2023–24 Arizona Wildcats women's basketball team

The 2023–24 Arizona Wildcats women's basketball team represented the University of Arizona during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wildcats were led by eighth-year head coach Adia Barnes. This was the Wildcats' 50th season at the on-campus McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona and 45th season as a member of the Pac-12 Conference.

2023–24 Arizona Wildcats women's basketball
NCAA tournament, First round
ConferencePac-12 Conference
Record18–16 (8–10 Pac-12)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Salvo Coppa (8th season)
  • Bett Shelby (1st season)
  • Anthony Turner (1st season)
Home arenaMcKale Center
Seasons
2023–24 Pac-12 Conference women's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 9 Stanford 15 3   .833 30 6   .833
No. 5 USC 13 5   .722 29 6   .829
No. 10 UCLA 13 5   .722 27 7   .794
No. 8 Oregon State 12 6   .667 27 8   .771
No. 15 Colorado 11 7   .611 24 10   .706
No. 22 Utah 11 7   .611 23 11   .676
Arizona 8 10   .444 18 16   .529
California 7 11   .389 19 15   .559
Washington State 7 11   .389 21 15   .583
Washington 6 12   .333 16 15   .516
Arizona State 3 15   .167 11 20   .355
Oregon 2 16   .111 11 21   .344
2024 Pac-12 tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

This was also the last season that Arizona will play in the Pac-12 Conference before moving to the Big 12 Conference.[1]

Previous season

edit

The Wildcats finished the 2022–23 season with a record of 22–10, 11–7 in Pac-12 play. The Wildcats were invited to the 2023 NCAA tournament where they defeated West Virginia in the first round before losing to Maryland in the second round.

Offseason

edit

Departures

edit
Arizona Wildcats Departures
Name Number Pos. Height Year Hometown Notes
Shaina Pellington 1 G 5'8" Graduate Student Pickerington, OH Completed college eligibility
Cate Reese 25 F 6'2" Graduate Student Cypress, TX Completed college eligibility
Jade Loville 30 G/F 5'11" Graduate Student Scottsdale, AZ Completed college eligibility
Reference:

Outgoing Transfers

edit
Arizona Outcoming Transfers
Name Number Pos. Height Year Hometown New School Source
Madison Conner 4 G 5'11" Sophomore Chandler, AZ Transferred to TCU
Lemyah Hylton 10 G 5'11" Freshman London, OH Transferred to Miami (FL)
Paris Clark 22 G 5'8" Freshman Mount Vernon, NY Transferred to Virginia
Lauren Fields 23 G 5'9" Senior Shawnee, OK Transferred to West Virginia
Lauren Ware 32 F 6'5" Junior Bismarck, ND Transferred to Texas A&M
Reference:

Acquisitions

edit

Incoming Transfers

edit
Arizona Incoming Transfers
Name Number Pos. Height Year Hometown Previous School Years Remaining Date Eligible Source
Courtney Blakley 1 G 5'8" Junior Gary, IN Middle Tennessee 2
Sali Kourouma 24 F 5'11'   Senior Kati, Mali Little Rock 1
Isis Beh 33 F 6'3"   Junior Murray, UT West Virginia 2
Reference:

2023 recruiting class

edit
US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Montaya Dew
F
Las Vegas, NV Centennial High School 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) N/A Dec 23, 2021 
Recruiting star ratings: RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN:    ESPN grade: 97
Breya Cunningham
POST
Chula Vista, CA La Jolla Country Day School 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) N/A Jun 26, 2022 
Recruiting star ratings: RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN:    ESPN grade: 97
Jada Williams
PG
Kansas City, MO La Jolla Country Day School (CA) 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) N/A Aug 1, 2022 
Recruiting star ratings: RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN:    ESPN grade: 96
Skylar Jones
W
Chicago, IL Whitney Young 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) N/A Jun 5, 2023 
Recruiting star ratings: RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN:    ESPN grade: 91
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2023 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on November 17, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  • "2023 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 17, 2023.

Preseason

edit

Preseason rankings

edit
Pac-12 media poll (Coaches)
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1 Utah 116 (7)
2 UCLA 109 (3)
3 Stanford 100 (2)
4 Colorado 90
5 Washington State 84
6 USC 70
7 Arizona 51
8 Oregon 49
9 Washington 46
10 Oregon State 43
11 California 22
12 Arizona State 12

Source:[2]

Preseason All-conference teams

edit
Award Player Position Year
Preseason All Pac-12 team Esmery Martínez F GS

Source:[3]

Roster

edit
2023–24 Arizona Wildcats women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown
G 1 Courtney Blakely 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Jr Bishop Noll
Middle Tennessee
Gary, IN
G 2 Jada Williams 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Fr La Jolla County Day Kansas City, MO
F 3 Montaya Dew 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Fr Centennial Las Vegas, NV
G 4 Skylar Jones 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Fr Whitney Young Chicago, IL
F 12 Esmery Martínez 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) GS Hamilton Heights Christian Academy
West Virginia
Hato Mayor del Rey, DR
G 13 Helena Pueyo 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) GS Segle XXI Palma de Mallorca, Spain
G 15 Kailyn Gilbert 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) So Seffner Christian Academy Tampa, FL
F 23 Maya Nnaji 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) So Hopkins St. Louis Park, MN
G/F 24 Salimatou Kourouma 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) RS Sr Life Preparatory Academy
Little Rock
Kati, Mali
F 25 Breya Cunningham 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Fr La Jolla County Day Chula Vista, CA
F 33 Isis Beh 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) RS Jr Murray
West Virginia
Murray, UT
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule and results

edit
Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
October 25, 2023*
6:00 p.m.
West Texas A&M W 103–58 
 24  Gilbert   7  Tied   7  Pueyo  McKale Center (6,400)
Tucson, AZ
November 1, 2023*
6:00 p.m.
Point Loma W 52–44 
 17  Kourouma   6  Nnaji   3  Gilbert  McKale Center (6,335)
Tucson, AZ
Regular season
November 6, 2023*
6:00 p.m., ESPN+
at New Mexico State W 68–57  1–0
 16  Gilbert   10  Cunningham   4  Williams  Pan American Center (1,297)
Las Cruces, NM
November 10, 2023*
6:30 p.m.
Northern Arizona W 87–64  2–0
 18  Cunningham   10  Gilbert   5  Tied  McKale Center (6,909)
Tucson, AZ
November 12, 2023*
2:00 p.m.
Loyola Marymount W 70–54  3–0
 14  Gilbert   9  Gilbert   5  Tied  McKale Center (6,784)
Tucson, AZ
November 14, 2023*
6:30 p.m.
San Diego W 79–66  4–0
 21  Gilbert   9  Pueyo   6  Pueyo  McKale Center (6,727)
Tucson, AZ
November 18, 2023*
12:30 p.m., FloSports
vs. Memphis
Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinals
W 90–57  5–0
 19  Martinez   11  Martinez   5  Pueyo  Imperial Arena (247)
Nassau, Bahamas
November 19, 2023*
10:00 a.m., FloSports
vs. No. 23 Ole Miss
Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals
L 47–56  5–1
 12  Nnaji   8  Cunningham   3  Tied  Imperial Arena (207)
Nassau, Bahamas
November 20, 2023*
12:30 p.m., ESPNU
vs. South Dakota
Battle 4 Atlantis 3rd place game
W 61–52  6–1
 14  Martinez   8  Martinez   3  Tied  Imperial Arena 
Nassau, Bahamas
December 2, 2023*
6:00 p.m., MW Network
at UNLV L 53–72  6–2
 21  Gilbert   11  Martinez   3  Gibert  Thomas & Mack Center (3,953)
Paradise, NV
December 7, 2023*
6:30 p.m.
UC San Diego W 81–38  7–2
 15  Williams   10  Cunningham   4  Cunningham  McKale Center (6,702)
Tucson, AZ
December 13, 2023*
7:00 p.m., P12N
No. 5 Texas L 75–88  7–3
 26  Gilbert   5  Tied   4  Tied  McKale Center (7,261)
Tucson, AZ
December 17, 2023
5:00 p.m., P12N
at Arizona State W 91–52  8–3
(1–0)
 19  Gilbert   8  Cunningham   4  Gilbert  Desert Financial Arena (3,907)
Tempe, AZ
December 20, 2023*
2:30 p.m., P12N
vs. No. 20 Gonzaga
Jerry Colangelo Classic
L 69–81  8–4
 21  Gilbert   7  Pueyo   4  Williams  Footprint Center 
Phoenix, AZ
December 31, 2023*
2:00 p.m.
Seattle W 89–52  9–4
 18  Williams   10  Gilbert   6  Gilbert  McKale Center (7,500)
Tucson, AZ
January 5, 2024
6:00 p.m., P12N
No. 5 Colorado L 74–75  9–5
(1–1)
 19  Gilbert   6  Pueyo   5  Williams  McKale Center (7,386)
Tucson, AZ
January 7, 2024
12:00 p.m., P12N
No. 15 Utah W 71–70 OT 10–5
(2–1)
 22  Gilbert   12  Gilbert   4  Pueyo  McKale Center (7,385)
Tucson, AZ
January 12, 2024
8:00 p.m., P12N
at Oregon State L 70–73 2OT 10–6
(2–2)
 22  Gilbert   8  Martinez   3  Tied  Gill Coliseum (4,497)
Corvallis, OR
January 14, 2024
1:00 p.m., P12N
at Oregon L 68–70  10–7
(2–3)
 23  Williams   4  Beh   7  Pueyo  Matthew Knight Arena (N/A)
Eugene, OR
January 19, 2024
8:00 p.m., P12N
at Washington L 60–62  10–8
(2–4)
 18  Gilbert   12  Martinez   3  Gilbert  Alaska Airlines Arena (2,090)
Seattle, WA
January 21, 2024
1:00 p.m., P12N
at Washington State L 57–78  10–9
(2–5)
 22  Gilbert   11  Gilbert   3  Tied  Beasley Coliseum (1,232)
Pullman, WA
January 26, 2024
7:00 p.m., P12N
California W 66–55  11–9
(3–5)
 20  Martinez   7  Martinez   4  Pueyo  McKale Center (7,268)
Tucson, AZ
January 28, 2024
12:00 p.m., P12N
No. 6 Stanford L 64–96  11–10
(3–6)
 24  Blakley   4  Tied   7  Pueyo  McKale Center (7,692)
Tucson, AZ
February 4, 2024
12:00 p.m., P12N
Arizona State W 63–52  12–10
(4–6)
 18  Martinez   15  Martinez   4  Pueyo  McKale Center (8,210)
Tucson, AZ
February 9, 2024
9:00 p.m., P12N
at No. 9 UCLA L 58–66  12–11
(4–7)
 16  Martinez   8  Martinez   2  Tied  Pauley Pavilion (5,210)
Los Angeles, CA
February 12, 2024
7:00 p.m., ESPN2
at No. 10 USC L 64–81  12–12
(4–8)
 13  Tied   7  Martinez   3  Tied  Galen Center (4,569)
Los Angeles, CA
February 16, 2024
6:00 p.m., P12N
Washington State W 64–45  13–12
(5–8)
 18  Pueyo   8  Jones   4  Blakely  McKale Center (7,383)
Tucson, AZ
February 18, 2024
12:00 p.m., P12N
Washington W 90–82 3OT 14–12
(6–8)
 22  Pueyo   8  Pueyo   5  Williams  McKale Center (7,354)
Tucson, AZ
February 23, 2024
8:00 p.m., P12N
at No. 3 Stanford W 68–61  15–12
(7–8)
 23  Williams   9  Martinez   5  Pueyo  Maples Pavilion (4,423)
Stanford, CA
February 25, 2024
1:00 p.m., P12N
at California W 87–68  16–12
(8–8)
 20  Martinez   9  Martinez   7  Martinez  Haas Pavilion (1,909)
Berkeley, CA
February 29, 2024
6:00 p.m., P12N
No. 7 USC L 93–95 2OT 16–13
(8–9)
 21  Pueyo   9  Pueyo   7  Pueyo  McKale Center (7,594)
Tucson, AZ
March 2, 2024
6:00 p.m., P12N
No. 8 UCLA L 41–61  16–14
(8–10)
 16  Pueyo   3  Tied   3  Tied  McKale Center (7,845)
Tucson, AZ
Pac-12 Women's Tournament
March 6, 2024
7:00 p.m., P12N
(7) vs. (10) Washington
First Round
W 58–50  17–14
 14  Tied   7  Cunningham   5  Pueyo  MGM Grand Garden Arena (4,372)
Paradise, NV
March 7, 2024
7:00 p.m., P12N
(7) vs. (2) No. 5 USC
Quarterfinals
L 62–65  17–15
 19  Pueyo   7  Tied   6  Pueyo  MGM Grand Garden Arena (N/A)
Paradise, NV
NCAA Women's Tournament
March 21, 2024*
4:00 p.m., ESPN2
(11 P3) vs. (11 P3) Auburn
First Four
W 69–59  18–15
 17  Williams   7  Martinez   4  Pueyo  Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (533)
Storrs, CT
March 23, 2024*
12:30 p.m., ESPN2
(11 P3) vs. (6 P3) No. 22 Syracuse
First round
L 69–74  18–16
 24  Jones   7  Tied   5  Jones  Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,299)
Storrs, CT
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Mountain Time.

Source:[4]

Awards and honors

edit

Postseason

edit

Rankings

edit
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415161718Final
APRVRVRVNot released
CoachesRV

Media coverage

edit

Radio

edit

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "University of Arizona will join the Big 12 Conference in 2024-25". University of Arizona. 2023-11-17. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  2. ^ "Utah selected as 2023-24 Pac-12 Women's Basketball favorites in preseason polls". October 9, 2023. Archived from the original on October 10, 2023. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  3. ^ "Media selects preseason 2023-24 Pac-12 Women's Basketball All-Conference Team". October 8, 2023. Archived from the original on October 10, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  4. ^ "2023-24 Women's Basketball Schedule". arizonawildcats.com. University of Arizona. Retrieved November 17, 2023.