W-Hoops battles back to defeat North Texas

The Arizona women’s basketball team kicked off its three game road trip with a comeback victory over the North Texas Mean Green on Wednesday afternoon, 71-66.

“This was all about battling back,” head coach Niya Butts said in a press release. “This was all about toughness. I think we showed that in the second half.”

The second-half surge helped the Wildcats improve to 5-2 on the season.

In its first game since the Junkanoo Jam over Thanksgiving break, Arizona received balanced scoring throughout its lineup.

Five Wildcats had double-digit scoring nights, led by forward Erica Barnes, who had 15 points to go with eight rebounds in her first game off the bench this year.

Three Wildcats — Kama Griffitts, Cheshi Poston and Davellyn Whyte — scored 14 points each, while junior forward Alli Gloyd added 11 points and five rebounds.

Turnovers have plagued Arizona this season. The Wildcats lost the ball 13 times in the first half of Wednesday’s game, but had only four turnovers in the second half, which helped fuel their comeback. In the end, Arizona won the turnover battle 23-17.

The Mean Green kept the Wildcats’ offense at bay in the first half, leading 34-17 at the mid-way point. However, in the second half the Wildcats outscored the Mean Green by 22 points and went on a 17-4 run to end the game. Whyte’s 3-pointer with 2:39 left in the game finally gave the Wildcats the lead.

Arizona held onto the lead with two clutch late steals by Griffitts and Gloyd.