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Trailing by 18 points late in the third quarter, Arizona had two shots to tie in the final five seconds. Neither 3-point attempt went through the basket, and the Wildcats fell to Division II West Texas A&M 60-57 in an exhibition game Thursday night at McKale Center.

“Obviously not the result that we wanted or that we’re proud of or that is acceptable to us,� Burke said. “I saw a lot of really upset and hurt players in our locker room, which I think is a really good sign as far as our competitiveness goes.

“We’re going to take every lesson from this game, apply it to practice this next week — hopefully have a wakeup call for every single person on our team, which from what I just saw in the locker room will be the case. ... This is about as big of a wakeup call and a sense-of-urgency call that I think you can have in your first game.�

Every player who took the court for ÃÛÌÒÓ°ÏñAV on Thursday is new to the program. Growing pains were expected.

The only solace Burke took was that the Wildcats rallied in the fourth quarter.

“Not happy with the outcome,� she said. “Very happy with our ability to hang in and come back from almost 20 down and stay resilient through the fourth quarter.

“We can’t wait till the last five minutes to have things click and turn it on in a sense. A lot of lessons, a lot of film, a lot of conversations this coming week. We move forward, we get better for it, we get better because of it. And we do not let it happen again. I will do a much better job myself, as well.�

The Wildcats outscored the Buffaloes 20-8 in the fourth quarter. Mickayla Perdue had two good looks from beyond the 3-point arc in the final seconds but missed them both. She finished 1 of 9 from 3-point range, and the team was just 1 of 12.

Freshman Daniah Trammell helped spark the fourth-quarter comeback. She finished with eight points on 4-of-5 shooting and had a team-best plus/minus of plus-15.

Guard Noelani Cornfield had a team-high 14 points, four assists and four steals. Fellow guard Sumayah Sugapong had 12 points before fouling out with 4:58 to play.

Burke earlier in the week had expressed concern about her team’s lack of size. Sure enough, West Texas A&M outrebounded Arizona 45-37, including 16 offensive boards. The Buffaloes had 17 second-chance points to the Wildcats’ six.

Burke didn’t think it was a matter of height.

“That’s 100% a toughness category and a want-to and a discipline, and I will own that,� Burke said. “That is completely on me as a head coach to get corrected. It is something we talk about, it is something we practice, it is something that we preach. Obviously, I’ve got to find another way to wake them up if this wasn’t enough, which I believe (it) will be.

“We can’t lose any category that comes down to toughness or discipline or just a willingness to go get the basketball, which they (the Buffaloes) had from start to finish.�

Arizona has one more exhibition game, vs. Cal State LA next Thursday, before opening the season Nov. 6 vs. UC Riverside.

Rim shots

– Arizona’s starting lineup consisted of Perdue, Cornfield, Sugapong, wing Tanyuel Welch and center Achol Magot.

– Freshman Mireia Jurado played starter’s minutes (21:10) and was on the court during the Wildcats’ late rally. She had five points and was a plus-9.