The Arizona women’s basketball season came to an abrupt end on Thursday night.
That’s the nature of postseason tournaments — win-or-go-home.
When you lose — and most teams lose to end their seasons — it sits with you for a long time. Time is needed to put the game and season into perspective.
One thing that time can’t change is the mindset of the Wildcats in the 71-69 loss to NAU in the first round of the WBIT.
Some players had good performances, like Skylar Jones, Breya Cunningham, Lauryn Swann and Isis Beh. However, as a group, it didn’t seem like they were all in.
Wildcats guard Skylar Jones (4) looks to get the shot off against Lumberjacks guard Olivia Moran (22) during the WBIT game at McKale Center, March 20, 2025.
And they weren’t.
We learned after the game that it stung that they didn’t make the NCAA Tournament. Jones said the vibes weren’t good at practice leading up to the game.
“I would say not all of us came out with that same intensity … I’m just going to be honest, I didn’t really want to play,” Jones said. “I told y’all at the other press conference, I was in pain. I didn’t really want to play, but I still was like, ‘if I’m gonna play, I’m gonna go hard. I’m at least trying.’ And I feel like I did that. I feel like they did that, too (pointing to Cunningham and Beh).”
Jones is still nursing a nagging plantar fasciitis injury, and yet she played aggressive and scored 21 points — mainly driving to the hoop — and pulled down nine rebounds with a block.
Arizona coach Adia Barnes was as transparent as ever, adding quickly to Jones’ statement that these are young adults — 18- to 22-year-olds — and “It’s hard.”
“We’re a team that should be going to (the NCAA Tournament); we’ve established that,” Barnes said. “We built that here in Arizona, where the expectation is to do a lot of things, the expectation is to go the tournament. And that’s our expectation, too. I think for a young person, it’s very hard to be close (to making NCAAs) and have that mindset. You want to go to the tournament. We did it last year with six (players), then you don’t reach that goal.
“I think there’s a mindset we talked about that when that doesn’t happen — you don’t get what you want, what do you do? I think that’s something that’s a life lesson for them, because there’s so many things in life — you’re going to have to do stuff you don’t want to do. You may not want to go to work, you may be on a pro team — I talk to them about — and you don’t play. There are different things that happen, but you still compete and you give it your all and shift your mentality. …
“I think, as a coach, that’s hard. I want to be in the NCAA Tournament, too. I never thought that I would be talking my ninth year somewhere, that we wouldn’t be in tournament, but that wasn’t something I ever envisioned in my career. That will be the last time.”
While the overall performance wasn’t up to this program’s standards, it’s important to point out the few bright spots besides Jones, before taking a look ahead.
Cunningham put up a double-double (19 points, 11 rebounds) and had five blocks, two assists and a steal in 34 minutes of action. The one thing that ended up plaguing her play, especially in key games in the back half of the season, was staying on the floor. She did that against NAU this time around.
While Beh didn’t score a lot of points — just six — she brought it in other ways, dishing a career-high six assists, pulling down five rebounds, picking four steals and having one block.
Wildcats guard Lauryn Swann (1) wins possession of a jump ball during the WBIT game against NAU at McKale Center, March 20, 2025.
The other Wildcat is Swann, who scored 13 points, pulled down five rebounds, had two assists and a pair of steals. On defense, her growth is evident. A few examples of this are not letting an opponent turn the corner to make a layup and not giving up an easy basket down the stretch by tipping the ball out of bounds.
A look ahead
With the end of every season, questions arise on what’s next for the Wildcats.
One thing is for sure, with the money that is in college sports now, expect a lot of new faces next year.
The transfer portal opens this week, and there will be a lot of movement. Players across the country have already been offered money to go elsewhere. It’s no different at Arizona.
College women’s basketball is in this odd window between now and April 7, when U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken is expected to give her final approval for revenue-sharing, meaning there aren’t many rules in place.
Donors are still offering money to players to play at their schools. Coaches are having intermediaries — former high school or AAU coaches or even their own players — reach out to players on other teams to lure them away.
Everything has changed seemingly in the blink of an eye.
Barnes knows this, and after Thursday’s game, she said her recruiting strategy is changing. She has realized that she can’t win with younger, inexperienced players like she did in the past.
Arizona coach Adia Barnes talks to her team during the WBIT game against NAU at McKale Center, March 20, 2025.
“It was unchartered territory,” Barnes said. “When I was making those decisions years ago, it was strategic, and it was to build a core of young players, as we were getting so many fifth years. Then, young players don’t play, they transfer. You need players to help you win now. The unfortunate thing is the way our model is, which I don’t like the model, it’s going to kill high schools. … because people aren’t going to recruit (high school prospects). They are going to go get the best kids they can for the money they can and they are going to win with those kids. We have to win games and that model is the way it is.
“You have to pivot and change to be successful or you will be left behind.”
For the Wildcats, that will look like players who have a dog mentality, players who love the game and will put their all into it.
Going forward, Barnes said “You have to get the players that you want to coach, that are going to be a mirror of what you are and we’re going to do that.”
In addition to the players on next year’s squad, there is a question around Barnes, who is going into the final year of her contract.
Athletic Director Desireé Reed-Francois said she will be talking to all coaches who are waiting on an extension — nearly half of UA coaches are in a similar situation, including baseball’s Chip Hale, softball’s Caitlin Lowe, men’s golf’s Jim Anderson — after their seasons end.
Barnes and Arizona are in a tricky situation as she was next in line for an extension in 2024. However, UA football came first with working on an extension for former coach Jedd Fisch. Once he left for Washington, they moved on to hiring his replacement, Brett Brennan. Initial talks between Barnes and former UA Athletic Director Dave Heeke had started. Heeke was let go shortly after hiring Brennan, leaving Barnes in limbo.
There were rumors swirling over the past week that Barnes was on top of the list of candidates for the open Auburn position. The Star wasn’t able to confirm this. However, as of Saturday morning, it looked like Auburn was hiring Larry Vickers from Norfolk State.
Barnes has said repeatedly that she loves coaching at her alma mater, most recently, on Spears & Ali Thursday morning.
There is a lot at stake as Barnes has a successful record, resurrected the program from being at the bottom of the Power 5 conferences, plus has a strong bond with the community.
Over the last four years, Barnes is one of nine coaches who took their teams to the Final Four. Of those other coaches, South Carolina’s Dawn Staley, has been there all four times and UConn’s Geno Auriemma three times. Three coaches have been there twice: LSU’s Kim Mulkey, retired Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer and retired Iowa coach Lisa Bluder.
Barnes, Louisville’s Jeff Walz, former Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks (now at Kentucky) and N.C. State coach Wes Moore have each been there once.
Buckle up, as the next few weeks will be quite the ride.
