Wildcats head into final four (games) with chance to finish strong, gain position for postseason

Arizona sits in a pretty good position heading into the last four games of the Pac-12 regular season.

The Wildcats control their own fate.

It’s an opportunity to add to their résumé for the postseason.

It’s an opportunity to earn a bye in the Pac-12 Tournament by finishing in the top four — which means they wouldn’t have to play on the first day.

It’s also an opportunity to prove to the NCAA Selection Committee that they are one of the top 16 teams in the country and should host the first rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

A lot is on the line.

“These are some big games — there’s no denying the facts,” Arizona coach Adia Barnes said. “Friday (Utah) is a big game, Sunday (Colorado) is a big game, and then ending (with the) Oregon schools. We need to try to win these four games — just take one game at a time.”

Heading into this weekend’s final homestand with No. 4 Utah and No. 21 Colorado, Barnes knows it won’t be easy.

The Wildcats lost to both teams last month. Both teams are ahead of the Wildcats in the Pac-12 standings. The Utes (12-2) are in second place, and the Buffs (10-3) are in third.

No. 18 Arizona (19-6, 9-5 Pac-12) currently sits in a tie for that fourth bye with UCLA and USC. UA holds the tiebreaker with both after beating them in Los Angeles two weeks ago.

Still, it comes down to these final four games. Arizona finishes on the road. Meanwhile, the L.A. and Mountain schools finish at home. UCLA and USC host Washington and Washington State next week after playing in the Bay Area this week. Utah and Colorado host Cal and Stanford next week.

Despite the fact that the others who are vying for those final bye spots in the Pac-12 Tournament are playing at home on the final weekend, it doesn’t mean it’s chalk for them. As we have seen all season, upsets can happen at any time.

As usual, the Wildcats are focused on themselves.

“If we don’t win these few games here, we’re not going to be a top-four seed and then we won’t be a top 16 (for the NCAAs),” Barnes said. “The way I look at it, there’s no pressure. But we have to win some games. I would say realistically, probably three out of four.

“I obviously want to go 4-0, but I’d say three out of four to be in that position because we’re all so close.

“I think there’s going to be some movement and some changes. But we’re so close. I don’t think we want to leave our fate in someone else’s hands.”

She’s back … sort of

Lauren Ware, who has been out all season because of knee injury, is expected to be fully back in practice next week. Which means she can take contact. She’s been participating in a limited capacity for the last few weeks and doing individual skills workouts.

Barnes wishes she could slot Ware back into the post in games.

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“We need another 6-5 player,” Barnes said. “She’s smart. She’s an incredible communicator, and those are things we’ve missed.

“She’s a really good post defender. She’s active. She’s long. Even for practice it’s going to help because she’ll go against our post players with height. Because when we play teams with height, it’s giving us problems.”

Ware won’t be able to play in the postseason because even if she played only a few weeks, it would count as a year of eligibility. But Barnes is double-checking to make sure there isn’t a workaround.

“I think she would burn a year. We’re going to find out through compliance,” Barnes said. “That was something I was looking into because I thought it’s the percentage (of time you play), but I think you have to start the season playing. I’m 99.9% sure we can’t (play her). If we could, that would be amazing.

“But it’s also putting her in a hard situation. She’s not in game shape, but still, just having that depth ... we really could use her in three, four weeks.”

Hard to sustain success

Barnes said that in just a few years the transfer portal has shifted the way a coach builds and takes a program to the next level. We likely are seeing the last of the days of five-year players such as Cate Reese and Sam Thomas, who played their entire careers at Arizona. There will be some who stay at one school for their entire playing careers, but we will be seeing even more movement at the end of each season.

All of this can take a toll, from fans making deep connections to players to student-athletes being able to grow within a program.

“I think it’s hard to build great teams without some of those core players,” Barnes said. “This year, adding seven new players has been hard. Now, if we have the same players for three years, we’d be really good defensively.

“Jade (Loville) is new; she came from another system. Lauren (Fields) came from another system. Esmery (Martinez) came from (another) system. Three out of five starters came from another system. And Cate was never our main defensive player. Lauren (Ware) used to guard the best post. Cate guarded a versatile post or they would switch.

“It’s really a whole new team. I think (it’s) hard to stay good and chase the highest level with constant turnover. I think that’s just going to be the reality.”

Barnes went on to say that going forward, coaches will most likely employ one of two strategies: Rely mainly on transfers or try to build with a young core.

The latter is Barnes’ route. For the Wildcats next season, that means adding a few select transfers — if all goes as planned.

Student-athletes can start entering the portal for women’s basketball on March 13 — Selection Sunday.

Then it’s the wild, wild west.

“Hopefully we keep all our freshmen, but you never know. People have different reasons to stay or leave,” Barnes said. “You can lose five to six people, and (for) all teams that’s the reality, except for Stanford. I think across the country you’re going to see top programs lose numerous kids and highly ranked kids. That’s why it’s going to be chaos.”