New Wildcat Sali Kourouma comfortable stepping into the spotlight, helping teammates in any way

When her teammates needed her the most, she responded.

In Wednesday night’s final exhibition win over Point Loma Nazarene, 52-44, with the Wildcats down to only five players, Kourouma was a force for the Arizona women’s basketball program..

She scored the first Wildcat basket and never looked back. She was all over the floor in help defense, getting put backs on missed shots, securing rebounds and picking those steals — four in the first half. Her stats — 17 points (7 of 9 from the field, and 3 of 3 from the line), six steals and five rebounds — only tell a portion of the story.

Arizona coach Adia Barnes said that Kourouma just “finds the right spot,” and is “crafty.”

Kourouma was so intent on finishing the task that Barnes challenged all five of her active Wildcats with, that even when she was asked to come off the floor with 39 seconds left she initially refused. As she was reaching for yet another steal, her shoulder was dislocated and was popped back into place. She shook off the ask by UA trainer Bart Jameson a few times, before she finally yielded and took a seat.

Afterward, with a huge ice pack saran-wrapped to her left shoulder, she said it was “a little sore,” but nothing a little rehab won’t help.

Barnes said that besides the rehab, Kourouma would rest the next few days ahead of Arizona’s regular season opener at New Mexico State on Monday.

Barnes added that while many of the Wildcats have been banged up — five of the 10 she expects ready to play this season were initially ruled out for Wednesday’s exhibition game — she wasn’t concerned about Kourouma’s shoulder, because “Sali is really tough.”

“They popped (the shoulder) back right on the court,” Barnes said. “Some other people would have been like, ‘Ahhhh.’ She’s tough and she was fine. She’ll be a little sore. She’s never done this; I thought she had done it a lot because we just popped it back. I don’t know, I probably would have been screaming. But she’s tough mentally; she’s doesn’t want to ever come out.

“She just wants to go and play. She just fights.”

So much so, that over the last month her Achilles has been bothering her and she just keeps going.

Kourouma, who is slotted into playing mainly at the three position — she’ll also play the four, as needed — is not letting anything stand in her way of helping her teammates.

Sophomore post Maya Nnaji said what Kourouma did was nothing new. She’s seen in in practice and was just happy Kourouma “was doing it on somebody else right now, not me,” Nnaji added with a laugh.

“She plays so hard in practice. It’s like, ‘Sali, chill out,’” Nnaji said. “She plays hard. You never have to question if she’s working hard.

“She goes hard. She rebounds. She’s hustling, going for steals. It’s hard to score on her. She’s super aggressive, super energetic and she might be one of our fiercest competitors on the team,” Nnaji added. “She just brings that fire that toughness and you can tell she wants it. It’s fun to watch. People don’t even expect it. She’s just everywhere; hands everywhere; active rebounding. Getting and-ones and then screaming in the crowd, fired up. It’s fun to play with her.”

Kourouma was the Wildcat’s player of the game getting to bang the drum twice for the two exhibition game wins. She also picked up two team “Go Beyond” awards given after the win for being a “bucket” and a “thief.”

This wasn’t a one-off performance for Kourouma. In the first exhibition game, she chipped in 14 points, two steals, two assists and two rebounds.

Last week, Barnes said that Kourouma is just “ready when she plays.”

Isis’ intangibles

Another experienced Wildcat who is calm on the court and plays within herself, never pressing, is Isis Beh. The 6-3-inch post may not have scored much in the final exhibition game – 3 of 4 free throws – but she definitely found a way into every other positive category in the stat sheet.

She finished with five rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal. She also had no turnovers and no fouls, playing all 40 minutes.

Still, Beh is someone you have to watch closely to fully understand what she brings to this young Wildcat squad.

“She’s very smart, unselfish,” Barnes said. “She missed a couple of shots inside but I thought she did a really good job. She communicates well, she makes extra passes. She doesn’t force. I really love the way she plays and I like what she brings for us.

“She brings experience and we’re very young. If you think about her, she’s one of our most veteran players. It’s shows in how she rotates the help. She does just all the little things and they don’t always show up in stat sheets. She gets tips on balls and she crashes hard — just a lot of stuff that I think really helps us. And that’ll show more later especially we get in the conference and we play against better players. I think her experience is really going to show and her physicality will show.”

Beh does other things on and off the court that make her a Barnes-type of player.

“She keeps our team together,” Nnaji said. “She’s always encouraging people and she’s the first one pick you up when you fall, to cheer you on when you score. She brings that grit for us. She’s always diving on the floor, hustling after rebounds. Giving you a pat on the back, just encouraging you. And she gives us a lot of energy when she comes in. It might not show up on the stat sheet but we feel her presence.”

Rim Shots

Nnaji, who was the second leading scorer in the exhibition game with 14 points to go along with six rebounds has expanded her game this season. Part of it is a new-found strength and being able to hold her position better and she’s also gained more confidence in showing off her outside shots — both three-pointers and mid-range.

“Just to see how the hard work on her body, her mentality — just mental and physical game has improved so much,” Barnes said. “I’m happy for that because she’s just going to continue to get better and she’s one of our most fundamental players and skilled players.”

ESPN Hoopgurlz’ Shane Laflin predicted the top impact freshmen and UA’s Jada Williams made the list. Laflin said that Williams, “has always displayed leadership intangibles and basketball IQ but will have to take things to another level as Arizona has established itself in the last few years as one of the marquee programs in the country. Williams is fundamentally sound and knows how to put teammates in positions for success.”

USC’s JuJu Watkins Oregon’s Sofia Bell and Washington’s Sayvia Sellers also made the list from the Pac-12.

Esmery Martinez, who didn’t play in the final exhibition game because of a migraine, is one of four active NCAA players who have scored more than 1,000 points and grabbed more than 1,000 rebounds. The other three are Virginia Tech’s Liz Kitley, Seton Hall’s A’Jah Davis and BYU’s Lauren Gustin.

In ESPNW’s final preseason bracketology by Charlie Crème, Arizona is pegged to be a No. 8 seed, going up against No. 9 North Carolina State. A total of nine teams from the Pac-12 are expected to make the NCAAs. That’s more than any other conference.