Playing in-state rival ASU couldn’t have come at a better time for the Arizona women’s basketball team.
Sitting on a two-game losing streak — dropping both away games to the Mountain schools, Utah and Colorado — the Wildcats need a pick-me-up.
It’s not to say that this will be an easy win. After all, no games are locked for wins; it’s part of what makes basketball so fun. Anyone can win on any given day. And especially, as this is a rivalry game, anything can happen.
And ASU always comes to play. And in those years where they aren’t the top dog, like this year, the Sun Devils can be dangerous.
Arizona coach Adia Barnes directs her team from the sidelines during the game against Iowa State in McKale Center, Jan. 11, 2025.
Arizona coach Adia Barnes knows this all too well. While her Wildcats have won the last five matchups, there were two games in Tempe, during the 2021 and 2022 seasons, that she wishes she had back.
In 2021, despite Aari McDonald’s 30-point performance, it was ASU with a 2-point victory in overtime, 66-64.
In 2022, it was the Jade Loville Show. The Sun Devil, who would later become a Wildcat, went off for 27 points to lead ASU to an 81-77 win.
This season, Arizona is on the hunt for a fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament bid and well, ASU, is looking to end an eight-game losing streak.
Ahead of Saturday’s matchup, Barnes talked to the media about her team and the rivalry.
In the last six games, your defense has held those teams well under their normal points per game average. What does that say about where you are?
A: “In games when we’ve played really good defense, it leads to our offense. I think you get confidence in that. If you saw (against) Colorado, (we were) super stagnant on offense. ... holding the ball, bad shots which leads to bad defense. I think they are correlated. You should be 50-50. You shouldn’t be super defense-heavy. You shouldn’t be super offensive. There needs to be a balance. Now, depending on personnel, we can’t play the defensive style I want to play, so we’re working on other stuff. But you also have to have a good, organized offense to have an organized defense. ...
“When things are hard, that’s when some people are not showing up. I challenged the team. I said, ‘It’s one thing, if you are playing against the last team in the league, yeah, it’s easy to show up those game. Every game is hard to win, but it’s a lot easier. Everything’s good, you can score easier. But what do you do when things are harder? When the players are better? (When) the stakes are higher, the game is a little bit more important? You show up in those games. ... You’ve got to perform.’ That’s the reality. People have to step up in the games that count and every game counts.”
Cincinnati guard Reagan Jackson (3) gives up the foul defending Arizona guard Jada Williams (2) in the final minutes of their Big 12 game in Tucson on Jan. 22, 2025.
How much thought is going through your head right now about the possibilities of making the NCAA Tournament?
A: “I’m really not even thinking ahead because we’re not good enough to think that far ahead. (It’s) one game at a time because I’m seeing we can play really great one game and then just lay an egg the next game. (It’s) figuring out a way to get us more consistent or get people playing good at the same time, and getting people confidence, and right now, we’re not practicing as much. It’s just that time of the year. (It’s) figuring out how to balance us learning on film. We have to work on some offensive things. Colorado did some stuff and gave us a hard time and that should not be hard in other games that hasn’t been hard. So, why was it so hard that game? I have to understand that and then make the adjustments and get us playing better, and that’s my job to figure that out.
“We have seven games, and we have a pretty favorable schedule. I think we played the hardest part of our schedule early, but if you play the way we did last game, we’re not going to win any games. If we step up and play like we did against West Virginia, fought in that that quarter and a half against Utah, we can win. But what’s it going to take to get us there?”
You came home late Wednesday night from Boulder and have a short turnaround for ASU. Meanwhile, they’ve had a week to prepare for you. Is that an advantage, disadvantage or does it matter?
A: “We’re at the point of the season where you do what you’ve got to do. ... You’ve got to figure it out, you’ve got to step up and get ready to perform. Whether they had a week, whether we had two days, there are advantages and disadvantages, you’ve got to show up to play. This is going to be a hard game. The records don’t matter. We’re playing a good team that is hungry and needs to win.”
