The news keeps coming for Arizona women’s basketball. New head coach Becky Burke got a late start compared to most of her competitors around the country, but she’s making up for lost time. Arizona picked up its second public commitment from a post player and officially announced the hiring of former Wildcat Julie Hairgrove as an assistant coach on Friday.

The second commit of the day came from former New Orleans center Nora Francois. The 6-foot-2 post will be playing her fifth season. She spent her freshman season at North Iowa Area Community College, making her eligible for the NCAA waiver that allows former junior college, NAIA, DII, and DIII players to compete next season.

Francois was a double-digit producer for the Privateers last year. She scored 15 points per game on volume shooting. Her 13.5 field goal attempts per game were in the 96th percentile of DI women’s basketball.

Despite being listed as a center, Francois took 4.2 of those attempts from beyond the arc where she shot 24.8 percent. Her 101 3PA were the most on her team, coming in at almost twice as many as anyone else. She hit 43.3 percent of her 2-point shots.

The big was effective on the boards last season. She averaged nearly a double-double with 8.2 rebounds per game to go with her 15.0 points. She also contributed 1.5 assists against 2.5 turnovers, 1.8 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game.

Francois was whistled for 3.0 personal fouls per outing, but that only comes to 3.9 per 40 minutes because she was on the floor so much during the 2024-25 season. Her fouls per 40 minutes have dropped each season she spent in Division I.

Francois faced several Power 4 teams during her senior year. She opened the season against Alabama with a 3-for-9 night. She scored 10 points and grabbed nine boards.

Her next game was against TCU. She struggled, fouling out in 11 minutes of play with just two points and two rebounds.

Francois had stronger games against two other Big 12 teams. She pulled off the double-double against Texas Tech with 10 points and 17 rebounds. She went off against Baylor, going 10 for 20 from the field and 4 for 5 from 3. She scored a season high 26 points against the Bears.

Joining the Francois in the news was former Wildcat Hairgrove. Hairgrove’s hiring was made official on Friday. News of her addition to the staff leaked on Thursday, bringing part of Arizona’s past into the new era.

Hairgrove (née Brase) played for former Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini from 1998-2003. She redshirted her true junior season due to an injury. She was the team captain for two years. The program went to the tournament three times during her time on campus.

After college, Hairgrove coached at Loyola Marymount for two years. The program won the WCC title in 2004.

In 2005, Hairgrove took a job as an assistant coach with the Phoenix Mercury. She became the longest-tenured assistant coach in the WNBA, spending 17 years with the Mercury under five different head coaches. She helped coach Phoenix to all three of its league championships before leaving the organization in 2022.

Hairgrove joins former Buffalo assistant coach James Ewing as two of Burke’s Arizona assistants. The new staff also includes the first general manager in the program’s history. Michelle Marciniak was announced as the new hire for that position on Thursday.

The staff page for Arizona women’s basketball currently lists Burke, director of basketball operations Lauren Flaum, director of recruiting operations Ryan Thorne, and associate athletic trainer Bart Jameson.

New Arizona women’s basketball head coach Becky Burke has added a number of promising guards to her roster via the transfer portal. She now has a forward to her name with the commitment of former Kansas post player Freddie Wallace.

Wallace announced her commitment to Arizona on Friday morning.

Wallace is the second player to transfer to Arizona from another Power 4 school. She and guard Kamryn Kitchen have another thing in common. Both spent their only season at that other Power 4 school sitting out as redshirts. Wallace cited health issues for her decision to redshirt, according to KUSports.com

The 6-foot-2 Wallace was highly successful at the junior college level before joining the Jayhawks, earning juco All-American honors twice at Butler Community College. She earned third-team honors as a freshman and moved up to the second team as a sophomore. It made her one of two players in BCC program history to be All-Americans twice.

Wallace averaged 17.1 points in 2023-24, good for fourth in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference. She hit 47.2 percent of her shots and was good for 6.8 rebounds per game.

Wallace finished her two-year juco career as Butler’s all-time leading scorer with 1,138 career points. Highlights from both years at Butler CC can be found on her Instagram page.

Wallace gives Arizona two forwards on the roster. She joins returner Montaya Dew. Burke has also added four guards.

Can Arizona win a pitchers’ duel against a top pitcher? That was the question on Thursday evening when the No. 12 Wildcats squared off against No. 14 Texas Tech and NiJaree Canady. The answer was a definitive, “Yes!”

“We needed to make a statement to ourselves a little bit, that we can play well in all facets,” said Arizona head coach Caitlin Lowe. “We can pitch well, we can play good defense, and we can get the timely hit when it matters. We got the timely hit when it mattered.”

Arizona defeated TTU by the score of 2-1 at Hillenbrand Stadium. Redshirt senior Devyn Netz got the win for the Wildcats and improved her record to 17-4. Canaday moved to 17-5 on the season with the loss.

All the scoring came in the first inning. Netz was right in the middle of that, too.

Miranda Stoddard got the start in the circle for Arizona. She had a bumpy first inning, giving up back-to-back singles to lead off. A fielder’s choice put runners on the corners with one out, and Lady Raider Alexa Langeliers drove in the runner from third.

On the positive side, the Wildcats got an out at second base in exchange for the run. That put Stoddard in a position to close the inning without allowing more damage. She accomplished that task and kept the Raiders’ lead at 1-0.

“Miranda was in an opening role so that Devyn could close, and that was the plan going in,” Lowe said. “And sometimes the plans work out; sometimes they don’t and we need to go to someone else. And at the same time, I think people would have been ready for a spot here or there, but we wanted the ball in Devyn’s hands at the end, and we were looking for Miranda to set the tone. And I think we were able to achieve both. Obviously, we want a cleaner first inning, but at the same time, we recovered really well and responded to them scoring.”

Arizona’s response came in the bottom of the inning. Canady retired the first two batters, but Kaiah Altmeyer started the two-out rally with a single. Netz drove in the Wildcats’ two runs with her 15th homer of the season.

“It was a rise ball, up and in, I think,” Netz said. “But honestly, I just felt like if I was just short to it and…just put the ball in play. Just make their defense work. That’s all I thought. And it kind of caught wind. It got a little lofty, and I think it really hit literally at the 200-foot mark. So honestly, she’s a great pitcher, and we have to tip our caps to her. She pitched a great game. We played a great game, as well.”

Altmeyer had a good day at the plate. She had one of Arizona’s four hits and was robbed of another one by a great play in centerfield.

“Nobody was trying to be too big,” Altmeyer said. “Just anything over the plate, get your best swing on it. Like Dev said, she’s a great pitcher, so we just weren’t thinking too much. Keeping it really simple. Short to the ball.”

It was the first time Netz had faced Canady. The players missed each other with injuries during their final two seasons in the Pac-12. Altmeyer was a little more prepared for what she would face.

“I think I got like two at-bats off her last year,” Altmeyer said. “She sat me down.”

Stoddard locked things down in the top of the second by sitting down the Raiders in order. She faced eight batters in two innings, then gave way to Netz in the top of the third. Stoddard allowed one earned run on three hits. She threw 24 pitches, including 15 strikes.

Netz controlled the next five innings. She also surrendered three hits but didn’t allow any runs. Two of the hits were singles. Twenty of her 67 pitches were balls.

Netz struck out five. Canady was the victim of two of those strikeouts. Neither Arizona pitcher allowed a walk.

Canady pitched a complete game for TTU, throwing 107 total pitches. She threw 63 strikes and 44 balls. She gave up two earned runs on five hits, two walks, a hit batter, and a wild pitch in six innings of work.

“I was very proud of the team all around tonight,” Lowe said. “I thought we even had opportunities to score more runs, and they made some really good plays.”

Arizona’s opportunities to tack on more runs started in the second inning. Designated player Emily Schepp led off the bottom of the second by getting hit by a pitch. Two straight popups left her still standing there with two outs.

Tayler Biehl’s double to right field wasn’t quite enough to get Schepp in from first. A great relay and a block of the plate by TTU catcher Victoria Valdez had the ball waiting for Schepp when she got home.

Regan Shockey’s one-out double and a two-out walk by Netz gave Arizona the chance to score in the third. Canady induced a ground ball to end the inning.

The Wildcats had another prime opportunity in the fifth when Dakota Kennedy hit a one-out triple. They failed to convert once again with the final out coming on Altmeyer’s fly that ended in the highlight-reel diving catch by centerfielder Mihyia Davis.

One inning later, Netz drew the leadoff walk, and pinch runner Zaedi Tagalog advanced to second on Canady’s wild pitch. The TTU pitcher got two of her seven strikeouts and a foulout to keep Tagalog on second base.

Texas Tech’s best opportunity to tie or take the lead came in the top of the fifth. Canady struck out to start the inning, but Netz allowed two singles to put the go-ahead run on first. A fielder’s choice and the second strikeout of the inning ended the danger. Arizona’s senior leader dismissed the final six TTU batters in order to preserve the win.

“Really can’t say enough about our pitching shutting down a good team, because that’s a very good team,” Lowe said. “And I thought Devyn looked her best at the end of the game, which feels great, too.”

Arizona will try to secure the series win on Friday at 5 p.m. MST.

Lead photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics