Feb 19- Fresh off of a road loss, the women of Arizona Rugby would need to regroup quickly, with a challenge from UC-Santa Barbara right around the corner. Led by Head Coach Tatum Quimby, the Wildcats would demonstrate the resilience that has so many athletes, fans, and alumni excited about the future of the program. Pele Kruse would be the first to get into the try zone, taking advantage of a great attacking sequence inside the Gauchos' 22 to make it 7-0 after a Molly Chisholm conversion. Adrienne Emma, helping lead the side as one of the captains at number eight, then broke loose for a try before Grace Uso would go on a long gallop to make it 21-0. The forwards' onslaught would be interrupted by a Chisholm try, breaking two tackles and touching down in the left corner to make it 28-5 at the half.

The second half was about building on the strong first 40 minutes and continuing to keep the standard high, a theme that Coach Quimby has been preaching with fitness work over the past months. An early penalty from Chisholm would keep control in the hands of the Wildcats and make it 31-5, but UCSB would respond with two tries of their own. Fortunately a late Callie Andrews try to go along with another Chisholm score (23 points) would seal the win, putting Arizona back in the win column and moving the team to 2-1. 

 

"We got our nerves out about fifteen minutes in and started to put together some phases on attack" said Quimby. "The forwards had a great game and Molly made a lot of runs. it was satisfying to see seniors like Grace, Pele, and Callie earn well-deserved tries. This game was another confidence-booster and a reminder that we are making meaningful progress."

 

The Wildcats will host San Diego State this coming weekend at Sitton Field at 11 AM in another important conference matchup.
 

For the Wildcats full schedule, click here.

​​​​

Scoring vs UCSB

-Tries: 6- Chisholm (2), Kruse, Emma, Uso, Andrews

-Conv: Chisholm- 5-5, Boucher- 0/1

-Pen: Chisholm- 1/1

​

Arizona vs UCSB

​​1- Miranda Pieper

2- Lena Boucher

3- Aspen Wresinske

4- Pele Kruse

5- Grace Uso

6- Landry Moore

7- Sarah Layne

8- Adrienne Emma (C)

9- Megan Garland

10- Brityn Ward

11- Melody Chu

12- Molly Chisholm (C)

13- Kira Gomez

14- Bailey Castaneda

15- Kenna Whisenant

-

16- Callie Andrews

17- Alyssa Kane

18- Lila Ortega

19- Maddie Myers

20- Gigi Avila

21- Gabby Sheffield

22- Emma Cook

23- Faith Dupree

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​​​​​