2023–24 Arizona Wildcats women's basketball team

2023–24 Arizona Wildcats women's basketball
NCAA tournament, First round
Conference	Pac-12 Conference
Record	18–16 (8–10 Pac-12)
Head coach	Adia Barnes (8th season)
Assistant coaches	Salvo Coppa (8th season) Bett Shelby (1st season) Anthony Turner (1st season)
Home arena	McKale Center

2023–24 Pac-12 Conference women's basketball standings

v t e	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

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.

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

Main article: 2022–23 Arizona Wildcats women's basketball team

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

Departures

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

Arizona Outgoing 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

Incoming Transfers

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

College recruiting information

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
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/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
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/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
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 96
Skylar Jones W	Chicago, IL	Whitney Young	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	N/A	Jun 5, 2023
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/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

Preseason rankings

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

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

Source:^[3]

Roster

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 Adia Barnes (Arizona) Assistant coach(es) Salvo Coppa (IULM) Bett Shelby (Greensboro) Anthony Turner (Colorado) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

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

Postseason

Rankings

See also: 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Final
AP	RV	RV	RV																	Not released
Coaches	—	—	RV

Media coverage

Radio

• ESPN Tucson - 1490 AM & 104.09 FM (ESPN Radio) and Nationwide - Dish Network, Sirius XM, Varsity Network and iHeartRadio)
• KCUB 1290 AM – Football Radio Show – (Tucson, AZ)
• KHYT – 107.5 FM (Tucson, AZ)
• KTKT 990 AM – La Hora de Los Gatos (Spanish) – (Tucson, AZ)
• KGME 910 AM – (IMG Sports Network) – (Phoenix, AZ)
• KTAN 1420 AM – (Sierra Vista, AZ)
• KDAP 96.5 FM (Douglas, Arizona)
• KWRQ 102.3 FM – (Safford, AZ/Thatcher, AZ)
• KIKO 1340 AM – (Globe, AZ)
• KVWM 970 AM – (Show Low, AZ/Pinetop-Lakeside, AZ)
• XENY 760 – (Nogales, Sonora) (Spanish)
• KTZR (1450 AM) - (FoxSports 1450) - (Tucson, AZ)

TV

• CBS Family – KOLD (CBS), CBSN
• ABC/ESPN Family – KGUN (ABC), ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN+,
• FOX Family – KMSB (FOX), FOX/FS1, FSN
• Pac-12 Network (Pac-12 Arizona)
• NBC Family – KVOA, NBC Sports, NBCSN
• PBS - KUAT
• Univision/Telemundo/Estrella TV - KUVE/KHRR/KUDF-LP (Spanish)

See also

• 2023–24 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team

References

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.