It’s another big weekend for Arizona.
The 13th-ranked Wildcats (22-5, 11-5) will take on No. 4 Stanford on Friday and last-place Cal on Sunday with a shot at moving up to third place in the Pac-12. There’s more than just Pac-12 Tournament seeding at stake: If they finish the regular season in the top 16 nationally, the Wildcats can — and likely will — host the first two rounds of NCAA Tournament play. Athletic director Dave Heeke put in a bid to host last month.
But first thing’s first: A showdown with the Cardinal (24-4, 13-3) at 6 p.m. All eyes will be on guard Aari McDonald, who missed two games last weekend with what the UA said was a lower leg injury. She is expected to play, but won’t be 100%.
The Star sat down with Arizona coach Adia Barnes earlier in the week to talk about her favorite moments of the season so far, and what the Wildcats need to work on moving forward:
What is your favorite moment of the season?
A: “I don’t know, there’s been so many good moments. Not that I care about rankings and stuff — but when we cracked the Top 25, I think that was a good moment because that was a pivotal time for the program. And then we got up to (No.) 11 and the chance to host (the NCAA Tournament). There’s so many. And solidifying the fourth seed and having a bye (in the Pac-12 Tournament). This is uncharted territory for the last two decades. It’s not something I thought was going to be a sure thing. I would not have thought at this point the season we’d have a bye already. There’s still basketball to be played. I never thought we’d have a chance to host right now. I think all those things — I also never thought we’d have 10,160 people for a regular season game. There are so many moments that are special — I didn’t think we’d go to Oregon State and beat Oregon State or UCLA come here and we beat them with a good win. Those are things that I didn’t know would happen right now.”
When did realize your team would do big things?
A: “The Texas game (an 83-58 win in November) was maybe an eye-opener, but it was also a moment where Aari played phenomenal. We could have beat anybody. That was kind of the first thing that made me think, ‘OK, we have a chance to be pretty good.’ Then I think when we started clicking defensively, I said, ‘Oh, I didn’t think we were gonna be a top five defensive team, or (even) a top 10.’ And then they continued to surprise me. And then ASU — I thought we could win, but then to go there and win it. … To sweep them, we hadn’t done it for so long. That was a big thing for our program. And then I think they continue to set the bar higher. Then to go to Oregon and get crushed and bounce back and beat Oregon State — that was the thing, ‘Oh we can be pretty good, because we just got crushed against a really good team and we come back and show resilience.’ That was a solidifying moment for the program.
“All of those things combined. To go into Utah and win without Aari. Those are hard trips without our full team. I think all those moments to me like ‘OK, we can win in different ways with different people. Sam (Thomas) stepped up, so that’s great. Sam stepped up against UCLA. Cate (Reese) has stepped up into different games. To know that we have everybody back for this week, those are big things.”
Has any player surprised you?
A: “Aari surprises me how she continues to dominate every game. Cate (Reese) is surprising in a sense that she’s been solid and stepped up in every big game. She had a tough weekend, but every other big game she stepped up. Sam has improved so much. The fact that we’ve been talking about her having 30 — she wouldn’t have even taken enough shots a year ago to have 30. Helena (Pueyo) coming off the bench hitting big shots. Lucia (Alonso) has helped us win games. I think so many people have done it in different ways. Dominique (McBryde) — we missed her for six weeks, but we still found a way to win. Then Semaj (Smith) stepped up.
“All those things have showed that we can win with different people in different ways and show that we’re a team. We still have to get better there’s still some stuff we have to improve on before the before this weekend, before the Pac-12 Tournament and before the (NCAA) Tournament.”
What are those things?
A: “Just consistency. I think having consistent players off the bench. Having Cate and Dominique assert themselves and be consistent forces inside. Boxing out and rebounding and finishing inside. Continuing to shoot the 3 consistently — we should be able to shoot 47%. We have the personnel to do it. We’ve got to limit our turnovers a little bit better. There are some statistics that are glaring. When we rebound and take care of the ball, we win. The rebounding is a huge factor and just our efficiency.”
You have a number of seniors participating in Sunday’s Senior Day. What is that going to feel like for you?
A: “I will be able to hold it together but it’s just hard. I think it’s just an emotional day, because these seniors mean so much to this program. I love them. It’s really special having my first full (recruiting) class.”
Rim shots
- Just two Power 5 conference players have both 40 blocks and 40 steals this season, and Thomas is one of them. The other is Natasha Mack from Oklahoma State. Thomas is the only player in the league in the 40-40 club.
McBryde is averaging nearly three steals per game in her last three games.
