss to Utah.
The Wildcats nearly erased an 11-point lead with three minutes to go against Utah, cutting it to three points with just more than a minute to play thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers from LaBrittney Jones. But the Utes made two critical free throws late to hold on for the victory.
Arizona got strong performances Friday from juniors LaBrittney Jones and Malena Washington. Jones had a season-high 19 points and played a season-high 34 minutes. Washington had 15 points in a season best 30 minutes. Washington made her second start of the season against the Utes.
Arizona held Utah to 4 of 15 from 3-point range and have limited teams to just .255 shooting from deep this season, which ranks second in the Pac-12.
Sunday’s game, which will tip at 2 p.m., will be televised by Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Arizona and Pac-12 Mountain. Guy Haberman and Elise Woodward will have the call.
Defending the 3
While Arizona has seen its 3-point field goal percentage shoot up from .241 last season to .355 this season, the Wildcats have also shown a strong ability to limit the 3-point shot on the defensive end. Through 17 games, teams are shooting just .255 (73-286) from 3-point range against Arizona. That mark is second best in the Pac-12, behind just Oregon State, who is at .252. Last weekend, Washington was just 4 of 18 from 3-point range against Arizona. Washington State was just 4 of 22 from deep range in the game before against the Wildcats. Friday, Utah was 4 of 15 from deep. Arizona is the only team in the Pac-12 in the top three in 3-point field goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage defense.
Halftime Adjustments
The Wildcats seem to have benefited from NCAA women’s basketball shifting from halves to quarters. Arizona enters Friday night’s game with Utah with a 253-227 scoring advantage in third quarters this season. It’s the team’s widest scoring advantage of all four quarters. The Wildcats have shown an ability to make adjustments at halftime and execute better out of the break. Two games ago, Arizona outscored Washington 14-12 in the third. In their win over Cal, the Wildcats outscored the Golden Bears 16-12 in the third en route to winning 57-52.
McKale Domination
Arizona is 7-2 on its home court this season, with its only losses coming to No. 11 Stanford earlier this month and Utah on Friday. The Wildcats are 8-2 in their last 10 at McKale, including wins over Cal, Utah, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State and Kansas. The team’s average margin of victory during that stretch is 14.4, with the most lopsided win coming Nov. 18 when the Wildcats beat Howard 65-28.
Last 10 Home Games for Arizona
1/15/16: Utah 60, Arizona 55
1/4/16: Arizona 57, Cal 52
1/2/16: Stanford 59, Arizona 34
12/29/15: Arizona 68, George Mason 60, OT
12/10/15: Arizona 77, Louisiana Tech 67
12/5/15: Arizona 69, Pacific 56
12/2/15: Arizona 68, New Mexico State 64
11/23/15: Arizona 67, Kansas 52
11/18/15: Arizona 65, Howard 28
3/1/15: Arizona 64, Utah 41
Hitting the glass
LaBrittney Jones pulled down 10 rebounds against Cal earlier this month for her seventh career double digit rebounding game. Jones, who is averaging 5.7 boards a game in nine games, missed a double-double against the Golden Bears by one point. Jones had nine points and six rebounds against Washington State.
Jones’ career double digit rebounding games
11/8/13: 10 at Iona
12/15/13: 15 vs. Texas Tech
1/3/14: 11 at Washington
11/17/14: 13 vs. Cal-State Bakersfield
12/3/14: 12 vs. Grambling State
1/5/15: 10 vs. Washington
1/4/16: 10 vs. California
Second Chance Cats
In their win over Cal, the Wildcats collected 19 offensive rebounds and 11 second chance points. Arizona held the Golden Bears to just seven offensive boards and three second chance points. LaBrittney Jones had four offensive rebounds and Dejza James had three. A’Shanti Coleman, Destiny Graham, JaLea Bennett, Malena Washington and Farrin Bell all contributed one offensive rebound in the win. The 19 offensive boards tied a season-high set two times prior. Taking it further, the Wildcats have set their season high three out of the last four games. Arizona’s previous high in the first 10 games was 17 set just once.
It’s A Bench Party
Malena Washington’s production has been a big reason why Arizona’s bench has been so dangerous this season. Arizona’s second leading scorer, Washington, who is at 10.2 points per game, has come off the bench the first 14 contests this season, before being inserted into the starting five last game. Lauren Evans, Michal Miller, Farin Bell, Dejza James and Destiny Graham have all come off the bench in 10 or more games to provide production. Through 14 games, the bench is outscoring opponents 414-257. The bench has scored 30 or more points six times.
Bench Scoring
vs. Utah: 11-14
at Washington: 20-7
at Washington State: 16-43
vs. Cal 30-7
vs. Stanford: 20-44
vs. George Mason : 22-24
vs. Gardner-Webb: 35-9
vs. Florida Gulf Coast: 25-17
vs. SMU: 21-2
vs. Louisiana Tech: 44-18
vs. Pacific: 40-25
vs. NMSU: 32-13
at North Texas: 16-3
vs. Kansas: 31-11
at San Diego: 29-9
vs. Howard: 26-6
at Toledo: 27-26
Cashing in at the Charity Stripe
In their win over Cal, the Wildcats went 13-14 from the free throw line for their best performance of the season. Arizona went 7-8 from the line in the fourth quarter with LaBrittney Jones and Malena Washington combining to go 4-4 in the final 15 seconds to extend a 53-52 lead to the final 57-52 score. Jones went 5-5 in the game and Washington went 3-4. Taryn Griffey and Lauren Evans each went 2-2 and Dejza James was 1-1.
LB’s Block Party
It hasn’t taken long for LaBrittney Jones to show off her ability on the defensive end. The junior from Cedar Hill, Texas has 12 blocks in seven games this season, giving her 88 for her career. Jones just passed Anne McFadden for sixth all-time in school history. Jones will likely pass Dana Patterson soon, who is fifth all-time in school history with 91. In her career, Jones is averaging more than a block per game. She has 89 blocks in just 69 career games. Jones has also scored in double figures three times in her eight games this season and has gotten to the free throw line 46 times in eight games.
Arizona Career Blocked Shots Leaders
1. Shawntinice Polk, 222
2. Ify Ibekwe, 166
3. Elizabeth Pickney, 147
4. Marte Alexander, 121
5. Dana Patterson, 91
5. LaBrittney Jones, 91
7. Anne McFadden, 87
Scouting Colorado
The Buffaloes. who own an 11-game winning streak in the series with Arizona, arrive in Tucson searching for their first Pac-12 win of the season. The Buffaloes have played three straight road games, dropping games at Cal, Stanford and Arizona State. The team also had a challenging non-conference schedule, which featured Kentucky, Florida and Missouri. Jamee Swan, a Marana native, leads the team with 14.6 points per game and 7.6 rebounds a contest. She also has 27 blocks in 13 games and is shooting 48 percent from the floor. Kennedy Leonard is second on the team with 12.4 points per game and is the team leader in assists with 76 to just 56 turnovers. Haley Smith is nearly averaging double figures at 9.9 points per game. Colorado is 0-7 away from Boulder this season.
Last 10 vs. Colorado
2/27/15: Colorado 66, at Arizona 51
2/1/15: at Colorado 81, Arizona 69
2/23/14: Colorado 61, at Arizona 56, OT
1/24/14: at Colorado 68, Arizona 47
2/15/13: Colorado 55, at Arizona 42
1/20/13: at Colorado 79, Arizona 36
2/9/12: at Colorado 69, Arizona 59
1/22/12: Colorado 56, at Arizona 54
11/24/91: at Colorado 74, Arizona 53
1/1/91: Colorado 75, at Arizona 69, OT
Recapping Non-Conference Play
Arizona went 9-3 in non-conference play this season, which is its best mark since going 11-1 in 2011-12. It marks the third time in coach Niya Butts’ eight seasons that the Wildcats won at least nine games in pre-conference play. The Wildcats enter their Pac-12 opener with Stanford with junior guard Malena Washington leading the team in scoring at 11.3 points per game. LaBrittney Jones, who missed the first eight games with a foot injury, is averaging 11.0 points a contest in the four games she has played in. Redshirt freshman guard Taryn Griffey has soared in her first season and is averaging 10.9 points per game and is shooting 49 percent from 3-point distance. Arizona went 6-0 at McKale Center during non-conference play and outscored opponents by an average margin of 14.5 points per game. The most lopsided contest game on Nov. 18, when the Wildcats beat Howard 65-28, setting a new school record for fewest points allowed in a game. The closest contest was a 68-64 win over New Mexico State on Dec. 2.
