Arizona coach Adia Barnes thought the final sequence at Utah β which included a decisive, debatable foul call β was a βbrutalβ way to lose but told her players it wasnβt the reason they lost.
Arizona freshman guard Paris Clark, shown driving against Texas Southern, tallied eight points and five rebounds in 13 minutes vs. Utah in Salt Lake City.
The ups, the downs and everything in between continue for Arizona.
Just when you think you might have a handle on the Wildcatsβ identity, they go on the road to the mountain schools, compete until the final moments and get swept.
Are they the team that starts slowly and really gets going in the fourth quarter like they did against Oregon State and Colorado?
Or the team that goes toe to toe against top-20 competition like they did against Oregon and Utah?
All good questions, and we might have to wait a little longer to find out.
Although, on second thought, this just might be exactly who they are and what we will witness the rest of the season.
If so, hang on tight: Itβs going to be a bumpy and exciting ride with the Cardiac Cats.
Arizona (14-4, 4-3 Pac-12) now finds itself on a two-game losing streak after a controversial ending to Sundayβs game in Salt Lake City.
From the jump, the officials were letting the Wildcats and Utes play. Putting aside some of the touch fouls called in the last eight minutes of the game that werenβt called before β especially on Shaina Pellington, who had four fouls in that frame and fouled out β the call with .3 seconds left on the clock is the one thatβs hard to reconcile.
With Arizona up 79-78, Utah inbounded from half court with 1.6 seconds to play. Everyone knew the ball was going to Alissa Pili down low. She was trapped by Esmery Martinez and Helena Pueyo. Martinez made what looked like a clean block. But the officials called a foul on Martinez. Pili knocked down both free throws to give Utah the 80-79 victory.
βBrutal. I think itβs a very difficult way to lose the game (when) it wasnβt a clear foul,β UA coach Adia Barnes said. βI donβt think you make that call at the end of the game. Now, if itβs a blatant hack or something that really deterred a shot ... but at (.3) seconds, kind of under the basket, spinning over two people, a very tough call.
βBut I always tell my team that it doesnβt come down to the last possession or the last play. It comes down to the mistakes in the first quarter. The missed boxout in the second quarter. The run you give up in the third quarter. Itβs an accumulation of things. Thatβs why (the difference) between good and great, there is a small margin of error.β
Although the game could have gone either way, the outcome further separated Utah and Arizona in the AP Top 25 rankings. The Wildcats fell from No. 14 to No. 19. The Utes β who were well-rested after Arizona State had to forfeit its two games against the mountain schools β rose from 10th to eighth.
Freshman Paris Clark was ready for her time down the stretch β especially the final 10 seconds.
First, she grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed free throw by Martinez. Clark turned and knocked down a jumper to pull Arizona within one point, 78-77. On Utahβs inbounds play, she tipped the ball out of bounds. On the next inbounds, Martinez tipped the ball to Clark for the steal and layup, giving Arizona the lead.
Clark finished with eight points (4 of 5 from the field), five rebounds, two assists and a steal in 13 minutes.
βI thought she was phenomenal,β Barnes said. βShe played incredible for us, gave us a spark, hit some huge baskets. Sheβs been doing that (in) practice for the last couple of weeks, and she deserves an opportunity. Sheβs getting better every week, and she deserves to have more minutes. I think when you take advantage of it like Paris did, you deserve more opportunities later. It was great.β
Barnes told Clark and fellow freshman Lemyah Hylton that they would get minutes against Utah. After the Colorado game, Barnes didnβt think the defense was getting the job done. Therefore, Barnes decided to go deeper into her bench.
Madi Conner, who had been the spark off the bench for the last few games, didnβt enter until there were 22 seconds left. Barnes said sheβs been happy with how Conner has been playing. It was all about matchups.
βDefensively, weβve had a tough time if we have Jade (Loville) on the wing and Madi together. We shoot the ball but have a tough time matching up defensively,β Barnes said. βItβs hard to have Shaina and Lauren (Fields) off the floor. We are trying to have the defensive player out there, and some games are like that.β
Loville finished with 17 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter.
Rim shots
Two losses over the weekend didnβt go down easy, but Barnes was happy with the way the Wildcats held their own against a top-10 team, at least offensively. βWe made big adjustments mentally (from the Colorado game) to come into this game with a different approach offensively,β Barnes said. βI think defensively we still have to get better and have a different approach. We have to play better defense. We played more like a team (against Utah). We shared the ball a lot on offense. Weβre not going to win if we donβt do that. Weβre capable of scoring 80 points, but the offense isnβt the problem right now. Itβs the defense thatβs the problem. We have to play better defensively to win games.β
Pellington rarely fouls out of games. Over the weekend, she was disqualified in the fourth quarter of both games. Martinez and Cate Reese also fouled out against Utah. βYou have to be smart and know thatβs how it is and you need to be on the floor,β Barnes said. βI think Esmery and Shaina have to be more disciplined and just being smarter at different points in the game. β¦ It hurts us not being able to play with Esmery for bunches of minutes. Sheβs one of our best rebounders and sheβs strong, so we have to find a way to keep her in the game.β
Reese led all Wildcats with 25 points (and 10 rebounds) against Utah. Arizona finished with 16 assists on 33 made shots and scored 48 points in the paint. βComing into this game, we had a rule to get paint touches and reversals, because statistically for the season weβre high 60% if we get paint touches and reversals,β Barnes said. βLast game, just off the paint touches and reversals, we shot 86%. That tells me we need to get in the paint, swing the ball, share the ball or reverse the ball. We were really specific about doing that, and when people didnβt do that they came out of the game. I think that worked a lot better for us.β