As it opened the most important month in nearly 20 years, Arizona was searching for more than just wins.
Coach Adia Barnes was desperate to find, among other things, a second — or even third — scorer to pair with all-everything guard Aari McDonald.
Mission accomplished. Trinity Baptiste scored 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting Thursday night as the UA defeated Washington State 60-44 in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals in Las Vegas. The second-seeded Wildcats (16-4) advance to take on third-seeded UCLA in Friday's Pac-12 semifinal. The game tips off at 9 p.m. Friday and will air on Pac-12 Networks.
Arizona led 11-0 and 13-1 before the Cougars scored their first basket. Baptiste scored the Wildcats’ first five points on a layup and 3-pointer. Cate Reese followed with a layup, Baptiste scored again and Aari McDonald made a turnaround jumper to give the Wildcats an 11-0 lead.
Washington State made a free throw and Sam Thomas sunk a pullup jumper, and the lead was 12 points.
Washington State attempted just 10 shots in the first quarter, hitting two of them. The Cougars turned the ball over 11 times in the first quarter alone.
The big lead was more than enough to carry the Wildcats the rest of the way.
Consider: They went 4 minutes and 19 seconds without a basket in the second quarter … and still held a double-digit lead. McDonald’s jumpshot with 4:40 remaining before halftime gave the Wildcats a 23-10 advantage.
Baptiste’s big night helped offset a less-than-efficient performance from the McDonald. The All-American guard shot 6 of 17 from the field, 1 of 7 from 3-point range, and finished with 13 points. Reese added 10 points on 4-of-9-shooting.
Arizona led 29-21 at halftime, growing their lead to 42-26 at the end of the third quarter. Barnes mostly emptied her bench in the final period; Madi Conner, who enrolled at the UA earlier this season after graduating from high school a semester early, played seven minutes
