LAS VEGAS — Cate Reese and Aari McDonald scored 19 points each to help eighth-seeded Arizona beat ninth-seeded Southern California 76-48 in the opening round of the Pac-12 Tournament on Thursday.
The Wildcats (18-12) will face top-seeded Oregon at 3 p.m. Friday in the quarterfinals of the tournament. You can watch the game on Pac-12 Networks.
Arizona led 13-12 midway through the first quarter before scoring eight of the final 10 points. The team kept the momentum going in the second quarter with a 16-5 run to open the period and never looked back. The Wildcats led 44-21 at the half.
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The Wildcats maintained at least a 20-point advantage for most of the second half that allowed coach Adia Barnes to get her starters some rest with another game Friday. Arizona has already secured its first 18-win season since 2010-11. That's the last time the team was over .500 in the regular season. Thursday marked its first postseason win of any kind since the 2016 Pac-12 Tournament.
Mariya Moore, who was second in scoring for USC (17-13) during the season averaging 15.1 points, missed her first 10 shots and didn't have a basket until early in the third quarter. She finished with 12 points, going 7-for-8 from the foul line.
