Arizona guard Bendu Yeaney (23) gestures after draining a long three-pointer against Eastern New Mexico in the fourth quarter of their exhibition game at McKale Center, Tucson, Ariz., October 27, 2021.

 Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star

The post-Aari McDonald era began with a bang as the Arizona Wildcats women's basketball team flashed a dominant new look in their first exhibition game of the season, taking down Eastern New Mexico in a 84-25 landslide win.

A blend of fresh faces and returning stars from last year’s Final Four team took the floor Thursday night in front of 5,948 fans that had been bursting at the seams since March 2020 to watch the Cats play at McKale.

"Way better than cutouts," UA coach Adia Barnes laughed afterwards.

Arizona forward Cate Reese (25) gets battered from all sides in ripping away an offensive rebound against Eastern New Mexico at McKale Center, Tucson, Ariz., October 27, 2021.

Taylor Chavez, who transferred from Oregon to Arizona this offseason, produced the evening's biggest splash, connecting on her first three 3-point attempts in the first half and finishing the night tied with a team-high 12 points.

"It was unreal. It was so much fun," Chavez said of her UA debut. "What made it fun was my teammates. Every time a play happened, the bench was super-excited. I felt there was great energy from the crowd."

Freshman guard Madison Conner was a beneficiary of the game getting out of hand so quickly and also scored 12 points, after subbing in at the end of the first quarter.

Chavez and Conner combined to make six of Arizona’s nine 3-pointers.

All 15 players on the Wildcats roster saw playing time, with Barnes opting to begin the game with returners Shaina Pellington, Bendu Yeaney, Sam Thomas, Cate Reese and Lauren Ware as the starting five.

It only took five minutes before Arizona built a 10-2 lead and Barnes subbed in what will be her deepest bench as coach of the Wildcats. In came players that will be the future of the Wildcats: Chavez, Vandy transfer Koi Love, Alabama transfer Ariyah Copeland and five-star freshman Aaronette Vonleh.

Arizona guard Derin Erdogan (11) goes airborne to try to save a ball from going out off the Wildcats in the first quarter against Eastern New Mexico at McKale Center, Tucson, Ariz., October 27, 2021.

"We're going to have four of five players on the bench that could be starters," Barnes said. "It's going to be really hard to choose who starts the game."

Arizona, which is ranked No. 22 in the AP preseason poll, took a commanding 20-5 lead over ENMU in the first quarter with two 3s from Chavez, along with four points each from Ware and Yeaney.

The Wildcats forced 21 first-half turnovers β€” a mix of both ENMU’s miscues and UA’s quick hands to steal and knock the ball away.

The Cats used those turnovers to their advantage getting out in transition with ease and knocking down open jumpers. The team combined to hit 7 of 12 3-pointers (58.3%) in the first half, though were much less efficient in the second half going 2 of 15.

"We kind of got cold in the second half, but we still have a lot of great shooting weapons," Barnes said.

By halftime, Arizona led 43-14.

The third quarter, however, was the team’s best stretch of play the whole night as the Cats outscored Eastern New Mexico 27-3. ENMU had a layup three minutes into the quarter and didn’t make a shot again until 6:55 remained in the fourth quarter.

Nine different Wildcats scored in the third, including Reese, who had all 7 of her points in the quarter. The Cats eased off the gas in the fourth, though still outscored ENMU 14-8 in the final 10 minutes.

Arizona’s exhibition schedule concludes in McKale on Friday Nov. 5 against Arizona Christian at 6:30 p.m. The season opener is against Cal State Northridge on Nov. 9.

Arizona Wildcats boxscore vs Eastern New Mexico on Oct. 28, 2021.

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Contact sports producer Alec White at 573-4161 or awhite1@tucson.com.  

On Twitter: @alecwhite_UA