Arizona Women’s Basketball has daunting challenge with UCONN

SAN ANTONIO, TX – Down to just four teams, the Arizona Women’s Basketball team faces a daunting challenge against the No. 1 UCONN Huskies. 

After a gutsy win over the Indiana Hoosiers just days ago, the Arizona Women’s Basketball team is still dancing. As fans, it has been one hell ride to follow the Wildcats as they prepare for their first Final Four showdown in program history.

However, coming into Friday, Arizona will have their toughest challenge yet as they square off with perennial power, the No. 1 UCONN Huskies.

Arizona Wildcats

Already, the storylines are about the two differences in the respective programs. The Huskies have been led by legendary head coach Geno Auriemma since taking over the program in 1985, guiding UCONN to a 1,119-143 record with 21 Final Fours and 11 NCAA Championships.

Without surprise, the Huskies are heavily favored once again, and their 2020-21 has been due in large part to the talent they have from top-to-bottom. However, they are without a doubt led by the true freshman and Women’s College Basketball Player of the Year, Paige Bueckers.

A phenomenal talent, Paige is averaging 20.1 points, 5.9 assists, and 4.8 rebounds per game, helping propel the Huskies to a 28-1 record, and overall, she impacts the games on so many levels.

Arizona Women’s Basketball is going to have their toughest battle yet, and even though they are one of the better defensive teams in the NCAA, they will need to match UCONN’s athleticism.

If the Wildcats are to come away with the victory here, these are the Keys to the Game:

Keep the Offense Rolling: As we’ve said numerous times before, Arizona is a good defensive team, however, where they sometimes struggle is finding consistency on the offensive side of the ball.

Against a team like UCONN, Arizona is going to need to try and keep up offensively, since it is not going to be easy to slow the Huskies down.

Easier said than done, the offense has got to get rolling and get going early. If they get too far behind, things won’t be pretty.

Finding more consistent options outside of Aari: Aari McDonald is a stud no question. She is a dominant college basketball player, and the Wildcats pretty much go as far as she does.

However, against UCONN, the Huskies are too deep of a team for Aari to do it all. Everyone has to get involved and take the load off of Aari, or the challenge of beating UCONN becomes much more challenging.

Continue to play with a chip on your shoulder: Arizona has been doubted all tournament long and coming in against UCONN, they are going to be doubted once again.

Already, we saw some social media drama on Thursday afternoon that led to some Wildcats feeling a bit spited, after being omitted in an NCAA hype video that showed all the other teams except for Arizona, the Wildcats could use it as fuel and turn it against the Huskies!

Game Information:

Date: Friday, April 2nd, 2021

Time: 6:30 PM (Arizona Time)

Location: San Antonio, TX – Alamo Dome (64,000… 0)

Television: ESPN

Radio: 1400 AM Radio – Tucson

Team Records:

• Arizona Wildcats (20-5, 13-4):  Arizona is playing in their first Final Four and their matchup is a daunting one against National Power the UCONN Huskies. The Wildcats will have a challenge on their hands, but we will see if they can keep the magic going.
• UCONN Huskies (28-1, 18-0): The Huskies are arguably the best Women’s Basketball program and once again they are the heavy favorites to win the Title, however, will they be able to hold off a hungry and opportunistic Arizona team?