One of many things that doomed the Arizona Wildcats when they faced Northern Arizona in November was a short bench, specifically the lack of starting guard Jada Williams. Things may not be better this time when the two go at it in the first round of the WBIT on Thursday, Mar. 20, but the team hopes getting the Lumberjacks at home leads to a different outcome.
“That was a really rough game,” said Arizona guard Skylar Jones. “They did us really bad at their place. They manhandled us. Sixth game of the season was early, but now we get a chance to play them again on our terms, on our turf. So, excited for that.”
The status of Williams for the tournament is unknown right now. She sat on the sidelines of many practices this season and sat out a few games due to nagging pain in her foot. She often wears a boot.
The Wildcats will also be without freshman forward Montaya Dew, who underwent surgery on Mar. 14 for issues with her meniscus. It’s the second surgery on her knee since arriving at Arizona a semester early in January 2023. She sat out last year to rehab from an ACL surgery.
“She had an MRI, and it was not conclusive, so they had to go in and scope it out to see what the situation was,” said Arizona head coach Adia Barnes. “Unfortunately, she’ll be out for a while, which is too bad. I’m really sad about that.”
Dew was having the best game of her young career against Texas Tech on Feb. 25. She skied for an offensive rebound late in the game, then crawled off the court under the Arizona basket. She has not played since.
Jones is not sitting out, though. Like Williams, the sophomore guard has worn a boot much of the season and sat out practices. She said it was a tough decision whether to play or not because of the amount of pain she’s in.
“My foot’s been hurting really bad, so I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t know,’” Jones said. ‘But we made it, and I’m gonna play in it. I’m gonna thug it out, because I don’t want to—I’m not a loser. I’m not a quitter, so I didn’t really have any second thoughts about it.”
Jones knows that the only thing that will help is extended rest in the offseason. Playing isn’t going to do more damage, so she wants to see it through.
Others were gung-ho about postseason play despite not getting into the NCAA. Isis Beh falls in that category. The co-captain did not hesitate when asked if there were second thoughts about playing in this tournament.
“Not for me,” Beh said.
It’s the last go-round for Beh, who will get to play at least one and perhaps three more games in McKale Center. While many players who went to junior colleges are being given another year to compete in college if they would have lost eligibility after this season, those who spent only the 2020-21 season at juco are not included in that group. That applies to Beh.
Juco turned into a bad experience for her. Beh said current Arizona assistant coach Bett Shelby fought to get her released from her junior college to go to West Virginia. Then, she brought her to Arizona. Beh credits Shelby with being her champion, but she thanks her most for one piece of advice.
“To come to Arizona,” Beh said.
It’s also a time of year when players start thinking about the transfer portal and rumors fly about coaches leaving. Barnes said those things are difficult to navigate.
“Tremendous impact,” she said. “When you hear coaches on the men’s side talk about that a lot. You’ve seen a lot of stuff on Twitter, I’m sure. I think there’s always rumors this time of year. I think there’s always movement. There’s always jobs open. Everybody follows all that stuff. And I think that you have to keep the main thing, the main thing, and control what you can control. And as a coach, it’s very difficult, and it’s one of the questions that…I asked some of my friends in the SEC. I said, ‘You were in this situation on the bubble of NCAA. You went to the WBIT…how was it?’ Some people said it’s a disaster. It’s hard because with the way our game is, the portal opens during it…So as young people, if they’re thinking about transferring, which every team is dealing with that, they’re having to focus on this, focus on that. And that’s why I think that you see a lot of teams tank.”
She would hope players put their teams first when making decisions about postseason play and effort once they get there, regardless of which coach or program they will play for next year.
“I think that’s important because it shows what kind of teammate you are,” Barnes said. “It shows how much pride you have in Arizona because a lot of people wouldn’t have done that. I think that what players don’t understand is there are decisions that you make that you live with for the rest of your career. And I think that when you’re somewhere, there has to be pride of playing somewhere, and you have to finish what you started, regardless of if you’re transferring or staying. It doesn’t matter. I think that there’s a sense of pride, and you play for your teammates and you play for yourself, and I think everybody pays attention to that, so it only helps you. I think that at this point, for (Jones) playing another week, she’s still gonna rest her foot after, it doesn’t matter. She’s playing for her teammates and for Arizona, and I think that you have to respect that.”
Barnes is focused on what they can do with the players who suit up. With a field that includes teams from last year’s NCAA Tournament, including Arizona, Stanford, UNLV, Gonzaga, Virginia Tech, and Middle Tennessee State, it’s not an easy road.
“We’re really excited to play in the postseason,” Barnes said. “I think, obviously your goal is always to get to the NCAA tournament. We just fell a little short. So that’s unfortunate, but I think the great thing is, the WBIT is a super competitive—a lot better than I even anticipated—tournament with a chance for us to go and do something special.”