Arizona Women's Basketballs Postgame Thoughts Were Optimistic But Critical
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In the postgame press conference, head coach Becky Burke reflected on the team's loss to New Mexico. Burke expressed a mixture of optimism, pride, and frustration following Arizona’s narrow loss to New Mexico. She opened by emphasizing how impressed she was with her team’s overall response and competitiveness against a high-quality opponent.
“I’m encouraged by what I saw today. New Mexico is a very, very, very good basketball team.”
She noted that New Mexico had just beaten another strong program within Arizona’s conference, adding further context to the challenge they faced.
“They beat Cincy (Cincinnati) last week… so it’s really encouraging to go out and respond the way that we did.”
A major theme of her comments was growth and improvement, especially compared to their previous performance. She explained that the team made progress against a similarly athletic opponent, stating,
“I think we took steps forward. I think we got better.”
However, she made it clear that this progress did not erase the disappointment of the loss. Some aspects of the game did not go as planned, and the team was overall disappointed in the outcome.
“I’m not a moral victory person… I’m aware that we lost the game.”
Roster Development
Still, she stressed that with this roster, appreciating development is essential. “With this team, we need to appreciate and stay positive about growth and improvement.”
One of the most significant positives she highlighted was the team’s resilience. Multiple times throughout the game, Arizona appeared on the brink of letting momentum slip away, yet they continued fighting. She described several moments where “we could’ve shut it down… and just given up and let it go to 15 or 20.” Instead, the players competed until the end, and she said plainly, “I was proud of our fight.”
Despite the encouraging aspects, the coach did not shy away from pointing out the team’s mistakes, referring to them as “self-inflicted wounds.” She felt many of these errors were within Arizona’s control and ultimately swung the game’s outcome.
“Every play matters, every possession matters, every free throw matters,” she told her players afterward. “We’re 17-for-27 from the free throw line. That’s never going to be acceptable, never going to win you a basketball game.”
She also noted missed open shots from the perimeter and several squandered scoring opportunities that prevented the team from fully capitalizing on their strong stretches.
Her overall assessment was that Arizona allowed the game to slip away despite their effort and growth. As she summarized, “I feel like we lost it more than they won it, if that makes sense.” She credited New Mexico as a legitimately strong opponent“New Mexico is a great team… they’re gonna do extremely well this year” but maintained that Arizona had ample chances to win.
In the end, her message balanced optimism for the team’s direction with accountability and urgency. She concluded her opening statement with a sentiment that captured both sides.
“Just proud of our effort, but ultimately, obviously disappointed with the loss.”
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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.