What to Know About Arizona’s Opener Against UC Riverside
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The Arizona Wildcats women's basketball team has played its exhibition games and is geared up to start the regular season, starting with the UC Riverside Highlanders this Thursday at McKale Center.
The Wildcats are going into the 2025-2026 season without Adia Barnes at the head coaching position for the first time in nine years, but now have the hard-nosed, always competitive Becky Burke at the helm, who has taken over the team after coaching at Buffalo for three seasons.
Burke led the Bulls to a record-setting 30 wins in the regular season and won the WNIT Tournament by beating Troy in a thrilling 88-84 game.
The decorated coach will now attempt to replicate that success in a higher division with a team that had to be almost completely rebuilt following Barnes' departure.
A whole new team
When Barnes left the Wildcats for her new home at SMU in Fort Worth, TX, she took 67 players with her, not to mention the other 17 that also hit the transfer portal.
Now, Burke had had her work cut out for her, but she managed to get a full roster on the court with 12 new transfers and freshmen. The only player returning from last year's roster is forward Montaya Dew.
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaWBB) October 24, 2025
Headlining the roster is former Horizon League Newcomer of the Year, Mickayla Perdue, who averaged 20 points per game. Achol Magot, who played high school basketball in Tucson, also joins the roster after playing nine games in two seasons at Texas Tech.
Facing the Highlanders
Arizona will be facing the UC Riverside Highlanders to kick off its 2025 season at McKale Center this Thursday.
The Highlanders compete in the Big West Conference of the NWCA, which is a Division I conference outside of the Power 4. UC Riverside is based in Riverside, CA.
They are head-coached by Brad Langston, who is in his second season at the helm. The Highlanders dropped a close game in their season opener to the California Baptist Lancers 56-53, starting their season off at 0-1.
What they did last year
Last year, UC Riverside finished the 2024-2025 season with a 17-15 record, 12-8 in Big West play. It had an impressive 9-3 record when playing at home but struggled in away games, going 7-11.
In the Big West Conference tournament, the Highlanders beat Long Beach State in the first round by a 54-40 score. They then lost the second round game to UC Davis 561-50 and missed any tournaments that followed.
UC Riverside's leading scorer Shelley Duchemin will be a player for Arizona to watch for. Last year, she averaged 10.5 points on 26 minutes played per game. Against the Lancers, she scored seven points in the loss while grabbing nine rebounds.
Esther Matarranz was a force in rebounding for the Highlanders last year, grabbing a total 223, which led the team. She averaged seven per game.
Tell us your thoughts on Arizona women's basketball and how you expect it to play this Thursday in its first game of the season by commenting on our X account. Just click the link to find us and be sure to give us a follow.
Nathaniel Martinez and a set of shoulder pads at 7 years old. He later graduated from Pima Community College in 2023, where he began writing for the Pima Post. He is working to achieve a Bachelor’s in Mass Communication and Media Studies.