Those who have watched Lauren Ware over the past month weren’t surprised when she put up 12 points and 12 rebounds in Sunday’s win over USC.
Not her teammates. They’ve said from the training camp that she didn’t look like a freshman. Not star Aari McDonald, who said Ware is “playing beyond her years.”
Not her coach.
That’s why Ware, a newbie who has only played in three games, was on the floor in the final minutes of the thrilling finish of Sunday’s come-from-behind, 78-77 win over the Trojans.
The 6-foot-5-inch forward made a big-time block, retrieving the ball before making the perfect pass to McDonald, who raced up the court and scored in traffic with 2 minutes left to give the Wildcats a 75-72 lead.
Ware made her presence known earlier in the game by altering shots, grabbing rebounds and, at one point, making back-to-back inside baskets — one on a turnaround and the other on an inbounds play.
UA coach Adia Barnes said the freshman was “phenomenal.” The sixth-ranked Wildcats (3-0 overall, 2-0 Pac-12) host rival Arizona State on Thursday.
“She’s going to be a star in our conference — she’s going to be a key player for us for a long time,” Barnes said. “I’m not surprised at all by how she’s performing in the minutes she’s getting. She’s so smart. There are things you can’t teach — like I can’t teach her IQ right away some of her natural abilities is really helpful. She’s a natural communicator. She’s a freshman and she’s talking like a senior would do, more than most seniors would do. … She can score around the basket, she still takes some shots, off balance, those are things we’re working on every day.
“You’ll see that improve, similar to when Cate (Reese) was a freshman. You saw the improvement on her being stronger and taking better shots. She got really tough rebounds in traffic, she altered a lot of shots, she plays so smart. She’s just going to continue to get better and better.”
Ware hasn’t wasted her minutes. In her first Pac-12 game, she came off the bench and within three minutes altered a shot, grabbed a rebound and scored on a layup. The Wildcats beat UCLA, which was ranked No. 9 at the time.
Ware is averaging 19 minutes per game this season, putting up averages of 8.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Only one UA player is averaging more rebounds per game — Reese, at 7.7.
There are a lot of comparisons to Reese, a fellow five-star recruit who also played a big role for the Wildcats as a freshman. Reese claimed her first double-double five games into her career against South Carolina State. Reese’s first Pac-12 double-double also came against USC.
Barnes says that, like Reese, Ware is showing constant improvement as she takes in-game notes from her coaches and applies the lessons learned during games.
“Most of the time, freshmen are lost in most situations,” Barnes said. “She’s willing to work and she wants to be good. So that’s refreshing for me to see as coach.”
A new mentality
Arizona moved up to No. 6 in this week’s Associated Press poll, the highest in program history.
Two teams in front of Wildcats — South Carolina and Mississippi State — lost over the weekend, which caused a shuffle in spots. Stanford is now No. 1.
Barnes said she doesn’t put much stock into rankings this early in the season. While she called it a great honor, the coach is more concerned where teams will be seeded for the NCAA Tournament in March.
The coach believes the Wildcats have a lot to prove.
“We have to be humble, not pay attention to the rankings, and worry about ourselves and what our team’s philosophy is. … It’s not about winning today,” Barnes said Sunday. “It’s not that I’m negative when we win, but I’m constructive because we won today. But we didn’t win playing good basketball. … If we’re going to have a champion mentality, we’re trying to get better and take care of what we need to do. We’re not satisfied right now. We have to work on specific glaring things. It’s not about winning and losing; it’s about being the best we could be, and we’re not there yet.”
Reese digs deep
Reese played back-to-back games in foul trouble. Against UCLA, she still found a way to grab seven rebounds. And late against USC, she really showed her mettle.
Reese scored 19 of her 25 points in the second half of Arizona’s comeback win. Reese and McDonald combined for 70.5% of the Wildcats offense, with McDonald dropping 30 points.
Reese hit the game-winning free throw with less than 17 seconds left.
“Just think about it: (Reese) was in foul trouble a lot. … She probably would have had 30-something (points) otherwise,” Barnes said. “She was playing strong inside. She was finishing. She was aggressive. She took one coast to coast. She’s playing at a really high level.”
Rim shots
- Arizona will play Idaho on Dec. 23 in McKale Center. The Vandals are a top contender in the Big Sky Conference. The teams last played in the third round of the WNIT two years ago, with Arizona winning 68-60.
- Arizona held UCLA to six points and 1-of-18 shooting in the third quarter of Friday’s game. McDonald said that it’s “probably the top defensive effort that I’ve seen thus far” in her career as a Wildcat.
