Arizona 93, Furman 63
ANCHORAGE, AK - Great speed and strength on the part of Arizona, combined with poor shooting by the Furman Lady Paladins, resulted in a 96-63 first round Wildcat victory Tuesday night at the Great Alaksa Shootout in Anchorage, Alaksa.
"Arizona is a very talented team," said Dixon after the game. "Their quickness and strength dictated the tempo. We like to play fast, but they played even faster. Their didn't allow us any easy baskets. We got in quick shoot mode and that was fool's gold for us because we weren't making anything. They got the rebound and beat us down the floor for the easy basket. They got all the easy baskets."
Arizona went on a 14-2 run to open the game, and stretched that 12-point advantage to 22 with 3:43 left to play. The Lady Paladins cut the Wildcat lead to 18 on a Courtney Opie layup with 2:43 to go, but Arizona's speed, especially in the transition game, kept Furman on its heels and put the Wildcats up by 20, 49-29 at the halftime break.
In the first period, Arizona outscored Furman 30-18 in the paint and 12-2 on the fast break. Sophomore Wildcat guard Ashley Whisonant poured in 19 in the opening period with seven assists and one steal. The only chink in AU's armour was ball handling and Furman forced 13 first period turnovers, but gave up 14 of their own to cancel any potential advantage.
If the game's first half belonged to Whisonant, the second period went to Joy Hollingsworth, who connected on seven-of-nine field goals in the period en route to scoring 21 for the game. In the second half, Arizona outscored the Lady Paladins 24-12 in the paint and 14-4 on fast breaks, while also parlaying 12 second period Furman turnovers into 17 Wildcat points.
In the game as a whole, the Wildcats were paced by Whisonant and Hollingsworth, who each totaled 21, while Alaska native Natalie Jones poured in 16 in front of a hometown crowd. Whitney Fields added 11 points, while tying Hollingsworth for rebounding honors, with nine.
The Lady Paladins were led by freshman Sarah Baker (Nashville, Tenn.), who went three-for-five from three point range and two-for-four from the line for 11 points on the night. Sophomore Chrissy Phelps (Damascus, Md.) added 10 points while Katie Agin (Duluth, Ga.) and Lauren Few (Hendersonville, N.C.) each contributed seven. Princess Wells (Marietta, Ga.), Tommi Paris (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Phelps each dished off three assists while Few claimed six steals in 26 minutes of play..
When pressed to find any positives on the night, Dixon mentioned two. "I really don't think we ever quit, and I was proud of that. In addition, we have six freshmen on this team and they got a chance to get some experience against a great team. In fact, out leading scorer was a freshman and our second leading scorer was a sophomore. This competition is only going to make us better down the road."
Furman will get its next chance to get better on Wednesday, Nov. 23, when they face the University of Alaska - Anchorage, in a 2:30 p.m. (AST) consolation game at Sullivan Arena. Arizona will meet Central Connecticut in the championship contest at 5 p.m.