Time has flown.
It seems like yesterday that Cate Reese was entering the Richard Jefferson Gymnasium for the very first time and looking up at the image of her new head coach, Adia Barnes, on the wall as a player, and vowing to make her mark on the Arizona program.
That was more than five years ago. Reese is now entering the final home game of her career as No. 18 Arizona hosts No. 21 Colorado on Sunday at McKale Center.
If they win, the Wildcats will have swept the mountain schools at home after beating No. 4 Utah on Friday night β and they will be one step closer to securing a bye in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament. In addition, the Wildcats will add another checkmark on the positive side of the ledger for the NCAA Tournament, having beaten five Top 25 teams this season and two down the stretch.
βI feel like it went by so fast,β Reese said earlier in the week. βWhen you look at it day by day, it goes by slow. But I feel like I was a freshman last year. Looking back, Iβm super proud of everything that weβve been able to accomplish as a program. I think itβs exactly why I came here.
βItβs funny because I was thinking about senior night (on Tuesday) I literally started tearing up. Itβs just so sad, and I feel like my time is up here. Itβs been a great five years.β
Reese has been part of the build of the Arizona program, along with fellow seniors Helena Pueyo and Shaina Pellington. Jade Loville is the other senior who is walking and being celebrated on Sunday. All four want to play professionally.
When she was a freshman, Reese was on the team that started it all β the one that won the WNIT Championship in front of a sold-out McKale. Reese, UAβs first McDonaldβs All-American, has earned an All-American honorable-mention nod, All-Pac-12 honors and been a finalist for the Katrina McClain Award given to the top power forward in the country.
βShe took a leap of faith and a chance on us,β Barnes said. βAnd then just to start and then to be a star player just as we climbed β I canβt say enough about her as a person, as a player, what she represents off the court, just her resiliency, how sheβs improved. Iβm proud that she could be a part of that group like the Sam Thomas, Aari (McDonalds) that have lifted this program to the next level. β¦ She definitely left her legacy.β
Pueyo and Pellington joined the next season. Pueyo was on the court as a freshman, could barely spoke English yet showed flashes of the player she would become β this year making the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year midseason watch list. In that freshman year, she averaged 6.7 points per game and swiped 41 steals. She ranks second in the Pac-12 with 2.3 steals per game with three regular-season games left.
Pueyo, this yearβs team captain, hasnβt exhausted her full eligibility just yet. She can come back for a fifth year next season and hasnβt made her decision yet. She is waiting on professional offers from Europe and Spain but said UA is a true option and that itβs βspecial.β
βCoach Adia wants me to come back,β Pueyo said. βIβm really happy that she says Iβm her number one (recruit for next year).β
Barnes said that Pueyo has grown so much in her four years at UA. Off the court she has come out of her shell and has become a jokester. On the court, sheβs turned into an all-around player. Barnes said she will be a good professional and added that βI hope itβs after one more year.β
Pellington was the last of the group that had to sit out a year after transferring from Oklahoma. Her first season on the court was 2020-21, when the Wildcats made it to the national championship game β and that was her best game of the season: 15 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
She has done a lot for the Wildcats over the last two seasons, from game-winning heroics last season to putting up a career-high 35 points against Utah Friday night. She is also a member of Team Canada and played in the 2020 Olympics.
βShaina has changed so much,β Barnes said. βIf I look at Shaina when she first got here to who she is now, (itβs) drastically different. I think sheβs learned so much. I think sheβs matured so much. β¦ Itβs been fun watching her go through the transformation on and off the court.
βShaina is really smart, and when she applies herself, she can do anything. Her aspirations are to go pro, so sheβs going to leave here with a degree and sheβs going to go pro. I think sheβs going to have a great career. Iβm just excited to see what the future holds for her, but sheβs been special for us.β
Although she has played only one season at UA, Loville also has had an impact. Barnes said she wishes she could have coached Loville much longer.
βJade works like a pro,β Barnes said. βIf you go into the gym early, you will see Jade working. Sheβs not just there shooting or shooting half-court shots or standing and talking and holding a ball. Sheβs working. Sheβs working on stuff that she needs to apply. Sheβs working on down screens, sheβs sweating.
βShe takes care of her body. She rests. She does things like a pro. ... I think thatβs really important. Everybody doesnβt have that.β
Difficult week
Itβs been a rough week for Barnes and the Wildcats with three deaths in the family: Lauren Wareβs aunt, early enrollee Montaya Dewβs mother and Barnesβ former Seattle Storm teammate, Simone Edwards.
Barnes was close to Dewβs mom and wanted to go to her funeral on Saturday, but with Sundayβs Colorado game, the logistics didnβt work out.
βThat was hard for me. And I promised her mom Iβd take care of her here. That was a hard moment,β Barnes said, fighting back the tears. βThen, Lauren had a death in the family and left. That was a difficult moment.β
Edwards won the 2004 WNBA championship with Barnes in Seattle.
βOne of the best teammates Iβve ever had,β Barnes said. βShe was fighting ovarian cancer and passed away, so that was hard. All my teammates on the Storm are calling. All the WNBA players, and itβs just not real. Itβs shocking. β¦ If anyone knows Simone, she was loved by everybody, she was a fan favorite.
βThis week, I was like, βGosh, everybody is having a tough time.β But you figure it out. I think you just have to move on. And I think this is life. As Iβm getting older, itβs happening more and more.β
Rim shots
It is still unknown if Esmery Martinez and Lauren Fields are using their extra year of eligibility. Even if they participate in Senior Day, they can return.
The seniors will always remember the fans and how they packed McKale to watch the Wildcats play.
βItβs been a blessing just to play on this home court in front of all these fans ... they support us through the good, the bad, the ugly β everything,β Loville said. βIβm so fortunate to have joined this team for my last season. β¦
βI went to Starbucks (Tuesday), I walked in, I was in there for five minutes, and I heard βLoville!β She is a fan. Just to be well known, it feels like youβre famous in Tucson. Itβs just that support. Itβs such a blessing, especially in womenβs basketball. Thatβs huge right now. McKale is really putting on for womenβs basketball. Thatβs so great to be a part of β itβs a piece of history that I feel like Iβm part of. Iβm so fortunate.β