Bendu Yeaney, Cate Reese help Wildcats top No. 6 Louisville in historic win

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Cate Reese scored 21 points, Bendu Yeaney scored Arizona’s last five points of overtime, and the 22nd-ranked Wildcats outlasted No. 6 Louisville 61-59 on Friday at the Mammoth Sports Construction Invitational.

The win was Arizona’s first regular-season win over a nonconference opponent ranked in top-10 nationally since Nov. 30, 2002, when the Wildcats topped No. 8 Georgia 70-49.

Yeaney had just turned 4 years old; Reese was 1.

Yeaney, who finished with 12 points, put Arizona ahead midway through overtime with her only 3-pointer of the game. After Louisville tied it with a free throw, Yeaney sank a jumper with 1:45 left and neither team scored again.

Yeaney was 5 for 17 from the field but made the two biggest buckets of the game.

“I just kept shooting.I knew one of them was going to fall. I kept saying on the bench, ‘One of these is gonna fall, and when it falls, like, it’s gonna be a good one,’” said Yeaney, an Indiana transfer. “(Louisville) backed up and I was like, ‘You know, if you’re gonna back up, I am going to shoot it.’ I’m more confident in my shot this year than I was in the past years. Anytime I’m open, I’m going to let it fly.”

Louisville coach Jeff Walz credited Yeaney for “making two huge shots two back-to-back.”

“Just big-time shots, and that’s what you have to do if you want to win a game like this,” he said.

Reese, an All-Pac-12 player the past two seasons, scored eight points in the fourth quarter as the Wildcats had to withstand a feverish rally by Louisville.

Hailey Van Lith led the Cardinals with 19 points, and her two free throws with 13 seconds to play tied it at 54-54. Yeaney’s attempt at a game-winning jumper was short and a last-second tip-in rimmed out for the Wildcats.

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The fourth quarter featured six lead changes and nine ties.

Both teams struggled from the floor before heating up in the final period. Louisville finished the game shooting 28.6% from the field, while Arizona shot 36.7%.

“It’s not a perfect game, but basketball is usually never a perfect game,” UA coach Adia Barnes said.

Barnes said there were “a lot of positive things” to come out of Arizona’s first regular-season game against a top-10 nonconference team since 2008.

“And you know, we talked after the game and said, ‘We didn’t even play our best game, but we played a really good team,’” she said. “We are tested early. And and there’s a lot of promise so I’ve always been optimistic, you know, everybody always doubts Arizona. I feel like the Pac-12 and Arizona — I don’t know if it’s me; maybe it’s me — but they always doubt what we do and I think we’re pretty good. I think that we just earned some respect today which is good. I like that, but I like being the underdog. It’s kind of fun.”

Arizona led by as many as seven in the second quarter and held a 25-22 advantage at halftime. The Wildcats overcame uncharacteristic showings by both point guard Shaina Pellington and forward Sam Thomas. Pellington shot 2 for 10 from the field, though she hit five free throws, dished four assists and finished with nine points in 32 minutes. Thomas was held scoreless over 23 minutes before fouling out.

The Wildcats (2-0) return home Monday for a game against Texas Southern. They’ll play Marist on Friday before heading to the Paradise Jam, where they’ll take on Vanderbilt, DePaul and Rutgers.

“We knew it was going to be a test and a battle on the neutral side within a great environment,” Barnes said. “I’m just glad that we were able to come out of here with the victory because it was not easy at all, but great. Honestly, this was a great game for women’s basketball. Early in the year, two ranked opponents, playing here in a place that loves basketball. I think it’s really good for our game.”