Arizona is only two games into the Pac-12 season, and they have proven they can win the close ones, and this will definitely help them down the road when the games mean even more than they do in December.
This time, the Wildcats relied on veteran leader Aari McDonald, freshman Lauren Ware and their stifling defense to come from behind Sunday to edge USC 78-77 at McKale Center.
The seventh-ranked Wildcats improve to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in Pac-12, while USC drops to 1-2 and 0-2. Arizona has beaten the Trojans five straight times.
McDonald played 39 of 40 possible minutes, scoring 30 points. She extended her consecutive games scoring in double figures streak to 68, which is the longest active streak in the nation.
Ware put up her first career double-double, posting 12 points and 12 rebounds; the freshman had a key block and recovery in the waning minutes.
“(Lauren) was huge today — if she doesn’t come out and have her 12 and 12 and give us those key tough rebounds and traffic, we don’t win the game,” UA coach Adia Barnes said.
Cate Reese chipped in 25 points — and what turned out to be the game-winning free throw with less than 17 seconds left. She added five rebounds.
It was another gritty win for the Wildcats, who beat No. 9 UCLA by three points on Friday night.
“I don’t want any more gritty wins like this, but it just shows that this team is competitive,” McDonald said. “We want to win. A couple of years ago, we wouldn’t have come back from these deficits. It just shows how competitive we are and we have the will to win.”
In both contests, the Wildcats trailed by 11 points before mounting second-half comebacks.
On Sunday, Sam Thomas and Bendu Yeaney each had key blocks. Thomas finished with three of them.
“I always talk to the team in the huddle like, ‘Hey, we’re not losing. They are holding us good, they are playing good defense,’” McDonald said. “For us to get going, it starts with our defense — like a block from Lauren, a rebound from Sam, just playing great containment D. That ignites our offense. I just felt that the five that were out there were playing smart, playing together and we really want to win. That’s what started everything – just our mindset.”
Wildcats guard Aari McDonald bangs the drum following the one-point win over USC on Sunday.
UA went on a 13-2 run to lead 57-56 with 1:21 left in the third quarter. They went up by four points at the end of the stanza on a step-back 3-pointer by McDonald.
The Wildcats led by as many as five points with 22 seconds left, but the Trojans’ Madison Campbell hit a three-pointer on an inbounds play to close the gap to two, 77-75.
The Wildcats and Trojans combined for 46 fouls. USC had four players with four fouls and two with three, while Arizona had three (Reese, Trinity Baptiste and Helena Pueyo) with four fouls and one (Thomas) with three. With so many fouls called, it was hard for both teams to get into a flow.
Wildcats guard Aari McDonald bangs the drum following the one-point win over USC on Sunday.
Barnes said that while she was happy with the win, her team is probably playing “20 minutes (per game) of good basketball right now.”
“It shows that we’re not as good as everybody thinks we are right now,” she said. “I think that we have a lot of talent, but we need to get better. Our offense is not flowing.
“Defensively, that was not Arizona defense. We’re not disciplined right now. … We have to be humble, we have to work on fundamentals, we have to work on basics.”
Rim shots
- Sunday’s game was
- livestreamed on Pac-12 as there were four games starting around the same time slot.
- The rest of Arizona’s December Pac-12 games will air on Pac-12 Arizona. First up is Thursday’s rivalry game against ASU.
