Sumaya Sugapong scored the last nine points of the game for Arizona and the Wildcats held BYU without a field goal in the final 2:46 in a 75-72 win on Tuesday night. Head coach Becky Burke earned her first Big XII win after the Wildcats lost their first three non-conference games.
Arizona outscored BYU 7-1 in the final 2:04 to earn the win. Sugapong began her streak by making two free throws with 2:54 remaining to put Arizona ahead 68-67. Delaney Gibb made a three-point shot for BYU with 2:46 left to put the Cougars back in front 70-68.
Lara Rohkohl made one of two free throws with 2:04 remaining to extend the BYU lead to 71-68. Sugapong tied the game at 71 with 1:04 remaining. Gibb split a pair of free throws with 41 seconds remaining to give BYU its last lead at 72-71.
Sugapong was fouled with 20 seconds left and made both free throws to give Arizona the lead for good at 73-72. After a BYU turnover, Sugapong made two free throws to stretch the Arizona lead to 75-72. Brinley Cannon missed a three-point shot at the buzzer and Arizona held on for the win.
Arizona Starters did all the scoring
All five Arizona starters finished in double figures, led by Nora Francois with 21 points on nine of 12 from the field with four rebounds, five assists, two blocks and five steals. Sugapong scored 18, including making all nine of her free throw attempts. Tanyuel Welch had 13 points and 14 rebounds.
Gibb led BYU with 21 points. Marya Hudgins scored 13 points as the only other BYU player in double figures. Arizona forced 27 turnovers with 12 steals to balance getting out-rebounded 41-28. Arizona outscored BYU 24-15 in the fourth quarter. Central Florida is at Arizona on Saturday at 2:00 PM on ESPN+.