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TUCSON, AZ - FEBRUARY 14: Arizona State Sun Devils forward McKinna Brackens (21) attempts to steal the ball from Arizona Wildcats guard Noelani Cornfield (4) during the fourth quarter of a women's basketball game between the Arizona State Sun Devils and the Arizona Wildcats on February 14, 2026, at McKale Center at ALKEME Arena in Tucson, AZ. (Photo by Christopher Hook/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
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The long day at McKale Center started with College Gameday’s appearance, but the real action got underway with the Arizona-Arizona State women’s basketball game. The Wildcats had a four-point lead to go with 43 seconds to go in regulation but couldn’t maintain it as ASU came back to take a 75-69 victory in overtime.
Point guard Lani Cornfield didn’t start for the second straight game, but she and fellow fifth-year Nora Francois came in about halfway through the first quarter.
“I never questioned anything from a basketball standpoint with Lani and her effort and how hard she’s going to play and how much she’s going to want to win when the ball is tipped off,” Arizona head coach Becky Burke said. “And she was her fantastic self as a basketball player today, and helped us, put us in a position to win. So, like I said, there’s a lot a lot of other things that go into it that I’m going to still continue to love her through and coach her through, and as I will with the rest of them.”
Cornfield gave Arizona a jolt offensively with 24 points and 6 assists, but she and her teammates struggled with turnovers for the first half of the game. The Wildcats ended with 20 giveaways. Cornfield led with 7 but everyone who got on the court had at least one. The entire group settled down after the first 20 minutes, though.
“We only had five turnovers in the entire second half,” said Arizona head coach Becky Burke. “I mean…we get loose, we get sloppy with the ball. And we had 15 turnovers at halftime, but we cleaned it up, we made the adjustment, and we put ourselves in a position to win the basketball game. So that’s what you want. You want adjustments out of halftime. You want to clean it up, and that’s exactly what we did.”
The Wildcats came out strong and led 17-13 after the first quarter off the efficiency of Sumayah Sugapong. The junior guard went 3 for 5 from the field and scored seven points in the opening 10 minutes.
Sugapong was the second Wildcat to finish in double figures. She ended her day with 23 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals. Tanyuel Welch also had double-digit points with 16. She was just shy of a double-double with 8 rebounds.
The only other Wildcat to score was Daniah Trammell with 6 points, but Francois threw in 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.
Arizona State came back in the second quarter when the 3-point shots started to fall. The Sun Devils went 1 for 6 from outside in the first, missing their first five. After the change of quarters, they hit 3 of 4.
The Wildcats were also launching 3s, but they weren’t having as much success. The home team went 1 for 4 in each of the first two quarters, ending the half hitting just 25 percent of their shots from beyond the arc.
The result was a tied game at the half.
The 3-point success continued for ASU out of the half. Arizona went up by four on a couple of layups, but the Sun Devils overcame by hitting two 3-pointers and two free throws. They led by four at the 6:27 mark and maintained a lead through the rest of the frame.
The Wildcats cut into the lead repeatedly in the fourth, but when they got within a possession, a quick shot or an attempted 3 by a player who isn’t highly efficient at outside shooting stalled their forward progress.
That finally ended with just over a minute to go in regulation. Two free throws by Sugapong put Arizona up two. Two more by Cornfield made it a four-point lead. Arizona just needed to defend for 43 seconds to secure its third conference win of the season.
A foul on a 3-point shot put Gabby Elliott at the line for three. She only hit two of them, but ASU now had the opportunity to tie it or go ahead with 37 seconds on the clock.
Arizona still had chances, but one of its 13 missed layups kept the lead at two with nine seconds to go. ASU was able to advance the ball with a timeout. McKinna Brackens got into the lane and hit the tying shot with 3.6 on the clock. Cornfield’s desperation heave from halfcourt didn’t have nearly enough on it, and it was on to overtime.
“We were in a position to win it, and then we did a couple silly things where we gave them some hope,” Burke said.
Arizona went just 3 for 10 from the field and 2 for 3 from the line in the extra period while ASU was 4 for 5 and hit 5 of 8 free throws.
“It’s so hard for us to win,” Burke said. “We can’t foul that 3-point shooter. We can’t have a couple of our shooters not make a couple shots today. It’s like we got to be really firing on all cylinders. But with that being said…we’ve been in so many basketball games this year that I think if you pull up both rosters, you’d never think that we would be in. And I say that respectfully to my group. There’s just certain things and certain areas that we’re deficient in, and we’ve put ourselves in a position in games that sometimes we have no business being in, to be in those games, be in those games late, and and win those games. And that’s a credit to our players, how hard they play and how much they just believe that we can win on any given night, but I’m just, I’m proud of them. It’s hard. You know, nobody likes to lose, but I’m remembering these moments. Let’s put it that way.”
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