The University of Arizona women’s basketball team (11-13, 2-11 in Big 12) fell to the University of Cincinnati (9-16, 4-9 in Big 12) 77-61 on Tuesday, Feb. 10 in the Fifth Third Arena. 

Key players 

 Junior Sumayah Sugapong led the Wildcats with 20 points, five rebounds and four assists. Following Sugapong was Daniah Trammell who managed to collect 12 points along with three rebounds. Tanyuel Welch was strong on defense for the Wildcats with the most rebounds at seven. 

As for the Bearcats, Reagan Jackson paved the way with 19 points and two rebounds. Mya Perry was close behind with 17 points and three assists. Ramiyah Byrd was the most essential player all around during this game collecting 14 points and 15 rebounds. 

First half 

The Wildcats started strong as Bless Adebanjo made a jumper within the first 25 seconds getting the first points of the game. Arizona was able to maintain the lead for the first four minutes, but the Bearcats quickly tied up the game 6-6 after a fast break jumper by Caliyah Devillasee.

Reagan Jackson was sent to the line for Cincinnati after a foul on Kamryn Kitchen where she shot 2-for-2. Jackson’s shots brought the Bearcats in the lead 8-6. Cincinnati began to pull away but Arizona managed to hang close throughout the rest of the period. 

Ramiyah Byrd put in a second chance layup after getting the offensive rebound bringing Cincinnati up by 7 points. The Bearcats were able to go on a scoring run which built a larger gap going into the second period of 25-13. 

The Wildcats managed to get in one last point opportunity before the end of the quarter with a second chance jumper from Tanyuel Welch. 

The first quarter ended with Cincinnati in the lead 25-15. 

The second quarter consisted of lots of back and forth with both teams unable to score throughout the first three and a half minutes. The Wildcats managed to get the first points of the second quarter about seven minutes in with a 3-pointer from Sumayah Sugapong. 

Cincinnati almost doubled Arizona’s points 35-18 after Byrd got the defensive rebound then turned it into a layup. Arizona was able to turn their possession into some points with a jumper by Sugapong. Following this, the Bearcats went on a scoring spree, tallying 8 points within the span of a minute. 

The quarter finished with Joya Crawford shooting 2-for-2 from the stripe for the Bearcats. 

Cincinnati took the lead going into halftime 46-22. 

Second half 

The Wildcats came back from halftime strong as they managed to make two layups, one from Achol Magot and the other from Daniah Trammell. Arizona managed to make more shots this period, but they were unable to slow down Cincinnati’s shooting which kept them in a large deficit. 

Despite Cincinnati’s large lead, Arizona did not give up and chipped away at the gap. Welch made a driving layup to close out the third quarter 61-39. 

Following the pattern of the previous quarters, Arizona was the first to score with a layup by Trammell in the paint. After a missed 3-pointer from the Bearcats, Welch was able to get the rebound and turn it into Wildcats points on the fast break. 

The Wildcats demonstrated stronger defense and more hustle throughout the second half, but unfortunately it was not enough to override the power from Cincinnati. Once they fell behind, they were never able to fully recover to reduce the gap enough to regain the lead. 

Cincinnati took victory over Arizona 77-61.  

Looking forward 

Arizona will return home this weekend to take on their rivals ASU on Saturday, Feb. 14 at noon. This will be the second time this season these teams have met and the Wildcats will be looking for redemption on their home court. This game will also be streamed on ESPN+.  

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