No. 11 seed Arizona (17-15) vs. No. 11 seed Auburn (20-11 | Gampel Pavilion; Storrs, Conn. | 4 p.m. Thursday | TV: ESPN2| Radio: 1400-AM
She said it
Arizona coach Adia Barnes on Auburn: "Auburn is really athletic, very similar to Texas' style as far as aggressiveness and in the passing lane. Very, very aggressive on the boards, so that's going to be hard. I think the challenge is going to be can we take care of the ball? Can we handle their pressure without rushing? The thing is, we do the same things. We're both about (forcing) 20 turnovers per game. I think it's going to be about who takes care of the ball. who handles the pressure ... and then I think one of the challenges for us because they're big and athletic is keeping them off the boards when they miss shots.
"But I think we do a lot of things well, and looking at a lot of games, they haven't faced some of the things we do defensively. I think when I look at the SEC, I look at it as a super talented league top to bottom, very athletic, big, strong but very not aggressive on on-balls, which I think if you're really aggressive, you would be aggressive on the on-balls. But most of them contain on-balls. Some may hedge, but most contain. But they are really aggressive defensively in every other area.
I think for us, a lot of people have a hard time and have to prepare us trapping and hedging and doing different things. I think our challenge is slowing them down. keeping them out of the paint, and the I think they have to also handle our pressure."
Arizona guard Jada Williams slices through the lane against UCLA on March 2. The Wildcats (17-15) are battled-tested heading into the NCAA Tournament, having faced the second-toughest schedule in the country.
On the sidelines
Got a ticket?: Tickets for the Arizona-Auburn game were going for $10 for adults and $5 for youth ages 2-17 years old. Plenty of good seats were available on Wednesday morning in the lower level on the west end of the court and behind the baskets on the UConn ticket site.
Need a place to stay: Arizona had a hard time finding hotel rooms around Storrs for its opening matchup against Auburn.
But leave it to UA’s director of operations, Lauren Flaum, to come through in a pinch.
After working the phones late into the evening Sunday after the Selection Sunday show, she started back up at 4:30 a.m. Monday to locate blocks of rooms not only for the team and staff, but also for the cheer squad and pep band.
She finally found a home with the Wildcats staying in Hartford — about a 45-minute drive to Gampel Arena on UConn's campus. The band, cheer squad and pomline are staying a little more than an hour away.
Typically, the host schools line up hotels and buses for all the visiting teams, including those playing in the First Four game. That's just one item on the huge list of requirements that the schools need to have in place when they submit their bids to host the NCAA Tournament.
Staying that far away from the arena most likely means that the Wildcats won't take their allotted shoot-around time on game day as it wouldn't be ideal to travel 45 minutes three times in a matter of hours before the game.
On Tuesday, after the Wildcats landed, they practiced at Hartford's gym, which actually has a little UA connection. Former UA assistant Morgan Valley (who is now an assistant at her alma mater, UConn) was head coach at Hartford for two seasons.
President’s picks are in: Former President Barack Obama released his picks for both the men’s and women’s tournaments. He has the UA men losing to No. 3 seed Baylor in the Sweet 16 and the Wildcat women losing to No. 3 seed UConn in the second round.
For the women, if that holds, it would be the third consecutive season they would play in the second round — and the third consecutive season Obama has picked them to finish the season in exactly that spot.
While he has a good track record the last few seasons, that's where it stops. In 2021, his bracket — along with most who played along — was busted when the Arizona women made it to the national championship game. He had them falling in the Elite Eight.
History: It's impossible to not notice all the history when walking into Gampel Pavilion — from the 11 women's national championship banners that hang from the rafters to that iconic floor where greats like Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Maya Moore, Breanna Stewart and many other great Huskies played.
Arizona's matchup with Auburn will be the first time all the Wildcats have played at UConn. UA's Helena Pueyo said, "It's really cool."
"I always wanted to see (what) it looks like," she said.
Connecticut and Marquette tip off on March 1. Arizona is getting its first look at Gampel Pavilion this week, where a combined 16 women's and men's NCAA Tournament championship banners (all from the last 30 years) hang in the rafters. "There is a lot of history here," said UA coach Adia Barnes.
Barnes added: "I'm sure they are excited to be here. I'm sure they are probably looking around like, 'Oh, this is what I thought' or 'wasn't what I thought.' But there is a lot of history here, and I think Geno (Auriemma) has done a tremendous job of building a dynasty. It's really hard to do. It's really hard to do here. It's kind of in the middle of nowhere. It's a beautiful place. But it's hard to build something like he did."
MVP, MVP: Former UA standout Aari McDonald was named the MVP of the Perth Lynx. The Lynx came up just short of winning the Grand Finals this week. She averaged 20.7 points, shooting 45.7% from the field and 6.3 assists per game.
By the numbers
10: Nearly all of the Pac-12 schools found their way into a postseason tournament. Seven made the NCAAs — No. 1-seeded USC, 2-seeds Stanford and UCLA, 3-seed Oregon State, 5-seeds Utah and Colorado and 11-seed Arizona. Three other teams made the WBIT — Cal, Washington and Washington State.
1: Arizona and Auburn have only played once — in the San Juan Shootout in December 2000, with the Tigers winning 69-66. Despite coming up short, UA’s Reshea Bristol did it all, scoring 20 points, dishing six assists, grabbing five rebounds, picking four steals and swatting one block.
4.5: Auburn averages 4.5 more rebounds per game than Arizona. The Tigers grab 37, while Arizona pulls down 32.5.
VIDEO: Arizona women's basketball coach Adia Barnes and guard Skylar Jones speak to the play of guard Courtney Blakely against Washington after the UA defeated the Huskies 58-50 on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, in the first round of the 2024 Pac-12 Women's Basketball Tournament at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. (Courtesy Pac-12)
