Adia Barnes' adjustments, Maryland's counterpunch — how Terrapins ousted Wildcats from NCAA Tournament

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — During a timeout with a little less than five minutes left in the first quarter of Arizona’s second-round NCAA Tournament game against Maryland, Adia Barnes sat down on her chair away from the bench with the Wildcats surrounding her.

She looked at each of her players in the eyes as the five in the game — Helena Pueyo, Shaina Pellington, Cate Reese, Esmery Martinez and Lauren Fields — were sitting on chairs facing her.

Then Barnes calmly started explaining what they should be doing and outlining the adjustments that could make things easier for them on the court.

The Wildcats were down by 10 points to Maryland at that point. Barnes would say after the game that she thought her team came out with some nerves and not playing with urgency — until that moment when she helped bring that out in them.

Barnes’ adjustments and the Wildcats’ response enabled them to overcome that double-digit deficit and take the lead at halftime. Maryland’s counterpunch in the third quarter enabled the Terrapins to win 77-64 Sunday, ending Arizona’ season.

After the timeout, the Wildcats forced Maryland to travel. Pellington drove to the basket; she hadn’t been able to find a lane until that point as the Terrapins were packing the paint. Arizona’s aggressiveness and that sense of urgency returned as Martinez and Fields pulled down defensive rebounds. Pueyo picked a steal, and Reese scored on a jumper. Reese also scored on a layup.

The comeback had started. Then the real move happened.

Arizona’s defense took over in the second quarter, shutting down Maryland’s scoring for nearly four minutes. The Wildcats went on a 10-0 run, trimming a 25-14 deficit to 25-24.

Steals, assists, defensive rebounds, scoring. Everyone got involved. Martinez hit two baskets inside, one on a putback. Reese and Pellington scored, and Fields hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 29-29. Freshman Paris Clark scored eight points in the second quarter alone.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats were outscored 29-9 in the third quarter to stop their momentum. UA shot 20%, going 3 for 15 while Maryland shot at a 79% clip, with Diamond Miller going 6 for 6. She finished with 24 points after scoring only four in the first half.

Although they outscored the Terrapins 22-16 in the fourth quarter, it wasn’t enough to get the Wildcats over the hump.

Rhonda Lundin Bennett, the Pac-12’s associate commissioner for women’s basketball and sports management, was on hand over the weekend to watch the Wildcats and see up close exactly what makes Barnes such an effective coach.

“Adia is fierce in everything she does, which I think is amazing,” Bennett said. “She is a great coach, obviously. And she runs a great program and helps young women reach their full potential as student-athletes ... and people.

“You can just see that from being around her program and watching what she does. It’s a special program. It’s a special place, and she’s doing a great job.”

Arizona finished its fifth consecutive season with 20-plus wins at 22-10. Barnes is the only coach in UA history to accomplish that. The Wildcats beat five ranked teams during the season en route to their third straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Final games

The loss to Maryland also marked the final games of Reese, Pellington and Jade Loville’s careers as Wildcats. Pueyo and Martinez have yet to announce whether they will return next season. Both have one more year of eligibility left.

Reese and Pellington said they learned a lot during their time at Arizona. Reese learned how to do laundry and so much more from how to be a leader from former UA standout Aari McDonald to toughening up mentally after her shoulder injury last season.

Both players were part of Arizona’s ascension. Reese played all five years at UA, while Pellington transferred from Oklahoma in 2019 (and had to sit out the 2019-20 season).

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

“I think that taking a chance on Shaina wasn’t hard. … I accepted Shaina as she was — the good, the bad and the ugly,” Barnes said. “I can tell you that Shaina changed tremendously. She did probably give me some gray hair. I love her heart. I love her work ethic. I love the person that she’s become and the leader that she’s become.

“It’s gratifying for me to see the change. And just to see her, the way she speaks and the way she embraced her teammates ... to watch her change and grow, that’s a good feeling for me.

“I saw her happy the last couple years. She wasn’t happy when she first came. She didn’t love basketball, so I think she found her passion back. As a coach, I’m happy to say that. She’s getting a degree. She was not going to be on my clock and not got a degree, and she did that.

“She accomplished a lot of things. She has a lot of basketball ahead of her, and I think that she’s ready to play now. You could see her game evolved.”

Reese was the first McDonald’s All-American that Barnes was able to land and played on all five of her 20-win teams.

“Cate took a chance on Arizona when we were all of — we were probably 300 in RPI,” Barnes said. “We weren’t a winning program. I’m sure she scratched her head when she watched us win six games that year (2018).

“But she decided to come to Arizona, she wanted to do something special with us and she’s done that. She pulled the program with us. She’s meaningful. She learned to lead. … I’m proud of her.”

Crowding Cate

Reese was a definite focus of the Maryland defense. At times she was trapped — her arm was even hooked during some possessions. Maryland coach Brenda Frese said stopping Reese was the plan.

“We knew from watching their game with West Virginia and our switching D that they were going to make an emphasis to go inside,” Frese said. “I thought that was one of the best wrinkles their staff did with our matchups, being prepared for that. (Reese) is really, really good.

“Just being intentional. You have to help off of certain players in order to be able to have that kind of inside-outside approach. I thought they did a tremendous job. Reese was physical and battled the entire night. I thought collectively the defense held true.”

Reese — who still finished with a team-high 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting — said it did disrupt what the Wildcats did on offense.

“It was difficult for the guards to pass it in because they were nervous about the person shadowing behind me,” Reese said. “I think off of rotations and skip passes was the better way to get the ball in.

“They did a good job in the second half of attacking too. … I think their game plan was just to impact the paint, make it difficult for the post to score. They did a good job, unfortunately for us.”

Rim shots

For Barnes, it’s always important for her young women to leave the UA program “better — and if not, I didn’t do my job.”

“To me ... that’s sitting at the interviews, that’s the way you speak, the way you carry yourself ... we value those things,” Barnes said. “When you can come in a certain way and you leave better, then I feel like I did my job. When you get a degree, you can represent yourself at a high level and be a good person ... that’s meaningful for me as a coach.”

Reese on Clark being a spark in the two tournament games (she finished with 11 points on Sunday and grabbed seven rebounds in Friday’s win over West Virginia): “I think Paris is a competitor. She’s a great person. There’s so much basketball ahead of her. As a freshman, she has a motor. Even in practice, she’s so competitive. She’s picking up her team.”