How sweet it is.
The third-seeded Arizona Wildcats rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit to beat BYU 52-46 on Wednesday and advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1998.
These numbers explain how the Cats did it:
13-3
Arizona outscored BYU 13-3 over the final 4:40.
Down 53-49 with 5:03 remaining, the Wildcats got back-to-back 3-pointers to take the lead. Aari McDonald knocked down a 3-pointer, which was soon followed up by a 3 from Sam Thomas.
“We definitely needed those buckets,” McDonald said.
Helena Pueyo hit a jumper with 2:53 to go to extend the lead to 47-43 and the Wildcats were able close out the game.
Oh how SWEET IT IS pic.twitter.com/3m5FjQ0oFU
— Arizona Women's Basketball (@ArizonaWBB) March 25, 2021
9, 4, 1
McDonald was the catalyst behind Arizona’s late-game run. The Pac-12 Player of the Year and Co-Defensive Player of the Year tallied nine points, four rebounds and one steal in the fourth quarter alone.
The senior point guard scored seven of UA’s final 11 points and grabbed three defensive rebounds in the last three minutes. Her most memorable sequence came in the game’s closing seconds. With Arizona up four, McDonald stole the ball from BYU’s Shaylee Gonzales and drove the length of the court for the layup as time expired.
“This one in particular was just special,” McDonald said. “Just had to put the team on my back.”
Arizona guard Shaina Pellington drives against BYU center Sara Hamson during Wednesday’s first half.
32%
The Wildcats were in real danger of falling to the 11th-seed Cougars, primarily because of the team’s poor shooting performance through the first three quarters.
Arizona had made just 15 of 46 shots (32%) and went through stretches at the end of both the second and third quarters where they missed eight shots in a row.
The team hit 6 of 13 (46%) shots in the fourth quarter.
6
Arizona came into the game favored to beat the Cougars, who had barely snuck into the tournament.
Still, the matchup was close throughout. UA coach Adia Barnes said BYU “answered back” every time the Wildcats tried to pull away.
Wednesday’s game featured a total of 12 lead changes; no team led by more than six points.
2
Cougars guard and Chandler native Shaylee Gonzales led her team with 16 points, scored only two points on 1-of-2 shooting in the fourth quarter.
Gonzales, the Arizona 2017 Girls Basketball Gatorade Player of the Year, had 11 points at halftime. McDonald guarded Gonzales tighter in the second half and kept her to only five points in the last 20 minutes.
“Aari took it a little bit more personal, denied her a little more,” Barnes said. “She’s played stellar defense every day.”
