Frustrated Arizona Team Explains What Went Wrong Wednesday Night
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Burke called the loss the first of her tenure at Arizona Wildcats women’s basketball “very frustrating.”
She noted that the opponent Southern Lady Jaguars, despite their poor win-loss record to date, couldn’t be judged by that record alone, because of the quality of their prior competition. This was something she also mentioned in her pregame press conference.
Southern was picked to win their conference and not only made but won a tournament game just last season, and had a lot to prove.
She described that team as “the closest thing we’ve seen to even a bad Big 12 team,” highlighting how Southern’s length, athleticism, and physical style exposed Arizona’s vulnerabilities.
Arizona struggled with fundamentals, turnovers, physicality, and execution
The Wildcats committed 24 turnovers — a season high — and gave up 25 points off those turnovers. That was repeatedly cited as the critical factor that swung the game.
Burke admitted that Arizona didn’t handle the defensive pressure and physicality well. She said they were “on their heels,” not executing properly in dribble-drives, ball security, spacing, and defensive positioning.
On offense, the team was “loosey-goosey,” not playing with the sharper focus and communication needed to compensate for being physically overmatched. This allowed Southern to capitalize and gain all of the momentum needed to win.
Burke was very blunt about her thoughts on the game, but is confident her team will watch tape and learn from it all in the early season.
What coach Burke had to say
“I thought we got bullied. I thought we just did not think we matched their physicality and compete at a high level, and we just had no edge to us and competitiveness in my opinion.”
“There were some bright spots. You're down, and you come out of halftime, and I think we punched them in the face in the second half and made some runs and pressed them a little bit there at the end and and made some more runs but ultimately I measure wins and losses.”
“Took a couple steps back today. It’ll be addressed tomorrow and at practice. We have no choice but to come in tomorrow and watch this, own it, and let it bother us and make some changes quickly."
How the future shapes up
With more games looming as well as conference play, the time is now for the Wildcats to correct early mistakes and growing pains to prepare for a long season ahead.
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Matthew is a recent graduate of Michigan State with a bachelor's degree in sports journalism and a minor in sports business management, with a love for all sports.