Arizona's Jada Williams injured, Wildcats can't recover and lose 83-64 to No. 20 OSU

Playing without the heart and soul of your team in Jada Williams, is not something that the Wildcats could overcome as No. 20 Oklahoma State beat Arizona 83-64 at Gallagher-Iba Arena, Wednesday night. 

Arizona drops to 15-11, 6-7, while OSU is now 20-4, 10-3. 

Arizona coach Adia Barnes said that not being disciplined in certain actions at the start of the game, losing Williams to an injury and Breya Cunningham getting in foul trouble early, fouling out and playing only 13 minutes contributed to the loss. 

"I don't know if we would have won the game today with the way we were playing defensively, but we would have given ourselves a better chance," Barnes said. 

Things were rolling in the first quarter for Arizona. The Wildcats had ball movement on the offensive end. They were sharing the ball. Then, the unthinkable happened: Williams went down on the court in pain holding her foot. OSU's announcers said she walked — or rather limped off the court on her own — back to the locker room. She returned to the bench in the second quarter but didn't check into the game. 

Williams tried coming back at the beginning of the second half, but could only muster a little less than 30 seconds before she was back on the bench. She was seen shortly later in her UA sweats as her night was over.

Williams has been battling nagging right Achilles and ankle issues for most of the season. She tapes up her foot in different ways to protect the Achilles while still having a little freedom with her ankle. On Monday, after warming up at practice, she was off to the side cheering on her teammates while stretching out. Williams has been receiving different types of treatment and even shots, trying to find the right balance. 

As the gutty Williams said in December after rolling her right ankle during the GCU game, "My end goal is I’ll deal with it later ... Tape me up, there’s a lot I can do in five minutes."

But Barnes is extremely cautious. She knows how important Williams is for the Wildcats and she's needed for the rest of the season, which is why she sat for the rest of the game. 

The sophomore point guard handles so much of the load on offense and defense, averaging nearly 32 minutes per game. Williams averages 13 points per game and is tenacious on defense — getting charges, picking steals and diving for 50-50 balls.

She means so much to the team whether it is sparking a comeback, knocking down a key basket or making her free throws. Without her, it was hard for the Wildcats to find a flow on offense and keep its swarming defense going. Arizona started turning the ball over and taking bad shots. 

Barnes said after the game that Williams is "TBD. We got X-rays and nothing is broken."

"It's just a really sore spot so we don't need to push it and rush, especially when we are down," Barnes said.

The one thing the Wildcats did in the first 20 minutes was keep the Cowgirls off the 3-point line. OSU averages around eight made 3s per game. They made 14 in the win over top ranked Kansas State last weekend with Anna Gret Asi making eight herself. They finished making only 5 of 18 from long range or 28%. 

Despite taking a 37-29 lead into halftime, OSU didn't get into an offensive rhythm. The real difference was that the Cowgirls got to the line and made 10 of 14 attempts, while the Wildcats only got to the line for two free throws and missed both. 

In the second half, the Cowgirls extended that lead as the Wildcats couldn't find an answer. 

Isis Beh came out aggressive and was the bulk of the Wildcat offense in the first half, scoring 17 points (8 of 9 from the field). She finished with a season-high 24 points (11 of 13 from the field).

"I think when other people have been struggling, she's been our most consistent player," Barnes said of Beh. "Right now, she's been showing up ... She's shooting over 60% and she's playing out of her mind. ... If you would have asked me (last season) if Isis Beh would play 30 minutes for us next year and be our point on the trap, on presses and pick-and-roll defense, I would have said, 'You are crazy.' But she's doing it. She's outworked people, worked herself into this role and she's doing a phenomenal job."

Paulina Paris got out of her small slump, scoring 15 (6 of 9) and dishing five assists.

Mailien Rolf got hurt with less than a minute left in what looked like an opponent's knee hitting her in the head as she was on the floor battling for the ball. She was helped off the court. Barnes was fairly certain that Rolf has a concussion as "she was a little woozy." Rolf also had a headache.