Arizona women's basketball prepares for road trip

Arizona plays Utah and Colorado this weekend

By LUKE DAVIS Published January 18, 2013 at 1:19am Updated January 18, 2013 at 1:19am

The Arizona women’s basketball team (10-5, 2-2 Pac-12) will begin its longest road trip of the season Friday with Utah (9-6, 0-4) and then head to No. 25 Colorado (13-2, 2-2) on Sunday.

Last weekend at McKale Center, the Wildcats lost to Oregon State 57-48, but rebounded by beating Oregon 100-68 on Sunday.

Arizona’s 100 points on Sunday were the second-most points scored in a game in the Niya Butts head-coaching era.

“I expect it every game,” Butts said. “Now, will we get that? I certainly hope so.”

Arizona managed to score 100 points even without its second leading scorer, junior guard Kama Griffitts, who will miss her third consecutive game Friday at Utah. Her replacement in the starting rotation, Layana White, scored 16 points against Oregon.

When asked whether or not White would see more playing time in future games, Butts responded, “I think so.”

Sunday’s game against Oregon was also notable as the first game this season in which senior guard Davellyn Whyte was not the top Wildcat scorer. Whyte, who ended up with 13 points, said she has no problem if other teammates continue to outshine her on the stat sheet.

“I know teams are going to scout me more,” Whyte said. “With all eyes on me, it allows me to find my wings and bigs.”

Whyte still leads Arizona with 16.3 points and 5.0 assists per game, while junior forward Erica Barnes leads the Wildcats with 6.5 rebounds per game.

Friday, Arizona will face a Utah Utes team that is shooting 41 percent from the field and 33.7 percent from the 3-point line. The Utes have currently won six straight games against the Wildcats and are 12-2 all time against Arizona, dating back to 1975.

Sunday, the Wildcats will match up against the No. 25 Colorado Buffaloes. Redshirt freshman Arielle Roberson leads her teammates with 14.1 points per game. Earlier this season, Colorado defeated No. 15 Louisville, and it is currently outscoring its opponents by 14.5 points.

“We know what we are capable of,” Butts said, “and we understand in conference play anything can happen, but also you can look up and you’re right back in the thick of things.”