Mickie Purdue led Arizona with 17 points and partially blocked a three point attempt at the buzzer as Arizona survived to beat UC-Riverside 62-59 on Thursday night. The Wildcats won the Arizona debut of new head coach Becky Burke.
Arizona struggled throughout the game before taking a 46-39 lead at the end of the third quarter. The Wildcats out scored the Highlanders 23-14 in the third quarter. The 23-point Arizona third quarter equaled their first half total. Arizona led 23-22 at halftime.
The Wildcats made eight of 27 from the field and one of seven three-point attempts in the first half. Arizona held UC-Riverside nine of 22 from the field in the first half, but the Highlanders made four of their 11 three-point attempts.
Burke has frequently mentioned the lack of size Arizona has this season. That played out on Thursday as UC-Riverside outrebounded Arizona 33-24. Arizona overcame the rebounding deficit by forcing 23 turnovers and committing 16. The Wildcats had an 18-11 advantage in points off of turnovers.
Arizona extended the lead to 52-43 on a Kamryn Kitchen three-point shot with 6:13 remaining in the fourth quarter. UC-Riverside went on a 15-6 run to tie the score at 58 with 1:58 remaining. Noelani Cornfield scored with 1:34 remaining to put Arizona back in front to stay.
Trammell scored 13 points while making all five of her shots from the field and Cornfield had 10 points and eight assists before fouling out. Sumaya Sugapong had nine points and six rebounds and Nora Francois finished with eight points and five rebounds for Arizona.
UC-Riverside was led by Aaliya Stanton with 14 points and Maya Chocano had 11. Arizona will host UC-Irvine on Sunday at 2 PM Mountain Standard Time on ESPN+. UC-Irvine beat San Diego 72-54 in its season opener on Wednesday.