Adia Barnes has been a part of some of the best teams in Arizona women’s basketball history, both as a player and coach.
In fact, Barnes is just one of 11 coaches all-time to play and coach their alma mater in the NCAA Tournament.
In five seasons, Barnes has shaped the Wildcats into one of the top women’s basketball programs on the West Coast and a contender in the always-loaded Pac-12 Conference.
As the third-seeded Wildcats prepare for their first NCAA Tournament game in 16 years, when they face No. 14 Stony Brook on Monday in the Mercado Region, here’s a look at the UA’s best wins under Barnes:
Cats rout Bruins for Barnes’ first win over a top-10 team
When: Jan. 31, 2020
Where: McKale Center
Opponent: No. 8 UCLA
Score: 92-66
What went down: Arizona fell to UCLA in Westwood in the beginning stages of Pac-12 play — then avenged their loss by dismantling the eighth-ranked Bruins by 26 points in Tucson. Star guard Aari McDonald poured in 14 of her 27 points in the first quarter and shot 10 of 15 from the field, while Sam Thomas added a then season-high 20 points, with Cate Reese recording a near double-double 13 points and nine rebounds. As a team, the Wildcats shot 54.7% from the field as UCLA was held to 34.4%.
She said it: “I mean, a huge, huge win for us against a very good team. …We always talk about with this program — about leaving a legacy. And this is how you start. I’m just proud of them.” — Barnes
Arizona snaps losing skid to Devils
When: Dec. 30, 2018
Where: McKale Center
Opponent: No. 17 Arizona State
Score: 51-39
What went down: It only took Barnes two seasons to secure a win over rival Arizona State, a program that has maintained supremacy in the state under the direction of Charli Turner Thorne, but then UA dropped four straight contests against the Sun Devils. Once again, McDonald set the tone for Arizona by scoring 13 of the Wildcats’ 17 first-quarter points and finished the game with 24. Despite a rocky second half scoring for both teams, Arizona prevailed on its home court to hand ASU its third loss of the season. Since then, Arizona has beaten ASU four out of the last five games, splitting with the Sun Devils this season.
She said it: “This win definitely proves that we can do some big things in the conference.” — McDonald
Wildcats hold off ninth-ranked UCLA to start conference play
When: Dec. 4, 2020
Where: McKale Center
Opponent: No. 9 UCLA
Score: 68-65
What went down: Arizona usually begins its Pac-12 portion of the schedule closer to New Year’s, but the COVID-19 pandemic proved nothing is normal. Less less than a week after the Wildcats’ season-opening win over Northern Arizona, No. 7 UA hosted ninth-ranked UCLA in front of a fan-less McKale Center with artificial crowd noise pumped in. Arizona shot 6 for 25 from 3-point range and was outrebounded by UCLA, but the Bruins struggled in the third quarter and scored just six points and missed 16 consecutive shots, which sparked a 9-0 run by the Wildcats. Despite UCLA cutting Arizona’s lead to a single possession with a few minutes remaining, the UA closed out the game with a McDonald putback and a clutch 3-pointer by Virginia Tech transfer Trinity Baptiste. The graduate transfer finished the night with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
She said it: “It was a very ugly win. Normally, you play these type of games another month from now, so it’s a big difference playing in early December. Both teams, you’re not as sharp, less cohesiveness.” — Barnes
Arizona clips Ducks on ESPN for first time under Barnes
When: Jan. 14, 2021
Where: McKale Center
Opponent: No. 10 Oregon
Score: 57-41
What went down: If you look at the all-time series results between Arizona and Oregon, there’s a steady flow of Ls in recent history for the Wildcats — 10-straight for the UA going back to Barnes’ first season at the helm. If there was ever a time for Barnes and the Wildcats to strike while the iron was hot and take down the Ducks, it was this season considering the Ducks were without top-10 WNBA draft picks in Sabrina Ionescu (1), Satou Sabally (2) and Ruthy Hebard (8). Arizona began the contest, which was the program’s first-ever regular-season home game on ESPN, with a 14-0 run, took a 17-2 lead over the Ducks and never looked back.
She said it: “From the first quarter, I knew we were controlling the game. We had them flustered, and I’ve never seen Oregon players flustered like that. Everybody was locked in, and everybody wanted this win bad.” — McDonald
McDonald scores career-high 44 points in road win at Texas
When: Nov. 17, 2019
Where: Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas
Opponent: No. 22 Texas
Score: 83-58
What went down: McDonald could tell she was in a different zone during pregame warmups in Austin, or as she said: “I’m in my bag.” McDonald put together the greatest scoring performance in UA history by hanging 44 points on the Longhorns. The then-junior made 14 of her 18 field-goal attempts and sank all 14 of her free throws. With prior wins over North Dakota, Santa Clara and Chicago State, a 25-point win over a top-25 opponent on the road, the season after Arizona won the WNIT, showed the Wildcats were a program on the incline.
She said it: “No one could guard Aari. She proved when it counted … how she’s going to step up and perform, that she is one of the best guards in the country.” — Barnes
Arizona outlasts Oregon State in overtime in Corvallis
When: Feb. 9, 2020
Where: Gill Coliseum, Corvallis, Ore.
Opponent: No. 9 Oregon State
Score: 65-58 in overtime
What went down: The Beavers snuck away from Tucson with a game-winning bucket earlier in the season, which fueled motivation for an Arizona team itching for its first-ever win over a top-10 team on the road. Arizona starts and ends with McDonald, who will go down as arguably the best women’s basketball player in program history. But the supporting cast is what has allowed the Wildcats to flourish into a Pac-12 power — and just when Arizona faced adversity on the road, it was Dominique McBryde who stepped up and propelled Arizona to victory with her season-high 19 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. The UA’s overtime win broke a 12-game losing skid to the Beavers. The triumph was also the first step in a four-game winning streak.
She said it: “I think we really wanted this win. We didn’t want to end the game with another overtime buzzer-beater, last-second buzzer-beater, whatever it may be.” — McBryde
Arizona takes down ASU in Tempe for first time in 19 years
When: Dec. 29, 2019
Where: Desert Financial Arena, Tempe
Opponent: ASU
Score: 58-53
What went down: Heading into the game, Arizona was ranked No. 18 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll while ASU was unranked. On paper, the Wildcats were favored to win this game, but a job had to be done considering the Wildcats hadn’t beaten the Sun Devils in Tempe since 2000. Plus, Arizona was riding a 17-game winning streak that dated back to the start of the 2019 WNIT run. An undefeated record against an arch rival on the road (reminder: pre-pandemic, so fans were in attendance) was a collapse in the making, but the poised Wildcats, with Sam Thomas’ clutch free-throws down the stretch and Cate Reese’s double-double (17 points, 11 rebounds), staved off ASU in Tempe for the first time in 20 seasons. It also boosted the winning streak to 18 games, which at the time was the longest active stretch in the country.
She said it: “Right now, I think this team feels like they can beat anybody. And I love that. And there were times when, in the last year we would have folded before the WNIT — let’s say during the Pac-12 last year. This year, we calmed down, then we made some big shots, had some big defensive stops, and I thought they did a really good job.” — Barnes
Arizona head coach Adia Barnes talks to the players on her bench in the second half of the Wildcats game against Wyoming in the WNIT at McKale center, Sunday, March 31, 2019, Tucson, Ariz.
Arizona sweeps Oregon for first time in a decade
When: Feb. 8, 2021
Where: Matthew Knight Arena, Eugene, Oregon
Opponent: No. 11 Oregon
Score: 79-59
What went down: Following a positive COVID-19 test linked to the program, Arizona quickly discovered the negative effects of the pandemic and missed four games in 17 days. Bad news: Arizona had to face No. 11 Oregon after beating the Ducks in January. Good news: UA was rested and Reese was motivated to have a career performance after hearing Oregon players slighting her ability to shoot and operate away from the basket. Reese made 11 of 14 field-goal attempts, including all three of her 3-point attempts, and scored 25 points. Despite only leading by a point at halftime, Arizona outscored Oregon 27-14 and cruised to a 20-point victory on ESPN. Barnes grabbed her second win against the Ducks after losing her first 10 and Arizona swept Oregon for the first time since 2011.
She said it: “I just heard some stuff they were saying about me. I took that personal.” — Reese
Arizona cuts down fourth-ranked Stanford in OT
When: Feb. 20, 2020
Where: McKale Center
Opponent: No. 4 Stanford
Score: 73-72
What went down: Five wins, 40 losses. That was Arizona’s record against its Pac-12 superior Stanford since the turn of the new century with four of those wins picked up between 2000-04. There’s no debate which program has represented the Pac-12 on the national level. The Cardinal has won two national championships and appeared in the Final Four 13 times under Hall of Fame head coach Tara VanDerveer, and Stanford was once again a juggernaut in the 2019-20 season. Although Stanford star Kianna Williams tallied 27 points, six rebounds, five assists and two turnovers, Arizona scored 23 points off the Cardinal’s 22 turnovers and five Wildcats recorded double-figure scoring. McDonald wasn’t a factor offensively until crunch time, when she scored 13 of her 20 points in the final 15 minutes including overtime, and the guard’s late-game heroics, a game-winning 3-pointer with eight seconds left on the clock in overtime, lifted Arizona to victory in front of 7,838 fans at McKale Center — the Wildcats’ first-ever win over a top-five opponent in program history. It took four seasons, but Barnes finally gained a victory over the Pac-12’s mainstay, which is one of her top moments since returning to her alma mater.
She said it: “Going down the stretch against Tara and in overtime is always scary because they just find a way to win big games. We found a way to gut it out — we rebounded better in the second half. I just thought it was a great win with different people stepping up. Just a huge win with four players in double digits. …I think we continue to say leave a legacy. And that’s what we do. I’m just so proud of just the way we fought.” — Barnes
Arizona head coach Adia Barnes talks to guard Shaina Pellington (1) during a break in the action against Arizona State at McKale Center, Tucson, Ariz., December 10, 2020.
UA wins WNIT in front of sold-out McKale Center
When: April 6, 2019
Where: McKale Center
Opponent: Northwestern
Score: 56-42
What went down: Unique. Magical. Surreal. However you want to describe the April afternoon at McKale Center in 2019, playing for the WNIT championship was territory Arizona hadn’t experienced since 1996, when Barnes was just a sophomore at the UA. The buildup to the title game in Tucson was what made the journey so special; the Wildcats were 18-13 and fresh off a loss to Oregon in the Pac-12 Tournament, but they generated buzz around the city. Barnes promoted tickets and challenged Arizona fans to pack McKale Center. Each game Arizona played in its 2019 WNIT run, the next one had more fans in attendance. The first game’s recorded attendance against Idaho State? 3,265 fans. The championship game? A sold-out crowd of 14,644 spectators, which remains a Pac-12 record. There was a can’t-lose vibe for Arizona and the Wildcats, fueled by a raucous McKale Center crowd, led Northwestern for nearly 37 minutes. That was the first time Arizona cut down the nets under Barnes. Maybe the next time Barnes is on a ladder holding scissors, it’s for a championship with more significance.
She said it: “If you would have said we are going to win the WNIT and sell out with almost 15,000 people. I would have said ‘huh?’ But we did it. This city has been amazing … They were determined to win this thing. They had that attitude. I love that they played with heart. We always say ‘made for it’ and I think they were made for it and the whole city was made for this situation.” — Barnes
