TUCSON, Ariz — The temptation in the era of the transfer portal and NIL is that turnarounds happen in one year. And, sometimes they do.
But, back in October at Big 12 Media Days in Kansas City, Arizona head coach Becky Burke acknowledged that it wouldn’t work that way in Year 1 for the Wildcats.
“Complete rebuild from the studs,” she said. “I mean, when you talk about us being hired and walking down from a stage like this in my press conference, we had, we had one player in the locker room and so this is a complete rebuild.”
There is no question the season has been challenging for Burke and the Wildcats. They’ve won two Big 12 games so far. Leading scorer Mickayla Perdue has been out with a wrist injury for more than a month. Arizona lost six league games in a row at one point, and nine of 10.
But certain games can become a springboard — for a season and for a program. It can also serve as a reminder that the climb can be tough.
Saturday’s Arizona Loss to Arizona State
Arizona’s 75-69 overtime loss to Arizona State is a good example of the latter. The game drew 8,766, far outpacing the 6,121 the rivalry drew in Tempe. But, a combined 15,000 fans for these two rivalry games is good for the region.
The Wildcats (11-14, 2-12) nearly sent the crown home happy in regulation. At one point, Arizona went on a 10-0 scoring fun for 4:13, a run that went into the final minute of the game. Meanwhile, the Sun Devils (21-6) failed to score for nearly five minutes, were 0-for-7 from the floor and had four turnovers in 7:03. Everything was coming up Arizona, which was up four points. Until it wasn’t.
“We were in a position to win it, and then we did a couple silly things where we gave them some hope, and then they make a tough shot to send it to overtime,” Burke said.
The silly things, of course, weren’t silly. Sumayah Sugapong of Arizona fouled Arizona State’s Gabby Elliott on a 3-point shot with 37 seconds left. It’s one of those moments where a player can’t foul or even appear like they’re fouling. Elliott made two of the three shots to cut the lead to two points.
Arizona’s next possession ended with no points. Noelani Cornfield — who had a terrific game with 24 points off the bench — held the ball nearly the entire possession. But her drive was well-defended, and a last-gasp scoop shot before the clock expires fell way short. That gave the Sun Devils an opening. Arizona State took it. McKinna Brackens hit a jumper with three seconds left to force overtime.
It wasn’t all Arizona State in overtime. But the momentum Arizona had in the final minutes of regulation disappeared. It underscored what Burke has known all along about this team — it has little margin for error. She talked of the team’s overall deficiencies. She noted them at media days. It’s not a lack of talent or a lack of height. It’s a lack of it at the same level as other teams in the Big 12. Another year of recruiting, transfer portal and player development and the program can start to close that gap.
It’s the difference between being able to close a game like Saturday and not being able to close it.
Becky Burke Reacts
“For us to win, to be in a position to win, including today, we got to junk stuff up. They have to really, really hard,” she said. “They must execute the game plan perfectly. And they did all of that. But again, it’s so hard for us to win. We can’t foul the three-point shooter. We can’t have a couple of our shooters not make a couple shots today. It’s like we got to be really firing on all cylinders.”
In overtime, the Wildcats weren’t firing on all cylinders. But this group — and this program — may be closer than Burke thinks. The fruits of that labor won’t be evident for another season.
But those “studs” that Burke talked about in October? They’re not free-standing anymore. There are pieces attached to them now. It’s part of a foundation, one that the Wildcats can build from, even as they watch their arch-rivals, most likely, get into the NCAA Tournament.
