When Arizona took the floor Saturday night to play then-No. 16 West Virginia (with the loss, the ranking will change on Monday), the Wildcats were just a little hungrier.
They had something to prove in getting their first win against a ranked opponent. They came out with intensity and you could see from the tip that it was going to be a hard-fought battle.
And then there was a little something else: bulletin board material.
Yes, Arizona knew it was an underdog and not expected to win. After all, they had just found their footing and are starting to put things together and UWV was a team ranked in AP’s Top 25.
But then someone saw the betting line.
“They gave us a 12% (actually 12.8%) chance of winning at home,” Paulina Paris said. “And that’s just disrespectful. We looked at that and we came in and did what we had to do and it feels nice.”
Doing what they had to do was leading for nearly 38 minutes of the game. Doing what they had to do was being disruptive on defense and sharing the ball on offense, getting everyone involved and looking for that high-percentage shot.
Arizona guard Paulina Paris (23) bursts between guard Sydney Shaw (5), left, and West Virginia guard Sydney Woodley (2) to swipe the ball and trigger a Wildcat fast break in the second quarter of their Big 12 game in Tucson on Jan. 25, 2025.
And doing what they had to do was staying unfazed when they came out flat in the third quarter. The Wildcats just let the pressure of the Mountaineers get to them in not running the offense and not taking care of the ball, which resulted in turnovers. Arizona was outscored by seven points in that frame.
The Mountaineers would get as close as seven points at the start of the fourth. Then it all tilted in UA’s favor, starting with UWV’s intentional foul – an elbow to Mailien Rolf’s face. UA took advantage of those foul shots and possession to extend the lead for good, going on a 13-0 run.
Arizona coach Adia Barnes said that they “did a really good job of figuring out a way to still win without running offense and getting punched in the face in the third quarter.”
That’s how far the Wildcats have grown over the last week. In the past, after a bad 10 minutes, it would have been hard for them to get back on track.
On the flip side, it was West Virginia, the more seasoned team, who got a little flustered.
Maybe it all came down to what Paris said, “We all just really wanted this win as a team.”
From long range
For a squad that hasn’t been known for shooting the 3, the Wildcats have showed out in Big 12 play.
They are averaging nearly seven made 3s over eight of the nine Big 12 games. K-State was the lone holdout when Arizona only made one.
The real shooter on Arizona is Lauryn Swann, who has 16 of the 53 that the Wildcats make and this is with making any at BYU and K-State. In addition, Swann was elbowed in the ear at halftime of the Cincinnati game and missed the second half and the entire game against West Virginia with a concussion.
Against West Virginia, the Wildcats continued with their volume, making seven more. The guards all chipped in with Jada Williams (3), Paris (2) and Skylar Jones and Mailien Rolf with the other two.
“Lauryn contributes a lot outside,” Paris said. “… I think we made up for that and obviously, we miss her. Hopefully, she will be back soon, but I think with who we had (Saturday), we showed up and we did what we had to do.”
Arizona guard Skylar Jones (4) takes a swipe at a shot from West Virginia guard Sydney Woodley (2) in the first half of their Big 12 game, Tucson, Ariz., Jan. 25, 2025.
Sparking
Jones has become the spark off the bench for the Wildcats this week. The sophomore has found her rhythm both offensively and defensively.
In back-to-back games against Cincinnati and West Virginia, she has scored 16 points, which has helped her team win. In Wednesday’s game, those 16 points (6 of 8) came in 16 minutes of play in the second half.
On Saturday, against UWV, her impact was first felt on offensive in the second quarter, going on a 7-0 run in 30 seconds to give UA a 28-19 lead.
In both games Jones’ defensive was on point, as well. She used her length to work the angles not giving her opponents the space to work.
Prior to this week, Jones was going through a little rough patch and after the game on Saturday night, Jones sat taller and exuded more confidence than she has in a while. She said that it was about “being in a good place mentally.”
“(I’m trying to) come in with a positive mindset and smile more and it’s working out,” Jones said. “… I’ve had good practices this week with good energy. Just need to keep that moving forward so I can keep doing what I need to do.”
Barnes looked on when Jones said this like a proud mom as she is seeing the growth right before her eyes.
“She came in focused, confident, being a really good teammate, being good on the bench and all those things matter,” Barnes said. “I think that helps her, too. … She’s getting better in every way and she’s playing really well.”
One of the best
Recently, 2-time WNBA champion and Olympic gold medalist Kelsey Plum had her college jersey retired at Washington. Barnes, who was a UW assistant, recruited and coached Plum, was part of the video in the ceremony.
“No one was going to derail her and no one was going to tell her she couldn’t do something,” Barnes said.
She ended up setting the UW single season scoring record as a freshman — and broke it each of her next three seasons. She scored 3,527 points in her collegiate career — the NCAA record until Caitlin Clark surpassed it last season. Plum was the No. 1 pick in the 2017 WNBA draft.
Barnes puts Plum into the same list as the best teammates she played with in the professional ranks — Lauren Jackson, Sue Bird and Katie Smith, among others. Barnes said that it’s the players like this, the great ones, who do anything to get to the top.
“When I first started coaching, I thought there were a lot of players like this, because there are many in the pros,” Barnes said. “I’ve coached college now, what 15 or 16 years, and she’s the only one. She was a generational talent. There’s no one similar to her at all. Not even comparable, not as far as work ethic, mentality and determination.”
