Freshman Cate Reese had 21 points and 14 rebounds in 21 minutes Monday as the UA womenβs basketball team beat Eastern New Mexico 88-31 in an exhibition game at McKale Center.
Reese hit 10 of 12 shots in the rout. Aari McDonald connected on 9 of 12 shots and scored 20 points in 19 minutes. Sam Thomas (13) and Destiny Graham (12) also scored in double figures.
UA scored the gameβs first 12 points. Arizona led 26-2 after one quarter and 44-18 at halftime. The Wildcats host Western New Mexico in an exhibition at 6:30 p.m. next Monday.
For more about Reese, check out this feature by Star contributor PJ Brown.
Learn more about the Wildcats' 2018-19 roster here:Β
Meet your 2018-19 Wildcats: Revamped roster includes program's top-rated recruiting class
Meet your 2018-19 Arizona Wildcats
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Arizona coach Adia Barnes talks positioning with forward Sam Thomas, who started all 37 games as a sophomore with the Wildcats this season and averaged 34 minutes a game. Barnesβ Wildcats expect to boast greater depth in 2019-20.
The Star introduces you to each player on Adia Barnes' new-look roster for the upcoming season.
1 Shalyse Smith
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1 Shalyse Smith
Class: Freshman
Height: 6-1
Hometown (high school): Tacoma, Washington (Bellarmine Prep)
Last season: Smith averaged 16.4 points, 11.1 rebounds, 3.6 steals, 3.5 assists and 2.5 blocks per game in her senior year. She was listed as a four-star recruit, the No. 7 forward as a prospect and the No. 48 player in the country.
2 Aari McDonald
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2 Aari McDonald
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Position: Guard
Height: 5-7
Hometown (high school): Fresno, California (Brookside Christian)
Last season: McDonald sat out because of transfer rules. In her freshman year at Washington, she earned Pac-12 all-freshman team honors and was named freshman of the week twice. She averaged 9.8 points per game and shot 47 percent from the field and was the Huskiesβ third-leading scorer behind current WNBA standouts Kelsey Plum and Chantel Osahor. McDonald started in 21 games of the 28 she played in and averaged 13.7 points per game in the NCAA Tournament.
4 Lucia Alonso
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4 Lucia Alonso
Class: Junior
Position: Guard
Height: 5-7
Hometown (high school): Leon, Spain (Aron Leon Cuna del Parlamentarismo)
Last season: Alonso led the team by shooting 39.1 percent from the 3-point line, the ninth-highest total in program history. She also averaged 7.9 points and 3.3 assists per game. She logged 1,088 total minutes β the most ever by a sophomore at the UA. She was named Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention.
10 Tee Tee Starks
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10 Tee Tee Starks
Class: Senior
Position: Forward
Height: 5-9
Hometown (high school): Brooklyn Park, Minnesota (Hopkins)
Last season: Sat out because of transfer rules. At Iowa State, she started 14 games and averaged 3 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists per game. She played in all 31 games, starting 14 of them. Starks was named to the Academic All-Big-12 first team for her performance in the classroom. At Arizona, she was recently named one of the academic athletes of the month.
14 Sam Thomas
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14 Sam Thomas
Class: Sophomore
Position: Forward
Height: 6-0
Hometown (high school): Las Vegas (Centennial)
Last season: She made the Pac-12 all-freshman team and was named the UA athletic departmentβs female freshman of the year. She started all 30 games and played the most minutes (1,088) for a freshman in program history. Thomas led all Pac-12 freshmen in rebounding, steals, blocks, and minutes played and was second in scoring. Thomas was the only player in the Pac-12 to finish in the Top 10 in the conference rebounds, steals and blocks. She averaged 10.2 points and 7 rebounds per game, and shot nearly 37 percent from the 3-point line.
20 Dom McBryde
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20 Dom McBryde
Class: Redshirt junior
Position: Forward
Hometown (high school): Bedford, Indiana (Bedford North Lawrence)
Last season: Sat out because of transfer rules. As a sophomore at Purdue, McBryde earned All-Big Ten honorable mention. She averaged 6.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. McBryde shot 47 percent from the field, the seventh-best in the Big Ten. She grabbed 221 rebounds, the third-most ever by a sophomore at Purdue.
21 Destiny Graham
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21 Destiny Graham
Class: Senior
Position: Forward
Height: 6-3
Hometown (high school): San Francisco (Eastside College Prep)
Last season: Graham played most of her games at center instead of forward as Barnes did not have a true center. But Graham still doubled her output from the previous season with 8.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. She finished third in the Pac-12 with an 82 percent free-throw rate and posted her first two double-double games.
22 Lindsey Malecha
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22 Lindsey Malecha
Class: Senior
Position: Guard
Height: 5-9
Hometown (high school): Mahtomedi, Minnesota (Hill-Murray)
Last season: She played in 23 games last season as a walk-on. In August, coach Adia Barnes surprised Malecha with a scholarship for the upcoming season. She had four steals, scored 31 points and averaged 5.1 minutes per game last year.
24 Bryce Nixon
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24 Bryce Nixon
Class: Freshman
Height: 5-10
Hometown (high school): Phoenix (Arcadia)
Last season: Nixon was named Offensive Player of the Year and All-Arizona her senior year of high school. She finished her Arcadia career as one of only three players in Arizona to score more than 2,000 points and have 500 assists. ESPN listed her as a four-star recruit.
25 Cate Reese
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25 Cate Reese
Class: Freshman
Position: Forward
Height: 6-2
Hometown (high school): Cypress, Texas (Cypress Woods)
Last season: Reese was in high school, where she averaged 30.6 points and 15.3 rebounds per game. Reese became Arizonaβs first-ever McDonaldβs All-American, and was named honorable mention All-American by the Naismith Trophy. ESPN rated Reese the fourth-best post player in the country and the 14th-best prospect in the nation.
32 Kiana Barkhoff
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32 Kiana Barkhoff
Class: Sophomore
Position: Center
Height: 6-3
Hometown (high school): Kitzengen, Germany (Palm Harbor)
Last season: Barkhoff played in 22 games her freshman year, averaging 5.9 minutes per game. She totaled 15 blocks and 27 rebounds.
34 Semaj Smith
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34 Semaj Smith
Class: Freshman
Height: 6-6
Hometown (high school): Long Beach, California (St. Anthony)
Last season: Smith averaged 12.3 points, 12.6 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game as a senior. She was listed as a five-star recruit, the No. 9 post in the country and No. 52 player in the nation.
