The Arizona Wildcats hit a trifecta in Monday night’s NCAA Tournament game against North Carolina.
And no, not a 3-pointer.
The Wildcats' recent habit of starting slow and shooting poorly was joined by a third, just-as-concerning problem: Foul trouble. Shaina Pellington and Sam Thomas were forced to the bench with foul issues, Lauren Ware was hit with a technical foul and the Wildcats were forced to dip into their bench with their season hanging in the balance.
North Carolina took a 20-point lead in the final seconds of the third quarter — on an Arizona foul (naturally) and an ensuing free throw — and the fifth-seeded Tar Heels held on to beat the fourth-seeded Wildcats 63-45 in McKale Center, ending the UA's season.
The Wildcats finished with more fouls (21) than made shots (17). The Tar Heels capitalized at the free-throw line, hitting 19 of 24 attempts. Arizona attempted just seven free throws, hitting four.
"We can't put North Carolina on the free-throw line 24 times," a frustrated UA coach Adia Barnes said afterwards. "We talked about it in our pregame scouting. They are really good from the free-throw line. … Their core of seven (players) that they play are over 80%."
North Carolina guard Deja Kelly shoots a free throw in Monday's game. Carolina got to the line 24 times, hitting 19 of them.
Arizona shot just 28.8% on Monday, hitting 17 of 59 attempts despite shooting on its home rims and in front of 8,333 encouraging fans. The Wildcats were just 6 for 26 in the first half. Four of their makes were 3-pointers, and three of those 3-pointers came from Thomas. Playing in her final college game, Thomas scored a team-high 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, showing off her pure left-handed stroke.
Take away Thomas’ performance, however, and the UA was just 11 for 47 (23%) afield. At one point in the first half, the Wildcats went more than 11 minutes without scoring.
"I can live with, 'we shot 28%,' but we need to get turnovers," Barnes said.
The hero of Saturday night’s NCAA first-round win over UNLV, Pellington was unable to find a rhythm against the Tar Heels. The speedy point guard hit just 1 of 9 shots and scored three points, spending much of the second quarter on the bench after picking up her second foul.
For all the Wildcats' early problems, they seemed to grab some momentum just before halftime. Thomas' third 3 of the half cut the Tar Heels' lead to 23-12. UNC hit a free throw and UA's Cate Reese hit a baseline jumper, making it a 10-point game.
But then Ware was called for a technical foul after saying something to a UNC player following a blocked shot. UNC's Deja Kelly hit both ensuing free throws, making it 26-14. Carolina took a 28-17 lead in the half, grew it to 24 points in the third quarter, and played the final 10 minutes relatively stress-free.
“I thought that tech was … interesting,” Barnes said, noting later that men's players typically get away with more emotion than their female counterparts.
But when asked if it swung the momentum back toward UNC, Barnes said no.
“There are so many things that happened … that’s not even a factor,” she said. “The thing is, Lauren has never done that. She's been here two years, and she's never gotten a technical. I don't think any of us have. I think she was pumped and everything is a little bit tighter in these games."
As the teams traded baskets in the third quarter, Thomas committed two fouls during a 35-second span, giving her four for the game. The foul trouble became even more problematic in the final 10 minutes, when — facing a double-digit deficit and desperate for turnovers — the Wildcats pressed and trapped.
UA guard Bendu Yeaney talks with a referee after being called for a foul during Monday's loss to North Carolina.
Thomas somehow managed to avoid getting called for a fifth foul.
“I was just telling myself; don’t foul, don’t foul,” Thomas said. "The ref said, 'Thomas, we don't want to give that you last foul,' so I tried to tone it down a little bit. Obviously I wanted to stay on the court as long as possible for my last game and try to help the team out as much as possible. Luckily, I didn't foul out."
Thomas managed a little smile and chuckle. Soon, the tears came. At the end of a frustrating night, Arizona's senior star didn't know whether to laugh or cry. So she did a little bit of both.
