The fourth-seeded Arizona Wildcats saw their season come to an end Monday night with a 63-45 loss to No. 5 North Carolina at McKale Center in the round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament.
After last season's Final Four run, the Wildcats were unable to clinch consecutive Sweet 16 trips this season — a feat yet to be accomplished in school history — but finished with a 21-8 record.
These numbers explain the Wildcats’ second-round exit:
13: After a back-and-forth first five minutes of the game in which a pair of 3s gave UA a 9-8 lead, the Wildcats went ice cold from the field shortly after. They missed their next 13 shots — a drought that lasted over 10 minutes of game time — and enabled UNC to take command with a 23-9 advantage at 4:43 in the second quarter.
11: The Wildcats trailed by 11 going into halftime at 28-17.
7: Arizona opened the second half with a 6-2 scoring spurt to cut UNC’s lead down to seven. Bendu Yeaney had an and-one layup to make it 30-23 at 8:00 to go in the third quarter.
15-2: Immediately after the Wildcats made their run, North Carolina responded with a 15-2 run of its own to go up by 20 at the end of the third quarter. UNC’s lead grew to as many as 24 points in the fourth.
19 of 24: The Wildcats got into foul trouble, sending the Tar Heels to the free-throw line 24 times. North Carolina knocked down 19 of 24 from the line, while Arizona went 4 for 7.
35%: Arizona shot 35% or worse in four of its final five games to end the season. Prior to Feb. 22 against UCLA, the Wildcats had been held under 35% shooting just once during the season.
3: UA point guard Shaina Pellington managed just three points on 1-of-9 shooting following her 30-point performance in the opening-round game against UNLV. She’s been held to three or fewer points in just four games this season.
15: Sam Thomas scored 15 points in her final collegiate game, the most she’s had since posting 19 on Jan. 26 against UCLA earlier this year. It’s also the most points she’s had in any of her eight NCAA Tournament appearances.
6: Arizona was able to briefly show signs of life in the fourth quarter by forcing six turnovers to cut it to make it 54-41 with 3:43 to play. That was until the Wildcats ran into turnover issues of their own, turning it over their next two possessions, leading to UNC baskets.
