Aari McDonald's legacy with the Arizona Wildcats added another chapter on Saturday.
McDonald scored 31 points on a career-high six 3-pointers to lift the third-seeded UA to a 74-59 win over No. 2-seed Texas A&M in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament's Mercado Region in San Antonio, leading Arizona to the program's first-ever Elite Eight.
The Wildcats will face fourth-seeded Indiana in the Elite Eight, which upset top-seeded N.C. State on Saturday. Monday's game starts at 6 p.m. and will air on ESPN.
Arizona's Aari McDonald reacts after making a three-point basket during the the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Texas A&M in the Sweet 16 round of the Women's NCAA tournament Saturday, March 27, 2021, at the Alamodome in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Early on, the Aggies made five of their first seven field-goal attempts to take a 10-4 lead at the first timeout break, with eight of those points coming from the paint.
Coming out of the timeout, Arizona unleashed a full-court press and forced a turnover on the inbounds pass followed by a Cate Reese 3-pointer and a McDonald steal-and-score to bring the Wildcats within one possession.
McDonald led the UA with eight points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field after the first quarter, and Arizona trailed 19-17 heading into the second period.
First-quarter jitters went away.
With a helping hand from Texas A&M missing its first six shots, Arizona opened up the second quarter on an 8-0 run to take a 25-19 lead with 6:11 left in the first half.
After missing another field-goal attempt, Texas A&M made five of the last six field-goal attempts to end the first half. The Aggies out-rebounded the Wildcats 21-14 in the first half.
Arizona’s Cate Reese and Texas A&M’s Destiny Pitts battle for the ball during the Wildcats’ 15-point win in San Antonio on Saturday night.
In the third quarter, Arizona ended the period on a 9-2 run — 19-8 in the final 6:51. The Wildcats opened up a 59-46 lead behind their five 3-pointers in seven attempts. McDonald was a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc in the third quarter.
Coupled with Arizona's stingy defense that forced 19 turnovers and 28 points off takeaways, the Wildcats never let up their lead and poured in a season-high 13 3-pointers on 18 attempts (46.4%).
Jordan Nixon, who scored 35 points in Texas A&M's come-from-behind overtime victory against Iowa State, was held to three points. All-Pac-12 defender Sam Thomas finished Saturday night with nine points on 3-for-6 shooting from 3-point range and five steals. Thomas has 14 steals through three games in the NCAA Tournament.
Up next: Arizona will face the fourth-seeded Hoosiers, who is also playing in the program's first Elite Eight. Arizona forward Bendu Yeaney transferred from Indiana prior to this season, and will now have a chance to help Arizona reach the Final Four against her former team.
For live coverage of Arizona's NCAA Tournament run, follow The Wildcaster on Twitter.
