TUCSON, Ariz. – The Arizona women's basketball team (2-3) will play their first game in McKale Center since the home opener on Nov. 10 when they face the Long Beach State 49ers (0-5) on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. MST. Arizona will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak while the 49ers are looking for their first win of the season.
 
Tuesday, Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. MST
Radio: 1400 AM (Derrick Palmer)
Twitter: @ArizonaWBB
#MadeForIt
 
QUICK NOTES

• Arizona returns home from a four-game road trip, including three-straight in the greater Los Angeles Area. The trip started off with a win over Utah State, but the Wildcats dropped the next three as they played three games in five days.
   
• Jalea Bennett found her groove in California as she averaged 15.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game in her last three contests, including a season-high 19 against Loyola Marymount on Nov.21.
   
• Sam Thomas has been nothing short of impressive as the freshman is averaging 10.4 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.6 blocks and 2.0 steals through five games. She scored 20 points last Friday against TCU, which is the most any Wildcat has scored this year and the most any freshman has scored since Taryn Griffey back on Dec. 21, 2015 against Gardner-Webb when she had 29.
   
• Marlee Kyles and Thomas are the first pair freshmen to have both scored at least 18 points in one game in the first four games of the season since 2007 when Tasha Dickey and Ify Ibekwe did it.

 
Last Five vs. Long Beach State
12/2/12: at LBSU 71, UA 61
12/11/11: at UA 66, LBSU 42
12/14/08: at UA 56, LBSU 47
12/9/2007: UA 66, at LBSU 53
12/12/06: at UA 77, LBSU 39
 
Scouting the 49ers
Long Beach State comes into Tuesday's game winless, but are hungry for their first victory under first-year head coach Jeff Cammon. The 49ers are led by Shanaijah Davison, who averages 15.6 points per game. Although Long Beach State carries a 15-6 record all-time against the Wildcats, Arizona has won six of the last seven matchups since 1992. Long Beach State won the first 14 matchups from 1977-1990. Former Wildcat Bria Rice plays for Long Beach State, but is forced to sit out this year due to NCAA transfer rules.
 
Thomas Does It All
Freshman forward Sam Thomas has been Arizona's version of Draymond Green through the first three games of her collegiate career as she has averaged 10.4 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.6 blocks and 2.0 steals per game while being off the floor for just 10 minutes this season. She is 11th in the Pac-12 and second among all freshmen in rebounding, sixth in the Pac-12 and first among freshmen in steals, and second in the Pac-12 and first among freshmen in blocks. Thomas had a monster game against TCU (11/24) as she scored 20 points on 7-10 shooting with seven rebounds and two blocks. She is the first freshman since Taryn Griffey to score 20 points in a game. Griffey had 29 against Gardner-Webb back on Dec. 21, 2015. Thomas is the first Wildcat to start off a season with at least 13 blocks in the first five games of the season, let alone a career.
 
Marlee Gets Buckets
Freshman Marlee Kyles is Arizona's second leading scorer through the first five games of the season by averaging 12 points per game off the bench while playing just 23.6 minutes per game, which is the sixth-fewest on the team. She scored 17 in the season opener against Iona (11/10) and had 18 against Loyola Marymount (11/22) with 12 in the fourth quarter alone. Kyles' 60 points through five games is the most to start a career since Shawntinice Polk had 96 in her first five career games back in 2002.
 
It's Her Destiny
Junior Destiny Graham has stepped up her game so far in 2017. She is third on the team in scoring with 11.8 points per game to go along with 5.6 rebounds per game, which is second on the team. Graham scored a career-high 17 points against CSUN (11/25) and tied her career-high with 11 rebounds against TCU (11/24). The junior has done a good job of getting to the line and making her free throws as she is 19-21 (91%) from the charity stripe, which is fourth in the Pac-12. Coming into the 2017 season, Graham had scored in double-figures just three times and has already scored in double-figures three times this season.
 
We See Ya JaLea
JaLea Bennett is one of the two seniors on the team (Kat Wright) and will be looked upon as a leader for the young group of Wildcats this year. Not only do they look to her for leadership, but Bennett has been a good source of energy during the preseason. Bennett, the leading returning scorer, scored 6.9 points per game last season is certainly looking to up that number this year as she has the athletic ability to get to the rim with the best of them. Along with Destiny Graham, they are the two remaining student-athletes that played for former head coach Niya Butts. Bennett came out on fire against Loyola Marymount as she scored 12 first-quarter points and finished the game with 19 while tying her career-high of three made three-pointers. Bennett is shooting 91% from the free throw line and is tied with Kat Wright for second in the Pac-12.
 
Buenos Dias, Lucia
It's hard to believe, but Lucia Alonso is already the third-longest tenured Wildcat on the 2017-18 roster as a sophomore. The Leon, Spain native scored 5.3 points, dished out 2.4 assists and shot 43% (25-58) from downtown (top mark on the team) during her freshman campaign. Her 29.6 minutes per game were also second on the team as she started 27 of Arizona's 30 games, which is the fifth-most any UA freshman as started. Alosno is an astounding 8-12 (67%) from downtown, which first in the Pac-12 and is fifth in steals (2.4). Against Utah State, she tied her career highs with 15 points, four made three-pointers and four steals and followed that up with 13 points and three made threes. Alonso also leads the conference with 38.8 minutes per game and has been on the bench for just six minutes this year.
 
Your Newest WildKAT
After visiting campus this past April, Kat Wright decided to finish out her college career at the University of Arizona. A transfer from Florida Atlantic University, Wright comes in with 145 career made three-pointers, which would be sixth all-time in Arizona history. Wright was forced to sit out the 2016-17 season due to injury, but during her junior year in 2015-16, Wright lit it up as she made 87 trey balls on 40% shooting while scoring 11.7 points per game. To put that into perspective, only one Wildcat has made more than 82 three-pointers in one season, and that was Lisa Griffith wo made 92 in the 1996-97 season. The highlight of her career came on Jan. 30, 2016 when she drained 11 three-pointers against Charlotte, which is the second-most made three-pointers in NCAA history in a single game. Wright is 337 points away from 1,000 career points and should get there if she averages 14 points per game the rest of the season.
 
They're Called Free Throws for a Reason
Arizona has done a good job of converting their free throws this season as they are shooting at an 82% clip, which is first in the Pac-12. Last season, the Wildcats shot 70% from the charity stripe. JaLea Bennett, Deestiny Graham and Kat Wright are all shooting above 90% from the free throw line through five games and are all in the top five in the Pac-12.
 
FOLLOW WOMEN'S HOOPS ON SOCIAL MEDIA!
Fans can keep up with the latest in Arizona women's basketball by following us on Facebook (Facebook.com/ArizonaWomensBasketball), Twitter (@ArizonaWBB) Instagram (@arizonawbasketball) and Snapchat (arizonawbball).