Arizona Women’s Basketball advances into the round of 16 in the WNIT

Arizona Women’s Basketball continued their winning ways with a 64-48 win over the Pacific Tigers in the second round of the WNIT.

Wildcats advance! It’s that time of the year, win and season continues or lose and it’s over. The Arizona Women’s Basketball team won and advance onto the round of 16 in the WNIT. For those in attendance and watching online, got to witness this team playing team basketball. Unlike last game, they came right out from tip off and were firing from all cylinders!

Before I go any further here, I personally would like to thank those fans who showed up in McKale Center. Attendance was a little over 3,000, even though still students didn’t show up. These players feed off the crowd and the more fans that shows up the more it helps them dig deep and bear down! There is still another chance to represent and show why McKale Center, regardless whether it’s men’s or women’s basketball, is one the best stadiums in the country this Thursday against Idaho at 6:30 PM MST.

On fire. The Wildcats could not miss after the first 10 minutes of play. McDonald led all scores with 10 points. Combination of shooting 58.8% from the field and 3-5 from three helped this to a 25-12 lead at half. They played like a team on a mission, a mission to win the WNIT!

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In the second quarter, the Tigers clawed their way back within six at halftime. They began to knock down their shots, while the Wildcats defense was not as superior as it was in the first quarter. That being said, Mcdonald continue to be the leader on the floor, finishing with 13 points. Mcbryde, who came back from being injured and didn’t play last game, got going and had 9 points. The Wildcats also used their side advantage and positioning to outrebound the Tigers 21-18 in the first 20 minutes of play.

The third quarter, the Wildcats were tested. Being up as much as 15 to start the game, their opponent would get as close as three points. This team did not panic though and stuck with their game plan of Mcdonald and Reese on offense. On defense, Coach Barnes was mixing it up with some zone defense. Gotta love seeing a coach, during postseason, mix things up like that, throwing the other team off. With 10 minutes left to play, the Wildcats led 48-40.

The Cate Reese show. In the fourth quarter, it was all Reese who was dominating the Tigers in the paint! Her positioning and her ability to finish from both sides of the basket led to her six points in the quarter. Reese finished the game with 16 points and 5 rebounds. Mcdonald, didn’t have a strong quarter shooting, but it was the small things she did that made a huge difference – four rebounds and two assists. She finished with a double-double – 20 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists (three away from a triple double!).

The Tigers would run out of energy and fight at the end. Wildcats win 64-48! Other key factors in this game was:

• Wildcats had the edge in points off of turnovers 20-15
• Wildcats benched outscored their opponent 21-9
• Mcbryde came up huge, scoring 11 points
• Real good ball movement in the fourth quarter

At Zona Zealots, we are extremely proud of this team and advancing to the round of 16 in the Women’s NIT. They deserve this and they deserve our support. We need to pack McKale Center. No excuses. Get out there and support this team! Bear Down, Arizona!