Burke Praises Win but Calls Fourth Quarter “Frustrating”

Following Arizona’s narrow win over Eastern Kentucky, head coach Becky Burke struck a balance between relief and concern as she reflected on her team’s performance. While she emphasized the importance of getting back in the win column, Burke made it clear that the Wildcats’ fourth-quarter collapse raised issues that cannot be ignored moving forward.

Burke opened her postgame remarks by expressing satisfaction with the outcome, noting that the primary objective was simply to secure a victory. “At the end of the day, I’m really glad we’re back in the win column,” she said. “Whether you win by one or 30 or 40, we needed to win this basketball game, and ultimately that’s what we did. I’m excited for them and I’m proud of them for that.”

However, that pride was paired with clear frustration over the way the game unraveled late. Arizona surrendered a large chunk of its lead in the final period, allowing EKU to turn a comfortable deficit into a tense finish. Burke didn’t hide her disappointment:

Scenes from the women's basketball game between Vanderbilt and Arizona at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, Calif., on Tuesday, November 26, 2024. | Taya Gray/The Desert Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“Am I proud of how it played out down the stretch and in the fourth quarter? No. Obviously, that’s frustrating,” she admitted. “We really have to have a conversation about the fourth quarter and slipping, letting things get loose, keeping things interesting all the time.”

Burke pointed to maturity and discipline as the areas that must improve if Arizona hopes to avoid similar situations. “We’ve got to be a mature enough team to finish a game the way that we should,” she said, stressing that the Wildcats cannot continue relying solely on offensive firepower to bail them out.

Defensive breakdowns were at the heart of Burke’s concern. She highlighted repeated mistakes, overhelping, late rotations, and being beaten on straight-line drives that allowed Eastern Kentucky to pile up points. “Just little discipline things... biting one pass away, sucking in too much, drive-and-kick threes,” Burke explained. “Somebody gets beat on a straight-line drive, they pump fake us, and we go flying… just controllable things we can control, and we will control from here.”

Mar 23, 2024; Storrs, Connecticut, USA; Syracuse Orange guard Alaina Rice (25) hits her head on the court against Arizona Wildcats in the second half at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images

Despite the defensive issues, Arizona’s offense produced enough to hang on. But Burke was quick to caution that the Wildcats cannot expect to outgun opponents every night. “Nine times out of ten, you’re not escaping like we did today,” she warned. “If we’re going to rely on scoring 87 every night just to outscore opponents, I don’t think that’s the recipe for success for us this year.”

Burke closed by reiterating the two truths of the afternoon: the win was necessary, and the performance, particularly defensively, must be better. “Way too many points given up in the fourth,” she said. “We needed to win a basketball game, and we did that. But we’ve got things to fix.”