Bear Down Wildcats

Cats take a bit of a hit with Florida International transfer small forward Ajea Yoakum out with a knee injury. She averaged 10 ppg last season, which is more than any other incoming transfer, FWIW.

Arizona loses 5 of its top 6 scorers from last season. They return 7, led by PG Jada Williams, 6-4 C Breya Cunningham (61 blocks), SG Skylar Jones, and 6-3 PF Isis Beh. Hopefully, the heralded SF Montaya Dew will be healthy and able to make a big contribution. 6-0 Brooklyn Rhodes rounds out the returnees, along with 6-1 track team javelin thrower Erin Tack, who joined the team last year at mid-season, but suffered a knee injury.

Incoming transfers include 6-3 Jorynn Ross (6.1 ppg at Pepperdine), 5-9 Paulina Paris 5.9 ppg at North Carolina), and 6-0 Sahnya Jah (3.1 ppg at South Carolina.) Freshmen are 5-7 Lauryn Swann and 6-0 Katarina Knezevic.

Scheer just reported on Mike's show that Ajae Yoakum left practice with a knee injury. Hopefully it's not too serious.

Don't know if this has been discussed elsewhere, but love 'em or hate 'em, ESPN has their national pre-season Top 25 out. They also predict that 9 Big XII teams will make the NCAA tournament field. Of note, their pre-season favorite Baylor will have Aaronette Vonleh on their team. She signed with Arizona, then spent last season at Colorado, and now she's in Waco.

9. Baylor
10. Iowa St
14. Kansas St
16. West Virginia
22. Utah
(Votes: Arizona)

Timely update from the Star. I missed one on the roster (since she wasn't/isn't yet listed on the official roster.) But Mailien Rolf, a 5-10 incoming freshman from Germany, led her under 20 Eurobasket team to the semi-finals, losing to France 64-55.

Cats go to 4-0 as they beat UNLV 75-66. Lauryn Swann scored all 19 of her points in the second half as the Cats came from behind to win.

This team is going to be fun to follow! Lots of interesting talent and, so, looks like they're developing cohesiveness...

Caught my first WBB game on ESPN+ last night. Considering how many of the top scorers had to be replaced, I was a little concerned going into the season, but they looked pretty good. Lauryn Swann made a legit NBA move in the lane to score; she's tough. Cunningham and Beh give a decent presence in the paint, and Jada Williams and Skylar Jones are nifty perimeter players. While she's getting minutes as one of the few players with some size coming off the bench, Montaya Dew looks a little slow and awkward with the brace on her knee. Hopefully she can eventually recover to the level she was at before her injury. Solid win over a pretty good UNLV team that's in the mix in the MWC. Our remaining "big" non-conference games are in Palm Springs prior to Thanksgiving. Vanderbilt on the 26th, and either Michigan St or Cal on the 27th, both on TruTV.

Can someone explain how we just lost to NAU?

I watched the NAU game and the Cats got spanked. The offense looks so lost. They were taking terrible shots. When they drove to the basket, it seemed like they would leave their feet a dribble or two early, which they would then have an awkward shot at the basket. They were playing too fast while NAU played it at a better pace. Their offense looked more in control. This was an ugly game.

I thought Yahoo got the score backwards. WTF?

Jada Williams was out. Breya Cunningham fouled out in 14 minutes and Isis Beh fouled out in 17 minute. We still should have beat them

84Cat wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2024 8:22 am Jada Williams was out. Breya Cunningham fouled out in 14 minutes and Isis Beh fouled out in 17 minute. We still should have beat them

They outplayed the Cats for 3 of 4 quarters. The foul situation was horrible - definitely homer refs.

After the onslaught of fouls in the second quarter, the Cats' defense was passive and ineffective. The talented young players were overwhelmed - yet this could be a good learning experience. Of course, as Adia tries to toughen them up, we'll have to see if these new team members respond...

And, why was Jada benched?? I have seen no explanation in any of several reports of the game.

pc in NM wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2024 9:05 am

84Cat wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2024 8:22 am Jada Williams was out. Breya Cunningham fouled out in 14 minutes and Isis Beh fouled out in 17 minute. We still should have beat them

And, why was Jada benched?? I have seen no explanation in any of several reports of the game.

84Cat wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2024 9:11 am

pc in NM wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2024 9:05 am

84Cat wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2024 8:22 am Jada Williams was out. Breya Cunningham fouled out in 14 minutes and Isis Beh fouled out in 17 minute. We still should have beat them

And, why was Jada benched?? I have seen no explanation in any of several reports of the game.

Thanks. (I am off of "X" - and this site should be also!)

pc in NM wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2024 9:17 am

84Cat wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2024 9:11 am

pc in NM wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2024 9:05 am

84Cat wrote: ↑Thu Nov 21, 2024 8:22 am Jada Williams was out. Breya Cunningham fouled out in 14 minutes and Isis Beh fouled out in 17 minute. We still should have beat them

And, why was Jada benched?? I have seen no explanation in any of several reports of the game.

Thanks. (I am off of "X" - and this site should be also!)

It'd be much easier to move if all the U of A sports people would. Literally the only thing keeping me there.

But more on topic, Adia's seat is going to get very hot if we can't even beat NAU with a few good players out. Big 12 isn't the gauntlet the Pac was, so that could end up really exposing this team if yesterday was any indication.