The Arizona women’s basketball team defeated Stony Brook 79-44 on Monday, March 22 in the first round of the women’s NCAA tournament. Here are a few key statistics that stood out in this dominant performance from the Wildcats.
58%
The team as a whole shot 58%. It was a season-high for the team, and they even shot 8-12 from the three-point line. Stony Brook just had no answers for the Wildcats on defense, and they were able to get whatever they wanted on the offensive side. Aari McDonald led the way with 20 points, while Trinity Baptiste ended with 18 points and Cate Reese had 16 points.
Nine different wildcats scored in total, and seven of those came in the first half alone. They also had 18 assists on a total of 33 field goals, which was huge. They came out with focus and didn’t take their foot off the gas until the final buzzer.
29%
The Wildcats held Stony Brook as a team to just 29% shooting. Stony Brook couldn’t get anything going on the offensive end because the Wildcats were relentless on the defensive end. It was just one indicator of how good the Wildcats played on defense against Stony Brook.
Arizona also had 17 steals as a team and forced 25 turnovers overall. The player that stood out on defense the most was Sam Thomas. She alone ended up with six steals for the Wildcats. They weren’t going to let up on defense and watching the game anyone could see just how outmatched Stony Brook was against the Wildcats.
35
The Wildcats won by 35 in their first NCAA Tournament since 2005. They had a lead of as much as 38 in game too. Stony Brook struggled to match the intensity that Arizona played with all game. This was a mismatch on paper because it was a 14-seed vs. 3-seed, but still the margin of victory is surprising because this team and program hadn’t been to a tournament in so long.
It was surprising to see no jitters of the moment, and just a complete domination instead. This is a testament to head coach Adia Barnes for having her team prepared.
The Wildcats will play 11-seed BYU for a trip to the Sweet 16 on Wednesday, March 24 at 4:00 PM MST on ESPNU.
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