Arizona women’s basketball reserves shine with victory over Tarleton State

Returning starters Skylar Jones And Breya Cunningham led the Arizona Wildcats in their 62-39 victory over Tarleton State on Thursday night. However, it was the freshmen and other freshmen who shut down the Texans on defense.

Arizona head coach Adia Barnes played long stretches against their younger players, often with only one returner on the field.

The freshmen answered the bell in the second quarter, helping TSU score just seven points on 17.6 percent shooting. They did it again in the fourth period when the Texans shot just 30.8 percent.

It was the second quarter in the second quarter Montaya dew with six minutes, newbie Mailien Rolf with six minutes, newbie Katarina Knežević with eight minutes and a second-year transfer Jorynn Ross with five minutes on the pitch. Dew is playing for the first time this season despite being with the program since January 2023.

Rolf played the entire fourth quarter. Ross and Knežević played over half of them. Dew, Lauryn SwannAnd Erin Tack played for five minutes each.

“I try to make sure I give experience when times are tough,” Barnes said. “So, in difficult situations, if Mailien comes in early, goes to the one and Jada uses, runs mainly to the two, Paulina (Paris) runs a little to the one in case we need her to the one….Later I’m putting Montaya at the three where she’s guarding the ball… So Montaya in different positions to give Erin some playing time and Katarina earlier to get some reps because we’re going to need those players down there stretch and then put different combinations.”

Dew made the first bucket of her career. She hit a three-point shot. Although they were her only points, she made good decisions and contributed significantly to the team’s success. Barnes also sees her confidence returning.

“She’s been out for so long,” Barnes said. “Being out there for two years and not getting the high school game experience from last year. So it takes a long time without playing. So she just needs reps… And for her, we play her in a lot of different positions… So she has to know a lot of positions, and she’s really good at that, but it also demands a lot, so she needs reps, and she needs just minutes and time and she will be fine. She’s a really smart player. Even when she doesn’t score, she has some really good things on the ball. And I ran a flare for her and she hit a three… I expect big things.”

Barnes’ admiration for Rolf’s play has been obvious since the freshman arrived from Germany, but it was especially evident against Tarleton State. The guard played more minutes than any other player except Jones.

“Mailien is a great kid,” Barnes said. “She’s a great person, a great teammate. Work her butt off. She dives to the ground. She is tireless in defense. She makes mistakes and I don’t care. She plays hard, so you’re allowed to make mistakes. I would say we need to work a little bit more on her passing and her turnovers… But I mean, she’s great – like one phenomenal– Rebounder…I mean, our leading rebounder. Nine on guard. So I let them crash. I love the way it bounces back. I love how she draws fouls. I love the way she jumps around on the floor. She has three thefts. It has deviations, things that don’t show up on the stat sheet. So the way she plays is the way I like to train.”

Cunningham picked up two fouls again in the first quarter. She sat on the bench for a long time but was brought back by Barnes in the final minutes of the first half. It was part of the coach’s attempts to challenge Cunningham in difficult periods of the game.

Williams also picked up two fouls in the first quarter. One of them was a technical foul at the very end of the quarter. Williams’ shot from halfcourt was blocked. Whatever the Tarleton State player said to her, Williams didn’t take it kindly. Her answer attracted the technician.

“There were words to her, and then Jada just had some words back,” Barnes said. “That’s not what we want to do, but that’s never happened to her before. And they always talk. Other players are always talking. But I think it was just because they were loud right in front of (referee) Lisa Jones, so she had T on.”

The fouls helped open the first few minutes for the reserves, but the returners still had their moments.

Jones led the team with 16 points on 5-for-8 shooting. She added two rebounds, one assist and two steals, but also had four turnovers. She played a team-best 24 minutes.

Williams played a strong game, even though she didn’t score many goals until the end of the game. She finished with nine points on 3-for-8 shooting, three rebounds, four assists, two steals and just one turnover.

Cunningham finished with 15 points on 7-for-12 shooting, eight rebounds, one steal and three blocks.

Arizona doesn’t have much time to think about this game. The Wildcats will head to San Diego on Saturday morning for their third game in seven days. UC San Diego is scheduled to play on Sunday, November 10th at 3:00 pm MST. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.

Main photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics