Arizona struggled in its first game without Mickayla Perdue.
Visiting UCF picked up its first Big 12 victory of the season with a 58-55 win over the Wildcats at McKale Center on Saturday afternoon.
UA and ESPN+ reporter Mackenzie Hamilton reported the graduate student guard suffered a wrist injury and will be out indefinitely. Arizona hopes she will be back before the end of the season.
Going into Saturday’s game, Perdue was the Wildcats’ leading scorer and eighth in the Big 12. She is averaging 17.1 points per game and 33.3 minutes per game and started 14 of UA's first 15 games.
UCF (8-8, 1-4) had lost four in a row and was 0-2 in road games.
Fifth-year forward Nora Francois and junior guard Sumayah Sugapong each led UA in scoring with 10 points. Arizona (10-6, 1-4) shot 26.5% in the first half, 29.4% in the first quarter and 23.5% in the second.
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Arizona guard Tanyuel Welch absorbs the impact to get off a shot despite the foul from UCF guard Kristol Ayson (2) during the first quarter of their Big 12 game, Jan. 10, 2026, in Tucson.
The Wildcats averaged 74.7 points per game before Saturday.
Arizona ended up shooting 34.4% overall and 5.9% (1 of 17) from beyond the 3-point line.
UCF started the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run. The Knights went ahead by eight points midway through the quarter.
Arizona rallied to get to within four points in the last minute, but UCF held on to win.
UCF led 25-22 at halftime, and extended its lead to seven points midway through the third quarter despite going minutes without scoring any field goals.
Thanks to steals from graduate student guard Noelani Cornfield and junior guard Tanyuel Welch, Arizona cut the lead to two, while also making three straight field goals.
Arizona then took a 38-37 lead after the Knights went almost seven minutes without a field goal. UCF led by three points after the third quarter as both teams scored 16 in the penultimate frame.
Arizona shot 53.3% in the third quarter.
Arizona forward Nora Francois gets sandwiched trying to drag down a rebound between UCF guard Samari Bankhead left, and UCF center Savannah Scott during the second quarter of their Big 12 game at McKale Center, Jan. 10, 2026.
UCF junior center Khyala Ngodu had 22 points and 13 rebounds, while sophomore forward Mahogany Chandler-Roberts scored 14. The Knights shot 48.9% from the field.
The Big 12’s seventh-leading scorer, sophomore guard Leah Harmon, had just two points for the Knights despite averaging 17.4 points per game before Saturday.
After UA went ahead 4-0 to start the game, it missed four field goals in a row and underwent a 2:34 scoring drought as UCF tied it up at 6-6.
Both sides went cold at the end of the half. UA suffered through a stretch where they missed eight of nine field goals, while UCF committed five turnovers over a 4:15 span and went almost four minutes without scoring.
Arizona closed out the first quarter with a scoring drought of about 3:30 and four turnovers during that span. The Knights went on a 7-0 run at the end of the period, but led only 15-12 as they had three turnovers of their own to end the first frame.
Up next for the Wildcats is a trip to No. 13 TCU (15-1, 3-1). The Horned Frogs host ASU on Sunday afternoon.
Arizona’s next home date is Jan. 20 against Kansas.
Michael Lev contributed to this report.
