Arizona Women’s Basketball makes statement to start PAC-12 Tournament

LAS VEGAS, NV- The first game of the Pac-12 Tournament for the Arizona Women’s Basketball team ended up being a route against USC!

It was supposed to be a close and competitive game, or so we thought. However, the Arizona Women’s Basketball had other ideas on Thursday afternoon as they kicked-off their run in the Pac-12 Tournament.

The ladies wasted no time in this one, coming out and bringing lots of energy and crisp execution early to jump out to a 21-14 lead in the first quarter. The wildcats started hot with Aari McDonald doing her thing and scoring craftily at the rim, and Tee Tee Starks was knocking shots down from deep.

Arizona Wildcats

At the MGM Grand on Thursday afternoon, the game started at breakneck pace with both teams wanting to push the tempo and catch the other team off-guard in transition to get easy buckets.

However, USC had a rough start and just couldn’t seem to find their shot or any easy looks. Most of their 14 points in the first seemingly came off of Arizona breakdowns

Then came the second quarter, where Arizona did most of their damage. In short, the Cats were simply dominant, as they might have played one of the best quarters of basketball that they have played all year.

The Cats really began to fire on all cylinders, taking total control as they headed into halftime. In the second quarter, USC scored just seven points to Arizona’s 23 points, and for the half USC shot 23 percent to Arizona’s 56 percent.

Regardless of what the Wildcats did, they could not miss and luckily, they had zero intention off giving USC any hopes of winning in this game.

Freshman Cate Reese surely made her impact felt, as she found her groove, slipping by her defender, frequently finding the easy buckets.

Leading 44-21 at the break, the Cats didn’t let up in the second half either. Although USC would begin to find their rhythm a bit in that third quarter and keeping pace with Arizona, the Wildcats were still in control after three, leading the Trojans 60-36.

Not looking to blow a late lead like they did against Cal, Arizona finished strong in the fourth and final quarter, en route to the blow out, 76-48 victory.

Although McDonald had a great game, scoring 19 points, it was Reese that perhaps stole the show, finishing with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

McDonald also got her 1,000 point of her career in this one!

With the win, the Cats improve to 18-12 on the year, and advance to the quarterfinals as they take on the No. 1-seeded Oregon Ducks (27-3, 16-2). Arizona lost both games to Oregon earlier in the year by a combined score of 176-114.

Listen to coach Adia Barnes following the win, and how this win could be a great confidence booster for her young team!

https://twitter.com/Pac12Network/status/1103809549562081280

At Zona Zealots, we’re proud of how the Cats battled and completely dominated to get their first conference tournament win under Adia Barnes. Bear Down, Arizona!