Arizona women's basketball hosts Stanford: Scouting report, Blakely's brilliant plays, more steals

She said it

Arizona coach Adia Barnes on Stanford: “Stanford is really good. They play the percentages. We know if we’re open every possession, they are not going to guard us. If we don’t have a high percentage shot from 3, they’re not going to guard us. I think being patient. Similar to how you play against Oregon State. You’re going to have the pull-up jumper; you need to reverse the ball and try to attack on the backside. Pull Cameron (Brink) away from the basket. We have to guard Cameron. We may have to do some different double-teaming schemes because she’s hard for us to handle one-on-one and that’s the reality. She’s a very good player. I just think we have to put a solid defensive performance. We have the rebound a little better.”

On the sidelines

The 3: In honor of the last go-round of the Pac-12, here’s three questions with a league coach. This week: Legendary Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, who became the winningest coach in college basketball — men’s or women’s — last Sunday. She now has 1,204 wins after beating ASU 80-50 on Friday night in Tempe.

Q. What are you seeing in Kiki Iriafen this year that is allowing her to have performances like we saw last Sunday against Oregon State (36 points, 7 rebounds)?

A: “She played with a lot of confidence. She has a great face-up shot. She’s in better condition. She runs the floor really well. But I just think that it’s opportunity, too. Her opportunity to play. She’s taken advantage of that.”

Q: What did it mean to you that your whole team stepped up to help you get that record-setting win at home, especially with Cameron Brink out?

A: “I was really proud of our team how they stepped up. I thought Talona (Lepolo) had a great game. I thought Jzaniya (Harriel) had a great game. Kiki was in a zone. Brooke (Demetre) – a lot of people. I think that they recognized moreso than me that like ‘Wow! All these people are here. Let’s do it.’ They got it done. It was awesome.”

Q: As this is the last time you will visit McKale Center as a league opponent, what will you remember about playing in this arena?

A: “I remember when we first went there, you could hear a pin drop and what a great job Adia has done (bringing in big crowds). And the support of the team from the fans. Great players, played against great players — Adia included. She had a shot at the buzzer to beat us one time. (Shawntinice Polk) Polkey, I remember. Just great players at Arizona. great coaches. (I’m) friends with Joan Bonvicini. We will miss going there. Love the trip and I love the competition. Obviously, playing for a national championship with Arizona with Aari McDonald. I will always remember that game.”

Q: Arizona has been in so many Pac-12 games that have come down to one possession and has only turned one of them into a win, what are you seeing in this team? What does it take to get over the hump to start winning these types of games?

A: “They have played great basketball. They are extremely aggressive. They are a very well-coached team. I don’t know, it’s just hard sometimes when you don’t win those games. Then you don’t have confidence to win those games. I’ll be rooting for them in all the games but ours. I hope it’s not a close game with us and they figure it out. We going to have to play very well and we know that going there.”

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Small but mighty: Courtney Blakely showed off her speed and more in Arizona’s 66-55 victory over Cal on Friday night at McKale. There have been glimpses of this in a number of games this season, but it all came together in Blakely’s 26-minute performance. She was in her opponents’ grill on defense and making things happen on the offensive end.

“Courtney played the way Courtney can play,” Barnes said. “She didn’t take as many risks defensively. I thought she was super tenacious on the ball. Great energy good finishes. Some brilliant plays, like she kind of bobbed and weaved — it reminded me like Aari (McDonald) — through defense and just found a way to make the layups.”

Blakely has taken in all the reps in practice for knowing when to slow down, gather herself and jump, and when to put the jets on.

Her teammates have also seen the full Blakely, as well as her growth in practice every single day. Esmery Martinez said, “She’s the type of player that I don’t want to play against. She’s annoying.”

Freshman Skyler Jones added that “she’s a dog.”

“She’s everywhere. You need a player like that. She can score, she can defend, she is going to make those hustle plays. She is going to dive on the floor. She is going to do everything,” Jones said.

At one point in the game, Blakely went after a 50/50 ball so hard that when the jump ball was called, and the clock stopped, she didn’t get up. Martinez walked over to her and picked up off the floor.

“I pick her up almost every day in practice,” Martinez said. “She’s really light, just is strong and has muscles. Was that bad? .... No, it was cool. I always feel really strong when I pick her up. I was like oooh (Martinez said with a smile as she flexed her muscles).”

By the numbers

4: Helena Pueyo now stands in fourth place on UA’s career steals list with 261. She passed Reshea Bristol (260) and is only a few picks away from passing friend and former teammate, Sam Thomas, who has 264.

5: Stanford has five players shooting better than 44% — Brink, Iriafen, Nunu Agara, Demetre and Lepolo.

23.3: The Cardinal has an average scoring margin of 23.3. They average 81 points per game and hold opponents to an average of 57.7.

PJ Brown