Cougar comeback falls short in 65-57 loss at Arizona

TUCSON, Ariz. – Despite a second-half comeback, BYU women’s basketball fell to the Arizona Wildcats 65-57 at the McKale Center on Wednesday night.

BYU (13-13; 4-11) trailed by 19 points in the second quarter and 16 at the break before outscoring Arizona (16-12; 7-8) 15-6 in the third to pull within seven at 43-36. Calvert trimmed the lead to five on the first possession of the fourth with a hook off the window before the Wildcats quickly retook a 13-point advantage.

The Cougars wouldn’t go away as they forced five fourth-quarter turnovers, leading to six key points to again draw within four at 61-57 with under a minute to go. However, two turnovers in the final minute leading to Wildcat free throws sealed BYU’s 65-57 loss to Arizona on the road.

Delaney Gibb led the Cougars’ offensive attack with 16 points, 14 of which came in the second half. The eight-time Big 12 Freshman of the Week was 7-of-15 from the floor, 2-for-5 from downtown while recording five assists, four rebounds and two steals in the loss.

Amari Whiting was the only other BYU player to finish in double figures as she scored 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting. The sophomore guard tallied four assists, three steals and three rebounds in the defeat.

Box Score

First Quarter
Arizona scored the first bucket of the game but Delaney Gibb immediately countered with an athletic finish off the glass in transition to knot the game at two. After a Wildcat score, Kambree Barber forced two-straight turnovers that Amari Whiting paid off with fast break scores to take a 6-4 lead with 6:47 left in the first.

Five-straight points, including a right corner triple, gave Arizona a 9-6 lead going into the media timeout. Out of the break, the Wildcats scored nine consecutive points to stretch the Arizona lead to double-figures at 16-6. Whiting split a pair at the line to bring BYU within nine at the end of the opening quarter.

Second Quarter
Kendra Gillispie opened the scoring in the second off an assist from Gibb to pull the Cougars back within nine at 18-9. After an Arizona miss, Gibb found Brinley Cannon in transition for a score off the window but a quick counter by the home team retook a 12-point lead with 6:50 to play in the half.

With BYU down 14, Whiting drove the lane and hit a floater to cut the deficit to 12 before it was stretched to 15 by an Arizona triple. The Wildcats pushed the lead to a game-high 19 with 20 seconds left in the half, but a left wing triple by Cannon assisted by Whiting cut the lead to 16 at the break, the second-largest deficit faced by the Cougars this season.

Third Quarter
Out of the locker room, Barber got the Cougs on the board with a driving layup before an Arizona score with 8:06 left in the first. BYU then held Arizona scoreless over the ensuing three minutes as the Cougars went on a 6-0 run to pull within 10 at the media timeout.

From the 8:06 to 1:20 marks of the third, BYU held the Wildcats without a made field goal in which time and outscored the home team 11-2 over that stretch to pull within seven at 41-34.

Fourth Quarter
On the first possession of the fourth, Gibb missed a layup, but Calvert got the offensive rebound and finished to cut the deficit to five just seconds into the final 10 minutes. After scoring just six points in the third, the Wildcats countered with eight consecutive points to retake a 13-point lead at 51-38.

With 6:55 to play, Gibb beat the defender to the cup and scored off the glass to pull within 11. After trading free throws, back-to-back buckets by Calvert and Gibb trimmed the deficit to eight with 4:49 left.

After the media timeout, Arizona pushed its lead to 12 with 3:20 left courtesy of back-to-back scores. The Cougars would not go quietly as Gibb found Barber on the left wing for a three followed by a Gibb floater to pull within seven. A three on the next possession by Gibb trimmed the lead to five with 2:01 to go.

BYU pulled within four with 42 seconds remaining but two late turnovers ended the Cougars' comeback chances resulting in a 65-57 defeat.

Up Next
The Cougars will return to Provo for a Saturday matinee against the Arizona State Sun Devils with tip-off set for 4 p.m. MT. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and broadcast live on BYU Radio, byuradio.org and the BYU Radio App with Jason Shepherd on the call.

At halftime of Saturday's game, BYU will retire the jersey of three-time All-American Tresa Spaulding Hamson. Spaulding Hamson will become the third BYU women’s basketball player to have her jersey retired when her No. 54 is lifted to the Marriott Center rafters to join the jerseys of No. 44 Tina Gunn Robison and No. 22 Jackie Beene McBride.