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By Adam Maggard
Cronkite News
TUCSON – Women’s basketball fans packed into McKale Center Saturday, as Arizona State and Arizona clashed in a rivalry game that revealed more than just a winner.
Arizona (15-10), fresh off a win against No. 16 West Virginia but reeling from recent losses, found their footing in a 66-59 victory over a struggling ASU (8-16) team mired in a nine-game skid. The Sun Devils haven’t won since a nine-point victory at Houston on Jan. 4.
Fueled by Jada Williams, who scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Breya Cunningham, who added 16 points and eight boards, the Wildcats capitalized on the Sun Devils’ continued struggles. The Sun Devils got 19 points from Tyi Skinner and 18 from Jalyn Brown, but those strong performances weren’t enough to stop the losing streak.
For Wildcat fans, it was a moment of resurgence; for the Sun Devils, a stark reminder of the challenges ahead. In the Big 12 standings, the first Territorial Cup meeting as new conference members told the story of two programs on diverging paths.
“It’s a rivalry game, they’re always going to be close no matter what the rankings say or anything like that. Everybody wants to take that victory,” Williams said. “We knew it was going to be a battle. We just came in here knowing that we had to play at home, win at home, and give everything we got, and I think we did that.”
The Sun Devils fell to 2-10 in the conference, with a cross-country trip to UCF on tap. Trailing by as many as 10 points, ASU chipped away to stay within reach before suffering a seventh single-digit defeat.
Sun Devils coach Natasha Adair believes it’s only a matter of time before those close losses turn into big wins.
“I keep talking about how scary this team is going to be, you know, just down the stretch and going into the Big 12 Tournament,” Adair said. “Because everyone is getting game experience and we haven’t seen that best by all players all at the same time, and it’s coming they can taste it.”
Meanwhile, the Wildcats are 6-6 in conference play, and sit just three wins away from matching their overall record from last year after a 5-0 start to the 2024-25 regular season. Wildcats coach Adia Barnes prepares her team to face two ranked opponents, starting Wednesday at No. 20 Oklahoma State before returning home Sunday against No. 11 TCU, and she knows there’s room for improvement.
“Tough game, they’re a good team. They can score,” she said of the Sun Devils. “They’ve been in a lot of games and had chances to win, but they’re hard to guard. And you saw that because, at the end of every quarter, we gave up a lot of points.
“So not too happy with that, but at this point, I’m just happy to get a win, (because) wins are really hard to come by.”
For the Wildcats, who also have had their share of close games this season, a young core has kept the team afloat as they look to make it out of the first round of March Madness for a fifth straight year. Led by sophomores Williams and Cunningham, Barnes will keep the ball in the hands of her young stars, who exude confidence and continue to grow with each game.
“We’re some dogs,” Williams said.
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