It’s tough to pick Arizona’s best games of the 2020-21 women’s basketball season.
Do you select five of the last six games the Wildcats played in the NCAA Tournament? Or do you need to look at a game that set the tone for the season — Arizona’s win over No. 9 UCLA early in the season? Or is it the Wildcats’ first-ever sweep of the Pac-12’s “mountain” schools, Colorado and Utah? Is it the time the UA shut down rival ASU at home? Or when the Wildcats swept Oregon?
Here’s how we narrowed it down, in order:
1. April 2: Arizona dominates UConn, advances to title game
What went down: Coach Adia Barnes had the perfect game plan for this game and the players executed. The result: The biggest win in program history. Three Wildcats scored in double figures: Aari McDonald (26), Sam Thomas (12) and Cate Reese (11), and two others — Trinity Baptiste (8) and Bendu Yeaney (7) — came close in the 69-59 victory.
What stood out: Arizona held UConn to 35% shooting from the field. The Wildcats scored 14 points off 12 turnovers. The Arizona defense completely disrupted UConn and the Huskies couldn’t adjust. National player of the year Paige Bueckers scored only scored five points in the first half.
She said it: “We shocked the world tonight. Keep betting against my teammates and I; we’re going to show you wrong. We’re going to prove you wrong.” — McDonald
2. March 29: UA handles Indiana to clinch spot in Final Four
What went down: Experts say the Elite Eight game is the hardest to win in the NCAA Tournament. That may have been the case for Arizona, which needed three quarters to break through and upend Indiana 66-53. McDonald was hot from the start, scoring 17 points in the first half and finishing with 33 points and 11 rebounds. Baptiste picked up her own double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Thomas had two of UA’s four steals and a block.
What stood out: Players stepping up in big moments. Baptiste’s rebound with two minutes left may have been the biggest of her career. Helena Pueyo hit two big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. With under a minute left, Pueyo made an all-important pass, rolling the ball on the ground to Bendu Yeaney for a basket.
She said it: “Who would have thought? I’m glad we are on this journey together. … Let’s go get this whole thing.” — Barnes, to McDonald
3. April 4: Wildcats nearly beat Stanford to win it all
What went down: Arizona lost the national championship game by the slimmest of margins — one point. Yet, consider the progress Arizona made in a 54-53 loss: After being totally taken out of their game in the previous meetings against Stanford during the regular season — the Cardinal beat the Wildcats by 27 and 14 points — Arizona went toe-to-toe with the top seed, never giving up. The Wildcats outscored Stanford over the last three quarters, and if anything in the fourth would have fallen — even that improbable last second shot by McDonald that somehow bounced off the back of the rim — Arizona would have been cutting down the net.
What stood out: Defense nearly won it for Arizona. The Wildcats defended the 3-point line well, holding Stanford to 29% shooting, as well as holding Kiana Williams to only five points after she came in averaging 14 points per game. The most telling stat was that UA forced 21 turnovers, 12 of them steals … yet only scored 12 points off of them.
She said it: “We made it. We came within one basket of winning the national championship. It’s hard. My heart is broken.” — Barnes
4. Feb. 8: UA, Reese easily handle Oregon on National TV
What went down: After not playing basketball for 17 days and missing four games because of COVID-19 protocols, UA beat Oregon in Eugene by 20 points. Four Wildcats scored in double figures — McDonald, Thomas, Reese and Baptiste — and the team shot 60% from 3-point range and outrebounded a much taller team, 42-37. On defense, the Wildcats held the Ducks to 32% shooting and only 20% from 3 to win 79-59.
What stood out: Reese put up 25 points, going 11 for 14 and making all three of her 3-point attempts. She also grabbed six rebounds. In the first meeting with the Ducks, she scored only five points, had one rebound in 16 minutes of action and fouled out. She said the 17 days away helped her refocus. So did some trash talk from the Ducks, who said she couldn’t shoot.
What she said: “I just heard some stuff they were saying about me. I took that personal.” — Reese
5. March 27: Arizona controls much bigger Texas A&M
What went down: Arizona advanced to its first-ever Elite Eight after disrupting and wearing down a much bigger Aggies squad in the 74-59 victory. Arizona’s defense forced 19 turnovers, 13 of them steals, and converted them into 28 points. Thomas had five steals and two blocks, and knocked down all three of her 3-point attempts. But the night belonged to McDonald, who finished with 31 points, five rebounds and two steals.
What stood out: McDonald scored 19 of her 31 points in the first half. Her dagger at the end of the third quarter — a 3-pointer that bounced up in the cylinder before dropping through — was among the most memorable shots of the tournament. It wasn’t only McDonald’s offense that was on — she held Texas A&M guard Jordan Nixon to just three points, days after Nixon put up 35 in an overtime win over Iowa State.
What she said: “We’re ready to make more history. The sky is the limit. We want to get to the championship game.” — McDonald
