Adia Barnes said recently that her Wildcats controlled their own destiny.
After Friday’s win over No. 3 Stanford, the path to an NCAA Tournament bid for Arizona did get clearer. At the very least, the win stamped another high-value victory on the Wildcats’ résumé and extended their winning streak to three.
If the Wildcats care of business Sunday, they’ll have notched their second weekend sweep in as many weeks.
Arizona (15-12, 7-8) visits Cal (16-11, 6-9) at 1 p.m. at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, California. Mary Murphy and Krista Blunk will be on the call again for Pac-12 Network Arizona. Derrick Palmer has the radio call on 1290-AM.
Barnes is now tasked with keeping her players focused on what’s ahead of them — it’s the Golden Bears — and not looking back at an epic win that was the Wildcats’ first at Maples Pavilion in 23 years.
Arizona guard Jada Williams (2) celebrates her team's upset win over No. 3 Stanford on the road Friday. Williams had a game-high 23 points, including 14 in the final four minutes of action as Arizona flipped a nine-point Stanford lead into an 68-61 UA victory.
On Saturday afternoon, the Star talked to Barnes while she was playing with her two young children — 8-year-old Matteo and 3½-year-old Capri in the Bay Area between matchups. She talked about the Stanford win, her team and raising her son around strong women.
Adia Barnes
What stands out from Friday’s win over Stanford?
A: “(Maples) is a hard place for anybody to win. They win over 90% at home. We came here with seven players, shorthanded. They are a really good team; (All-American) Cameron Brink didn’t play, but without her they are still a better and deeper team right now, with more experience.
“I thought we didn’t play our best basketball. But we made big plays when we needed and we never gave up because at four minutes we were down nine, at 3:27 we were down seven. We could have just hung our heads and let them run away with it. But we made some big plays, had a little bit of luck with two shots that fell our way. That’s all you need to win games.”
Some would say you are a fourth-quarter team because you are always in it at the end. What would you think about that?
A: “I didn’t know that. We’ve had our different battles with quarters. It’s funny the last couple games we had been super-hot in the first quarter. Yesterday, I thought we were a better second quarter team. I think the thing is we just don’t get we just don’t give up. We keep on fighting to the very end. That’s what’s important about this team.”
You’ve taken a young team that’s faced a lot of adversity and just had one of the biggest wins in program history. How did you get here?
A: “I think you learn. Every year things are different. It’s been fun to kind of handle the adversity because someone else steps up. The loss of Maya (Nnaji) was obviously big early. Then someone else steps up and then Kailyn (Gilbert) is out, other people step up. I think watching them unite and watching them grow has been fun. I’m watching them never give up and believe. That’s very rewarding. When adversity has hit in the past we would have imploded. Someone negative would have brought someone else along.
“This core group really came together, centered around me and said, ‘Let’s go. We got you.’ That’s what I love about this team. It’s rare to have a team like that. That’s why people can say, ‘Oh, they’re down. Their record is not as good,’ but it’s been more rewarding as a coach. I know everything and I’ve seen the injuries and I’m watching us evolve and fight.”
You were named one of the Top 100 people in women’s basketball by Silver Waves Media. What does it mean to you?
A: “Our game is really important to me. The advancement of women’s basketball evolving is extremely important to me. And the success of our game. I’m just so humbled and thankful for the recognition.
“I know that as coaches, we have a chance to impact our game, impact young women and change things. I’ve watched Dawn (Staley of South Carolina) and Tara (VanDerveer of Stanford) and (others) change our game. I want to impact this game and leave a legacy. Whether that’s for moms to have the confidence to coach or for former players to get into our profession. Help women to be strong, fight for equality and help our game evolve. It’s important to me I think that’s what it’s all about. We want to leave our game better than when we started being part of it.”
Arizona coach Adia Barnes gestures to her players during the first half of the their 68-61 upset victory Friday on the road at No. 3 Stanford. The win was Arizona’s first at Stanford since 2001.
There was a timeout in the Stanford game when your son Matteo came up to you, you smiled and patted him on the head. I know he’s been at all your games for your entire coaching tenure at Arizona. What does it mean to have him with you along for the ride?
A: “That’s funny, after a timeout when we were down — I think that’s when we were down seven or nine — he was giving me a hug like ‘It’s OK. Keep on going.’ It wasn’t a hug like ‘Good job. You’re gonna win it.’ It’s like, ‘It’s OK, Mommy, you’re doing a good job.’ He was giving me encouragement. It’s great for me. He’s a little boy, and he’s watching these powerful women and he’s seeing us fighting and he is seeing us competing. And he’s seeing their will to win. I think that’s very powerful. Because not too many people see like a strong woman as a head coach; he gets to watch me. And there are not a lot of us. It’s stuff that will impact him for life.
“To respect women; to know we’re athletes. We’re not just girls playing — we’re tough, we’re fierce, we’re competitive. And he gets to watch a mom in a role of leadership. I think all those things are great for little boys.
“The example I think of is (Notre Dame coach) Niele Ivey. I’ve known her for a long time. In the WNBA and overseas I watched her with her child (Jaden Ivey, who is now in the NBA). She used to nurse in the bathroom at halftime during WNBA games. He was raised at Notre Dame with all those women. He started to love basketball; love his mom in that role. And he became a great young man. I really respected how she raised him. The other person that did that and I watched was Tina Thompson. Both of their kids turned out to be great players, good leaders and just good people who respect women.”
