Cincinnati lives off offensive rebounds. It was no different on Wednesday night against Arizona. It just wasn’t enough as the Wildcats defeated the Bearcats 72-62 to get their first home win in Big 12 conference play.

“We played a super gritty, a good basketball team in Cincinnati that plays a similar style to us, just with athleticism on the wings and hard to guard one-on-one,” said Arizona head coach Adia Barnes. “I think their four, (Jillian) Hayes, is really good. And that was a matchup that I was kind of worried about. But, I mean, they just outmuscled us second half, but we still found a way to come up with a win. So I’m happy about that.”

Arizona started hot in all parts of the game. The Wildcats outscored UC 15-2 in the first quarter, hitting 50 percent of their shots from the field and going 3 for 4 from beyond the arc. They outrebounded the Bearcats 14-6 and held them to two offensive boards. UC hit just 1 of 15 shots.

“They got punched when we first got out here,” said UC head coach Katrina Merriweather. “I do think we had some really open, easy shots in the beginning that we normally make and go down. So to me, it was just to get settled. We have plenty of basketball to go, and don’t let this one quarter define who we are, because we know it doesn’t. But I was pretty burnt up on the inside.”

UC bounced back in the second quarter, outscoring Arizona 20-17. The Bearcats got extra possessions by grabbing four offensive rebounds and turning the Wildcats over four times.

A major turning point came just seconds before the end of the first half. Freshman guard Lauryn Swann lay on the court holding her head. The officials looked at the replay and said there was no foul on the play. There was no replay shown in the arena, but television replay showed she was hit near the ear.

Swann was eventually helped to her feet. She staggered out of the arena with aid from the Arizona training staff. She did not return. Barnes said she would be re-evaluated in the coming days.

Swann was Arizona’s leading scorer with 10 points, one rebound, and two assists in 15 minutes of play before going out.

The Wildcats struggled to get things going early in the second half. Barnes finally sent in sophomore guard Skylar Jones, whose minutes have been limited in some recent games.

“It’s tough when a player comes in the second half and gets 16 points in 16 minutes and is the leading scorer,” Merriweather said. “So I would say we were surprised, but we kind of expected at some point she would come in the game.”

In addition to her 16 points in just over 16.5 minutes, Jones added five rebounds and two assists.

“My coach put a little fire under my butt, and I need a little kick in the butt sometimes to get myself mentally in the right head space because when I’m in a good head space that’s when I play my best,” Jones said. “And I’m glad that my coach knows how to do that, even when I’m mad and I feel like it’s not what I want, I know that she’s doing it for a reason. I was mad when she said, ‘Come on, let’s play,’ in the third quarter.”

Cincinnati cut the Arizona lead to two points with 7:08 left to go in the game. The Bearcats were not able to tie or take the lead.

“I think in that moment, if I could do it again, I’d call a time out,” Merriweather said. “I think it took a lot out of us to get it down to two and probably should have reset the team.”

Arizona ended with four players in double figures. Jada Williams (14) and Paulina Paris (10) joined Jones and Swann. Breya Cunningham came up just short with 9 points but had a career-high 15 rebounds to help Arizona win the overall battle of the boards 41-38.

The Wildcats went 28-56 from the floor, hitting an even 50 percent of their shots. They went 9 for 22 from 3-point distance for the second straight game. UC won the battle for offensive rebounds 18-10. The Bearcats turned Arizona over 17 times while only giving the ball away 10 times on their end.

Arizona improved to 13-8 overall and 4-4 in Big 12 play. Cincinnati moved to 11-6 overall and 3-4 in the conference.

Next up for Arizona is West Virginia, another defensive-oriented team.