Arizona Women’s Basketball earns first Pac-12 sweep of the season
Tucson, AZ- For the first time in 2018-19, the Arizona Women’s Basketball team (17-8, 7-7) got a conference sweep, after dispatching Utah and Colorado.
If there is no struggle, there is no progress. That mantra can surely be applied to the Arizona Women’s Basketball team these past few years as it’s been a challenge to change a losing culture into a winning one.
It’s no secret the Cats have struggled mightily, and we’ve certainly been over this for quite some time now. Since 2007-8, the Wildcats have gone a combined 150-211 (including their win over Colorado on Sunday).
Arizona Wildcats
During that same stretch, the Cats have had just one winning season and are actually on pace have another one here in 2018-19.
With a great opportunity to get better this weekend and improve on their 2018-19 record, the Wildcats stepped-up to the challenge as they took on Utah and Colorado this weekend!
Starting off against the Utes, the Wildcats took to McKale Center on Friday evening, in need of a big performance.
From the tip, you could tell it was definitely going to be a battle as Utah came out strong in the first quarter. Early on, the Utes would take a 17-14 lead after the first quarter.
However, Arizona was able to quickly rebound, putting together a dominate second quarter to gain the lead and take control of the game just before halftime. Redshirt sophomore Aari McDonald had a great quarter, as she helped pace the Cats to a 27-22 lead at the half.
The third quarter would certainly be much more electric, as both teams seemingly exchanged scores as Utah cut Arizona’s lead down to 46-42.
Hoping to hold on, the Wildcats responded in a big way in the fourth quarter, pacing themselves to the 66-55 win over the Utes!
thank u, next@AariMcdonald scores 26 points and @dlmcbryde_ scores 9 in the fourth quarter to give us win #️⃣1️⃣6️⃣#MadeForIt | #BearDown pic.twitter.com/NbEfT8S4xI
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaWBB) February 16, 2019
McDonald would finish the game with 26 points on 8-20 shooting, and Sam Thomas would finish with 14 of her own!
Sunday would be vastly different for Arizona.
From the tip, the Wildcats dominated over the visiting Colorado Buffaloes, as Arizona took an early 18-12 lead, just before leading 34-25 at halftime.
Arizona would open the second half with a huge, 14-5 run to extend their lead to 48-30, their largest of the game. However, Colorado would end the quarter on a 9-2 run to cut Arizona’s lead to 50-39.
Needing to hold on, the Cats would finish the fourth quarter strong, pacing themselves to the 63-51 win, improving to 17-8 (7-7) on the season.
https://twitter.com/ArizonaWBB/status/1097235708727554048
Arizona’s Cate Reese would have a huge performance in this one, scoring 17 points and grabbing nine rebounds. McDonald would have a great game as well, scoring 14 points, while grabbing eight boards and dishing nine assists!
With the win, the Wildcats move up to 7th in the conference, and pick-up the 17th win on the year, their most since the 2010-11 season.
Also, with just four games left on the year, Arizona all but ensures themselves a winning season in 2018-19!
Head coach Adia Barnes has certainly been making great progress here in Tucson and should be proud of how the Cats have battled of late!
Check out some of the Cats’ highlights in their win over Colorado!
light. More. On Arizona Basketball
At Zona Zealots, we’re proud of the way the Wildcats battled this weekend and can’t wait to see how they finish out the 2018-19 season! Bear Down, Arizona!