Monday was a day to remember for the Arizona Wildcats and their fans.
Arizona was named ESPNW’s Team of the Week in the morning, then moved up to No. 11 spot in the Associated Press poll.
In the afternoon, Cate Reese was named Pac-12 Player of the Week for her efforts in a pair of wins, including Friday’s overtime victory over then-No. 6 Louisville on Friday.
Arizona coach Adia Barnes, right, in red, and the other members of the women's basketball team cheer as their 2021 Final Four banner is unveiled following Monday's 93-38 win over against Texas Southern.
And on Monday night, the Wildcats crushed Texas Southern 93-38 behind Reese’s 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Following the victory, Arizona unveiled its Final Four banner in the rafters of McKale Center. The Wildcats made program history last spring, advancing to their first-ever Final Four and finishing a 3-pointer away from beating Stanford in the national championship game.
Barnes reminded fans of that fact on Monday night. She then said she was grateful for the overwhelming support.
“Without you, we can’t do what we do,” Barnes said. “Thank you from the bottom of our hearts and I am speaking for the players, too. We love when you guys energize us when things are tough. You guys get going and you give us that energy to make that next play. Thank you. We love you. Hopefully, we’ll be getting many more banners. What I want is to win a championship. That’s what we all want and we’re trying to get there.”
It’s an adjustment
Koi Love had one steal in each of the first two games. Against Texas Southern, she grabbed four in a span of eight minutes.
Love, a transfer from Vanderbilt, says she’s still learning the defensive system. It’s different than anything she’s played before.
“It’s something I’m getting better at better at and just more aggressive kind of fit into the system,” Love said. “Coming from Vanderbilt and playing high school, you just guard your yard, 5-on-5, half-court, but here we’re really into pressing and … full court.”
Arizona forward Koi Love knock the ball away from Texas Southern guard Ataiya Bridges in the second quarter of Monday's game.
Barnes said all players need time to adjust to her defensive scheme.
“When I think of Koi, I think of the progression of Trinity (Baptiste) last year,” Barnes said. “Trinity … had to learn everything and then she got more and more comfortable, and she just flourished. Koi is going to be the exact same way because she wants to be good. She works on her game. She studies the game and so she will improve all the time.”
Figuring out those combinations
Three games into their season, and Barnes is still shuffling her rotation. It’ll likely will take her the full nonconference to figure out which combinations of players work best together.
“Everybody brings something different, and I think that’s what’s exciting,” Barnes said. “I’m just excited to see how the puzzle comes together and see us just get better. Because right now, we’re in November. We usually stink in November. And then we’re better in December. We’re not usually good. We don’t get better til January, because our process takes a long time. Our angles and our rotation. We’re better now than we were last year, offensively and defensively sharing the ball.”
Barnes said she thought some of her bench players were trying to do too much in Monday’s win.
“I think when you come off of a really big win (against Louisville), and it was a small rotation, it’s normal for a player then the next game to try to press because you’re trying to earn minutes,” Barnes said. “I get that process because I was a player, but I don’t want people to feel that pressure. We’re supposed to have fun and you take open shots. We talked about not taking contested shots. And I think our team does a really good job of listening. I think sometimes they don’t realize that it’s not a selfish thing — we’re not selfish team; it’s just a wanting to get yourself in the game and do good. I get that, and I don’t mind the want to do well.”
The Wildcat connection
Cynthia Cooper-Dyke was last in McKale Center nearly five seasons ago as USC’s head coach. Monday night, she was back in the building as Texas Southern’s coach.
This time, Cooper-Dyke managed a few smiles. She is friends with both Barnes and UA director of operations Jessika Carrington, who worked for her at USC. She has also known Wildcats assistant Salvo Coppa for many years; she played against a team his father coached in Italy.
“Jessika is my girl; Adia is my girl,” Cooper-Dyke said. “I love coming back and playing Arizona. I mean, we didn’t love getting our butts whipped like this, but it’ll make us better hopefully. And I love what Adia has done here at UA. She has done a fantastic job. I saw her run last year (in the NCAA Tournament). I love that they are back on that horse and getting it done again this year.”
