The Arizona Wildcats made history — again — on Friday night.
When the Wildcats knocked off No. 6 Louisville 61-59 in overtime Friday night at the Mammoth Sports Construction Invitational in South Dakota, it marked the biggest nonconference regular-season win in program history. The UA had never beaten a team ranked higher than eighth before.
In fact, they’ve only beaten a top-10 team once before in regular-season nonconference play. The last time came 19 years ago, when Arizona took down No. 8 Georgia in McKale Center.
Friday’s win was quite a moment for a UA team that is still figuring things out. No doubt, the 22nd-ranked Wildcats will move up the rankings in the AP poll on Monday morning.
UA coach Adia Barnes has spent the past weeks figuring out which combinations of players work the best together. She noted before Friday that the Wildcats’ defense isn’t quite where she expects it to be.
And yet the Wildcats held Louisville to 28.6% shooting. The Cardinals made just 2 of 11 3-pointers (18.2%). The Wildcats also grabbed seven steals and had six blocks.
“(Barnes) has done a great job,” Louisville coach Jeff Walz said. “Those kids get out and defend and deny and really try and make things as difficult as can be.”
It was a tough night shooting on both sides. The Wildcats shot 37% from the field. Among Arizona’s starters, only Cate Reese hit more than half her shot attempts. The rest went a combined 11 for 37 (29.7%).
Reese scored 21 points, hitting 6 of 12 from the field and 3 of 5 from 3-point range. She added five rebounds and a steal, and was named the top performer for the two-game invitational. (Top-ranked South Carolina won Friday’s night’s game over South Dakota, 72-41.)
Arizona’s Ariyah Copeland made all four of her shots, one a mid-range jumper, and finished with eight points. Her decision-making that stood out: The Alabama transfer knew when to pound it in or pull it out to take more time off the clock.
And Bendu Yeaney stepped up to win the game in overtime. She scored six points on a 3-pointer, a jumper and a free throw.
Barnes said it’s Yeaney’s time to shine.
“She’s put in work, so I think part of maturing and getting better is (that) you work on your game every single year,” Barnes said. “I’ve known Bendu since she was in eighth grade. She has gotten better every year. She’s already an athlete. She can defend like crazy. She can do so many things. She’s always been able to shoot but you can see it was a focal point for her this offseason. She worked on it. It’s something we need for her to do. And she’s been great at it. She’ll continue to do that and keep getting great opportunities.”
Homecoming
Another Wildcat who stepped up in the extra period was Lauren Ware. She scored the other basket on a jumper within the first minute. In the last 38 seconds, Ware blocked two shots and grabbed two rebounds — her final block sealed the win.
“We’re a defensive-minded team, so I knew that was going to carry us through, especially in overtime we needed to stop and get the ball back on offense; that was my focus,” Ware said. “I knew that we need to get a stop, so I put my mind to it.”
Ware finished with eight points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and one steal. A put-back was waved off after a review in overtime. Had it counted, Ware would have finished with a double-double. She also did a handful of things that didn’t show up in the box score: Ware stuck with her opponent, clogged passing lanes and forced off-balance shots.
Ware last played in the Sanford Pentagon two years ago. It wasn’t a happy memory: She tore her ACL during a volleyball tournament there.
“That was in the past,” she said. “It’s just great anytime I can come back home — going to see my family because they love to come watch me play. I wish they had more chance(s) to do that. This is a great game for us. Not just because of my family being able to come but just the game, being able to play against a ranked team. It was good for us.”
About that defense
Barnes said she thinks the Wildcats will eventually be better on defense than they were last year, when they had one of the best units in the nation. This year’s team is “rotating better and we’re just a little bit more consistent,” she said.
“I think just because we have more players. We are a lot bigger this year in different positions,” Barnes added. “We have more depth so we can press and rotate more players and keep players fresh. It’s hard to press for 40 minutes.”
Rim shots
Sam Thomas now sits at the top of three lists in program history — most games played (127), most games started (127) and most minutes played (4,276). Thomas fouled out Friday, a rarity. She has fouled out just five times in four-plus seasons. Despite playing with foul trouble, Thomas grabbed three rebounds, dished five assists and blocked one shot. She did not score.
Louisville made 25 of 30 free throws, while Arizona attempted 14 and made 12.
The Wildcats will unveil their Final Four banner at Monday’s game against Texas Southern.
