Paulina Paris didn’t waste any time showing that she was ready for Monday’s game, scoring 10 points in the first quarter and finishing with 22 to lead the Wildcats to a 78-43 victory over Seattle at McKale Center.
Arizona shook off the two-game losing streak from last week’s holiday tournament and is now 7-3. Seattle falls to 2-6.
Paris, a 5-9 junior guard, scored the first two points of the game on a fast break off a steal by Montaya Dew. Dew started the first game of her career as Isis Beh sat out with a concussion that occurred in practice.
Arizona Wildcats guard Paulina Paris is defended by Seattle Redhawks guard Olivia Moore in the second half during a game at McKale Center on Dec. 2, 2024. Arizona won 78-43.
A few minutes later, Paris scored again off her own steal, then followed that on the very next possession off another break on a defensive rebound by Jada Williams, who threw a perfect pass to Paris.
The points, assists and steals just kept rolling. Paris tied her career high in points (from her freshman year at North Carolina) to go with eight assists, two defensive rebounds and three steals. Those eight assists were the most in a single game for a Wildcat since Helena Pueyo in a December 2022 matchup against New Mexico.
After the game, Paris said coming off the two losses to Vanderbilt and Cal, she spent more time in the gym preparing.
Paris scored mainly on drives, but also hit a 3-pointer and a mid-range jumper.
Arizona coach Adia Barnes said Paris was a lot more “aggressive, more confident, really looks for opportunities.”
“(She was) a lot better defensively,” Barnes said. “I think you see her defense improving, I think before and in areas where she wouldn’t take risks, she kind of did a little. I’m not saying risk to get out of position. I’m saying aggressive in her body positioning. A couple games ago, she would have just gotten blown by (and) that’s a five-on-four. So, much better job. I thought she was confident in that.
“I thought she did a great job of changing direction and (getting) to the basket. And she’s a really good finisher. If you watch her, she’s super strong upper body. She finishes well and she creates space well. I thought she played awesome today. I mean, 10 for 13 for a guard, 22 points, eight assists, three steals. That’s a phenomenal game for her. I thought she played the best game yet, and I think she can play like that a lot. I’m proud of her.”
UA got out to a quick start, leading 25-17 after the first quarter, but things got close over the next 72 seconds. Arizona gave up eight quick points — including two 3-pointers — to find itself in a 25-25 tie. Then, the Arizona defense started to turn into offense.
A steal by Skylar Jones turned into a put-back by Dew after a missed shot by Breya Cunningham. The Wildcats outscored the Redhawks 18-7 over the next 8:26 to go up 43-32 at the half.
Arizona Wildcats forward Breya Cunningham makes a move towards the basket as she’s defended by Seattle Redhawks guard Candy Edokpaigbe in the first half on Dec. 2, 2024.
During that run, the connection of Williams and Cunningham was on display. Williams found Cunningham open down low and dished the perfect passes. Williams finished with five assists.
The Wildcats lead grew in the second half as the defense tightened up — only allowing the Redhawks to score 11 points — to in the fourth quarter when most of the reserves saw action.
Two other Wildcats scored in double figures as Jones had 16 points and Cunningham chipped in 13.
Lauryn Swann sat out to rest her shoulder. Barnes said both Swann and Beh should be back in action soon.
She said it
“Each game, I just progressively get back into playing how I used to. Just getting more comfortable out on the court, especially being more comfortable with my teammates and just being able to play my role. ... A lot of people think about scoring and before this game, I just thought, like, ‘Go out there and do all the little things — get those rebounds and just go out and don’t really even think about scoring, because that’s not really my role.’” – Dew on her game
Stuffing the stat sheet
Arizona Wildcats guard Skylar Jones is defended by Seattle Redhawks forward Christeina Bryan (34) in the first half on Dec. 2, 2024.
Dew: 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals, 1 block, 4 points
Jones: 6 of 8 from the field, 3 steals
Sahnya Jah: 3 steals
The other side
Sophie Benharouga was the only Redhawk in double figures with 10 points.
By the numbers
19: The Wildcats had 19 fast-break points.
14: Arizona had 14 second-chance points.
17: The Wildcats outrebounded the Redhawks by 17 (43-26).
28%: The Redhawks shot 28% overall — and just 9% in the fourth quarter.
