The last 11 days have been a blur.
Then again, so has Aari McDonald.
The Arizona Wildcats’ senior guard played one of the best games of her life when the Wildcats beat BYU in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. She topped it three days later, scoring 31 points in the third-seeded Wildcats’ upset win over No. 2 Texas A&M.
And then she topped that performance two days later, putting up 33 in the Wildcats’ 66-63 win over Indiana.
Of course, it wasn’t just McDonald. Clutch shots by Helena Pueyo, Sam Thomas and Shaina Pellington, tough defense by Bendu Yeaney and Trinity Baptiste, and even a few key 3-pointers by Cate Reese have propelled the Wildcats into brand-new territory.
They’ll take on powerhouse UConn on Friday night with a chance to advance to the national championship game.
Here’s a look at how Arizona got this far:
Date: March 22
Score: Arizona 79, Stony Brook 44
What went down: Led by a swarming defense and a balanced scoring attack, third-seeded Arizona dominated the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Alamodone in San Antonio
Aari McDonald led the way with 20 points, while teammates Trinity Baptiste (18 points) and Cate Reese (16 points) also scored in double figures. Arizona improved to 15-0 when both Baptiste and Reese score 10 points or more. All three players were efficient. Arizona shot 58% from the field and 67% — 8 of 12 — from the 3-point line. All 18 assists came from guards finding their teammates.
The Wildcats came at Stony Brook fast and furious in a game that was shown on ESPN2, showing a new level of fire and intensity.
The did all the little things, whether it was a tip-and-steal by Sam Thomas, a scrum-on-the-floor steal that landed in an upright Reese’s hands or flying in the air to corral an errant pass.
Playing multiple positions, Thomas — Arizona’s do-everything senior — finished with six steals and three assists.
“That’s an incredible stat line. That is a player that’s helping you win games,” coach Adia Barnes said. “Sam scored two points, three rebounds, six steals, three assists — a plus-21 efficiency. That is extremely efficient. That’s just what your captain does to help you win games.”
The Wildcats picked 17 steals, forced 25 turnovers, and had six blocks. If they were nervous or anxious to play their first NCAA Tournament game in 16 years, it didn’t show.
She said it: “This is uncharted territory, but we handled it like champs. I thought we came out with the intensity that I expected — that I wanted to see. I’m very happy for this team.” — Barnes
Date: March 24
Score: Arizona 52, BYU 46
What went down: Aari McDonald carried the Arizona Wildcats in the second half of their NCAA Tournament second-round win over BYU. By winning 52-46, the Wildcats punched their ticket to the Sweet 16 — the UA’s first since 1998, and only its second ever.
The way McDonald did it — willing her team to victory with her decision-making, timing and adjustments in a come-from-behind win — showed exactly how the All-American guard has grown this year. In the game’s final five minutes alone, McDonald scored seven points, grabbed two defensive rebounds and had two steals. She finished with a game-high 17 points on 7-of-16 shooting, adding 11 rebounds, four steals, three assists — and one rather surprising block.
It was, as Arizona coach Adia Barnes put it after the game, “McDonald time.”
Early in the third quarter, McDonald grabbed a steal and fed Cate Reese for a 3-pointer, starting a 7-0 UA run. With 6:39 remaining in the quarter, McDonald — the shortest player on the court — blocked a shot, showing impressive timing.
Her performance put the Wildcats in position for a late rally.
She said it: “This one in particular was special. (I) definitely didn’t want to end my season — didn’t want to go home. I just had to put my team on my back. We got some key stops, but definitely had to buckle down on defense. … just speechless. We got the dub. I’m proud of this team because the year before we would have got rattled — we didn’t have the experience back then.
“But, we were cool, calm and collected. We came together and we played together. We got the dub.” — McDonald
Date: Saturday
Score: Arizona 74, Texas A&M 59
What went down: Behind a defense that stymied a much bigger Texas A&M team and thanks to their star, Aari McDonald, there was no stopping the Wildcats as they advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history. McDonald scored 31 points, 19 coming in the first half, as the third-seeded Wildcats crushed second-seeded Texas A&M 74-59 at the Alamodome.
“I wasn’t surprised I was scoring,” McDonald said. “I was feeling it, and I would say I had the green light.”
McDonald said that she heard some talk that Arizona was going to get smacked against Texas A&M.
She took that personally — and so did her teammates. The result: The Wildcats played their best 40 minutes of the season.
McDonald was the only Wildcat to score in double figures, but veterans Sam Thomas and Cate Reese stepped up in other ways. Thomas finished with nine points — all of them coming on 3-pointers — and four assists. Reese had eight points, nine rebounds and two assists. Bendu Yeaney added seven points, four assists and two rebounds.
McDonald hit the dagger — a 3 that bounced up in the cylinder before dropping — with 1:03 left in the third quarter to give UA a 58-44 lead. She hit 6 of her 12 attempts from beyond the 3-point line.
It wasn’t just McDonald. Four other Wildcats — Thomas, Reese, Helena Pueyo and Bendu Yeaney — hit 3-pointers, their largest long-range output of the season.
The Wildcats shot 45.9% from the floor, and — even more impressively — 44.8% from 3-point range.
She said it: “We’re ready to make more history. The sky is the limit. We want to get to the championship game.” — McDonald
Date: Monday
Score: Arizona 66, Indiana 53
What went down: It took a lot of All-American Aari McDonald, who picked up a double-double on 33 points and 11 rebounds in the third-seeded Wildcats’ 66-53 win over fourth-seeded Indiana. It took a lot of Trinity Baptiste, who fought her way to 12 points and 10 rebounds.
And it took massive 3-pointers by Helena Pueyo to extend the Wildcats’ lead as they defeated Indiana 66-53, punching their ticket to the program’s first-ever Final Four.
As the crowd chanted “U of A!” and Kool & the Gang’s “Celebration” blasted on the sound system, the Wildcats jumped into a dog pile on the court. Confetti was poured over them from a big bucket. The Cats took a team picture and cut down the nets.
As senior forward Sam Thomas — who added five points, three rebounds, one block and two steals — cut off her piece, she turned to the crowd and yelled, “We’re not done yet. Two more!”
The win — and ensuing celebration — is exactly what McDonald envisioned when she decided to forgo the WNBA draft last April and return to school for one more year. Still, she called it “a surreal moment.”
“Literally, I was on Facebook yesterday and maybe a year ago I said I was coming back,” she said. “I mean, it’s crazy how things come full circle. You make goals and to see yourself and your team achieve. ... We just beat a great team. I’m proud of my team … We just created more history.”
McDonald was on fire from the jump, scoring 10 points in the first quarter en route to 17 at the half.
She said it: “Never in a million years would I ever have thought we’d make it to the Final Four. My goal was (to) make it to the tournament at least one year that I’m here, and now we made it to the Final Four. I’m speechless. This is incredible. I’m so proud of my teammates. We’ve just done great things for this program.” — Thomas
