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Arizona Women’s Basketball advances after big NIT win over Idaho

By Eric Townsend

TUCSON, AZ - MARCH 3: Arizona Wildcats mascot Wilbur the Wildcat waves the Arizona flag before the start of the college basketball game between the Arizona Wildcats and the California Golden Bears at McKale Center on March 3, 2016 in Tucson, Arizona. The Wildcats beat the Golden Bears 64-61. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
TUCSON, AZ - MARCH 3: Arizona Wildcats mascot Wilbur the Wildcat waves the Arizona flag before the start of the college basketball game between the Arizona Wildcats and the California Golden Bears at McKale Center on March 3, 2016 in Tucson, Arizona. The Wildcats beat the Golden Bears 64-61. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) /
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TUCSON, AZ- In front of their largest home crowd all season, the Arizona Women’s Basketball team advances after knocking off Idaho.

Pack McKale! That’s been the message for a little over a week now as the Arizona Women’s Basketball team continues their stellar tournament play!

After being selected to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) over a week ago, the Wildcats have extended their season, dispatching Idaho State and Pacific, setting up for another, big-time showdown in McKale Thursday evening!

Arizona Wildcats
Arizona Wildcats /

Arizona Wildcats

Now just down to the final, 16 teams in the tournament, Arizona was ready to take on a formidable foe in Idaho, as the Vandals came to Tucson.

Having already seen two, strong attendance outings, the Cats were looking to pack McKale once again, this time aiming for 5,000 fans at the minimum.

With head coach Adia Barnes, football coach Kevin Sumlin and men’s basketball coach Sean Miller,  all bought in, it was a full team effort in bringing the fans to support the Cats in this one!

From the start it was rockin’, as over 6,300 fans came to McKale, ready for some basketball action, and that was a good thing!

Arizona got things going early in this one, jumping out to a quick lead, where they never seemed to relinquish it.

Up 19-16 after the first quarter, the Wildcats came out even stronger in the second quarter, completely controlling the pace and play of the game as the extended their lead to 10 at the half!

Leading 36-26, the Wildcats just needed to hold on in this one to advance. The Vandals came out strong, cutting the Cats’ lead to just two, after a three-pointer from Idaho to make it 41-39.

Luckily, Arizona came storming right back, going on a 7-0 run to end the quarter to make it 48-49, capped by a lay-up from Aari McDonald!

Picking right up where they left off, the Wildcats were on fire to start the quarter. Arizona came out firing, going on a 11-2 run to extend their lead to 18 with just over five minutes to play.

Unfortunately, Idaho would chip away at Arizona’s lead in this one cutting the Cats’ lead to just six, before Sam Thomas and Arizona would close the door completely. The Wildcats would eventually pace themselves to the 68-60 win, advancing to the final eight teams, and improving to 21-13 on the year!

McDonald would finish the game with 18 points, while freshman Cate Reese would add 14 of her own, Thomas had 13 and Tee Tee Starks added with 11 of her own as well!

With the win, the Wildcats will now play host to Wyoming (25-8) on Sunday, when Arizona and coach Barnes hope to get 7,000 fans to the game!

Here’s a little recap from their win over Idaho!

More. On Arizona Basketball. light

At Zona Zealots, we’re proud of the way the Cats battled and hope to see the strong play continue! Here’s to hoping for a win over Wyoming come Sunday! Bear Down, Arizona!

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