(11) Arizona's 1st round matchup vs. (6) Syracuse: Scouting report, Beh noticed, here to win

No. 6 seed Syracuse (23-7) vs. No. 11 seed Arizona (18-15) | Gampel Pavilion; Storrs, Conn. | 12:30 p.m. Saturday | ESPN2 | 1400-AM

STORRS, Conn. — As the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament shifts into high gear this weekend, here's a look ahead at the 11th-seeded Arizona Wildcats' matchup with No. 6 seed Syracuse on Saturday, as a potential date with national power UConn looms for the victor.

She said it

Arizona coach Adia Barnes on being ready to face Syracuse: “I think what makes you think and have to be on your toes against Syracuse is all the changing defenses. Playing against a 3-2, 1-3-1, and 2-3 for a long period of time can wear on you, and you have to think and look for gaps in play kind of like a matchup zone. We're gonna have to be smart and hit shots from outside, but I think there's so many challenges every team is different.

"One of the positive things I can say about being in the tournament is the Pac-12 prepares you. The Pac-12 is like any other conference where we play Friday-Sunday. We do this all the time with seven players, with six, whatever — we do that in the Pac-12. I think you see success in the tournament because of that. Other people played Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday, Sunday, and we don't. I think we're used to the turnaround. We're used to having this day between as a walkthrough mental focus versus like a physical practice.

"I think we're prepared but we know they're a really good team. Because (Syracuse coach Felisha) Legette-Jack has done a great job with her team. And we know we're going to have to play." 

On the sidelines

Here to win: After the twists and turns of the season the Wildcats have had — from players getting injured to others leaving the team — one would think just making the NCAA Tournament would be enough.

Nope. Not for this group of warriors.

“We’re not just happy to be here,” UA freshman guard Jada Williams said after the win over Auburn. “A lot of teams might just be happy to be here, but we're here to make a statement. We're going to make a run and we're going to keep fighting until the end.”

Senior forward Isis Beh added: “No one expects us to do anything in this tournament. If we just go hard and play like we always play we can do a lot of special things.”

Fifth-year senior Helena Pueyo, who took over the game in the final few minutes — scoring, setting up her teammates, pulling down key defensive rebounds and tightly defending — is feeling the words of her teammates even more.

She knows these are the final days of her storied Wildcat career. Pueyo will go down as one of the best defenders not only in the country this season, but in UA history.

And right now, she wants to make a little more history.

“I was just thinking about it that this is my last month,” Pueyo said. “I’m just going to leave everything I have in and I’m going to give everything I have for this team, especially for Adia and (UA assistant) Salvo (Coppa). I'm also sad because I know this is my last one, but we're going to keep playing and hopefully we can make a run like we did three years ago.”

Counting on Beh: When you only have seven players who enter a game like the Wildcats do, each one becomes vital.

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If one or two get into foul trouble, someone needs to step in and take the load.

For the Wildcats, that person Thursday was Isis Beh — though she’s been doing it all season long.

Often with Beh, her efforts fly under the radar because she doesn’t have a flashy style or isn’t racking up points — unless you want to talk about her career-high 29 points in that triple-overtime win over Washington a few weeks ago.

She just does the work. One person who does notice it is Barnes.

“One person I really want to point out that was key to us winning this game (against Auburn) was Isis,” Barnes said. “She played 26 minutes when Esmery (Martinez) and Breya (Cunningham) were in foul trouble and she was phenomenal off the help with (Honesty Scott-Grayson). Grayson was running off staggers and different pin-down actions. (Beh) did a good job of helping and helping Helena contain her. That doesn't show up on the stat sheet but that was very valuable.”

Holding court: Barnes may be the best player in UA history (or even 1B with Aari McDonald). She was the Pac-10’s Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year when she was a senior and led her team to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

In that third-round game, the Wildcats faced none other than UConn — the host of the UA's pod of First Four, first-round and second-round games at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs. The Huskies took that one, 74-57. Barnes had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

On the other bench for Syracuse on Saturday is Legette-Jack, who is also coaching at her alma mater. She was Big East freshman of the year and led Syracuse to its first NCAA Tournament appearance.

Legette-Jack is in her second season coaching at Syracuse. She was an assistant, then moved to lead at Hofstra, Indiana and Buffalo, before coming home. The Orange have had back-to-back 20-win seasons and played in the WNIT last season, finishing in the thrid round.

By the numbers

2: Guard Dyaisha Fair is the second player from Syracuse named an Associated Press All-American; she was a third-team selection this year. The other was Alexis Peterson, who was named to the second team for the 2016-17 season. Fair averages 22 points per game and is fifth on the NCAA Division I all-time scoring list — just 42 points from passing all-time great Jackie Stiles.

4: Syracuse has four wins against AP Top 25 ranked teams this season. The Orange beat then-12th-ranked Notre Dame twice, then-No. 15 Florida State and Louisville, also ranked 15th at the time of the Orange's victory.

23: Arizona, who averages 20.2 points off turnovers per game, scored 23 points off 23 turnovers against Auburn.

Photos: Arizona Wildcats defeat Auburn, 69-59, in 'First Four' of NCAA Women's Tournament