SAN ANTONIO — One last shot was all Arizona needed.
Just a little more of that mojo they were riding throughout the last three weeks of the NCAA Tournament. A bank, a kind roll, something.
Fans rose to their feet as the game came down to the wire. Arizona trailed Stanford by one point with 6 seconds left and with the ball.
There was no questioning who would take the shot. Aari McDonald had brought Arizona to this moment; she had earned the right to win a title with one basket.
The breakout star of the tournament talks about the emotions of losing in the national championship and her lasting legacy at Arizona.
McDonald took the inbounds pass, was swarmed by Stanford defenders, spun, and let it fly one last time.
Only this time it didn’t fall, as Stanford edged Arizona 54-53 for the national championship. McDonald and Barnes embraced after the buzzer sounded. Barnes told her star player to “pick up my head,” McDonald said. “That she trusts me to put the team on my back … and just saying how proud she was of us and how far we’ve come.”
About the shot, which McDonald took from beyond the top of the key?
“I got denied,” McDonald said “I took a tough, contested shot, and it didn’t fall.”
The all-Pac-12 final ended with Stanford bringing home its first championship since 1992.
McDonald, who will leave Arizona as the best player in program history, finished with 22 points. She scored in double figures in all 92 games she played as a Wildcat, the longest active streak in the nation.
Still, it wasn’t until last month that McDonald — the Pac-12 Player of the Year — caught the attention of the nation. She willed the Wildcats to their next NCAA Tournament game … and then another one, and another one, and another one. In six NCAA Tournament games, McDonald scored 149 points.
Still, Sunday’s loss will sting.
“We made it. We came within one basket of winning the national championship,” UA coach Adia Barnes said. “It’s hard. My heart is broken.”
Sunday’s game had all the makings of a true classic title game.
The Wildcats locked down Stanford all the way, forcing 21 turnovers while holding a strong 3-point-shooting team to 29%.
McDonald who nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key with less than four minutes remaining to pull UA with one point — 51-50.
Shaina Pellington was lights out. She finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and three steals. She was aggressive and took over the game during a five-minute stretch in the second quarter and in the last frame.
“Shaina had the best game of the year,” Barnes said. “She gave us a spark off the bench and played her heart out. …She played phenomenally. Without her, it doesn’t come down to that last possession.”
During that stretch in the second quarter, Pellington drove to the basket, drew a foul and knocked down two free throws. Arizona switched to a full-court press, and Pellington poked the ball from Lacie Hull’s grasp and raced down the court for the basket to give UA its first lead of the game, 21-20, with less than five minutes left before halftime.
Pellington would grab another steal, a rebound and drive for another layup — drawing another foul and making the free throw — before the break. Still, Stanford led 31-24.
Arizona coach Adia Barnes reflects on Wildcats' memorable tournament run, calls Aari McDonald best player in school history
The Wildcats never gave up, even when Stanford extended their lead in the third quarter. Arizona stuck to its game plan, grinded it out, and climbed back to within a point heading into the game’s final possession.
Barnes said she will always remember her team’s fight in the game.
Yet, it wasn’t easy for Arizona to lose. McDonald was crying when she said the Wildcats showed they have “mental toughness.”
“We are leaving San Antonio with a lot of pride,” McDonald said.
