When Arizona beat rival Arizona State last spring to complete the season sweep, the Wildcats pointed north — sending their rivals back to Tempe.
On Thursday night, the Wildcats didn’t need to direct the Sun Devils. They outmanned ASU from the tip on the way to a 65-37 win at McKale Center.
All aspects were in sync for sixth-ranked Arizona, which improved to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in Pac-12 play.
Bendu Yeaney’s 3-pointer from the corner started the firing on offense. The shot was big for a team that had struggled from beyond the arc, hitting only 16.7% of them against USC and 24% against UCLA.
The Wildcats hit 11 of 31 3-pointers against ASU — the best they’ve ever shot from beyond the arc against the Sun Devils.
“Just knowing that she came in hit that first dagger, and then people were following after for three, we were able to pull them (ASU) out of the zone,” UA forward Sam Thomas said.
In the second quarter, the UA went 4 of 8. Helena Pueyo connected on two of them.
The start of the third was Arizona’s “SportsCenter” moment in a runaway win. Trinity Baptiste hit from long range, with McDonald following with a pair of 3s 13 seconds apart following a steal by Pueyo.
The onslaught of points gave the Wildcats a 23-point lead and it grew to 27 before finishing the quarter up by 22 points.
McDonald finished with 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting. Her five 3-pointers were a career high.
“My teammates were finding me,” McDonald said. “Once you see the ball go in, it gives you confidence. Like, ‘OK, I’m going to shoot another one and see if this goes in.’ It went in and I was happy. That was definitely momentum heading into the next couple minutes of the game. Knowing my teammates were behind me cheering for me — I like that.”
Back on top
When UA coach Adia Barnes was a player, the Wildcats beat ASU every time they played. During her senior season, the Wildcats won by a record 38 points.
As Arizona’s coach, Barnes has beaten the Sun Devils in five of nine attempts.
“We owned the state back then,” Barnes said. “I want to own the Territorial Cup. We had a sweep last year. I felt like we could have a sweep again this year. They’re a good team. They’re always scrappy.
“They’re tough defensively. But so are we. It was important to have a good game today. UA is back; we’re here.”
A switch in the backcourt
For the first time this season, Yeaney found herself in the starting lineup in place of Shaina Pellington.
After the game, Barnes said she really doesn’t put “stock into who starts and who doesn’t.” Yeaney finished with 3 points and Pellington scored 4.
“I feel like we have eight or nine capable starters,” she said. “Sometimes it’s matchups, sometimes it’s just trying to have a different pace. We’ve had some slow starts, so I thought it would be a good idea — after Shaina and I talked — for her to come in at the one off the bench. I thought she did a really good job. There wasn’t much thought behind it. It’s just shaking things that are in our favor for matchups.
“If we play a team that plays a lot of guards, and they play four out, we might start four guards. I don’t put a whole lot into that. Because to me, Shaina is a starter, Lauren (Ware) can be a starter, Helena can be a starter — we have some depth. Whatever is best for the team.”
Improving game by game
Barnes had set a high bar for Thursday’s game after noticing inconsistent play in last weekend’s sweep of USC and UCLA.
“I wanted to win (Thursday) for sure, but I was looking for how much do we improve this week? Do we share the ball better? Do we make the extra pass? Are we rotating better? Those are the things I really emphasize in practice, so I wanted to see those applied to the game,” she said. “I felt like we saw that. We got better. And that’s important for me.”
Arizona guard Bendu Yeaney gets a lot of help from her teammates after being fouled on a putback attempt with a fraction of a second left in the second quarter.
Freshmen Derin Erdogan and Marta Garcia both scored their first points as Wildcats during the fourth quarter. Barnes said those moments were important.
“What I love — we have great chemistry. That’s something we value in this program,” Barnes said. “I was really proud of the fact when Marta came off the floor … all of her teammates are up, cheering for her, giving her high-fives, slapping her on the butt — I love that. That’s the kind of team we are. We’re selfless. And we celebrate each other.”
Rim shots
- At one point Thursday, McDonald had as many points — 11 — as ASU’s team. McDonald and forward Cate Reese combined to score 35 points, two fewer than ASU’s final total.
- The Wildcats shut down ASU in each quarter, going on runs of 7-0, 11-0, 12-2 and 9-0.
- The UA is holding its opponents to 59.6 points per game.
