The Arizona women’s basketball team lost 84-60 against No. 6 Stanford University. The University of Arizona was outmatched by a fantastic Stanford team. The Wildcats made plenty of mistakes and shot poorly from the field while Stanford played smart basketball, helping them cruise to a 24-point win.
“We had a tough time scoring, tough time defending, just rough,” head coach Adia Barnes said following Thursday night’s loss.
Quarter 1
Stanford shut down Arizona’s offense early and jumped out to an early 10-2 lead. Arizona responded by going on a 7-2 run and trailed 12-9 with just over three minutes remaining in the quarter. However, Stanford used their size as an advantage, leading the Wildcats in rebounds 15-7 and closing the quarter on a 9-2 run. At the end of the first quarter, Arizona trailed 21-11.
The main takeaway from the first quarter was the Wildcat’s inability to get their shots to fall. They shot 5-17 (29.4%) from the field, while Stanford was 9-17 (52.9%). Senior Esmery Martinez led the Wildcats with five points, followed by Shaina Pellington, Cate Reese and Helena Pueyo each having two points.
Quarter 2
Both teams traded buckets early in the second quarter, but the Wildcats still trailed 28-19 with six minutes remaining in the half. The Wildcats were unable to cut their deficit below eight points, as Stanford had an answer for every Wildcat basket.
The Wildcats trailed 30-22 after Martinez hit a 3-pointer with 4:27 left in the quarter, but this was followed by a 6-0 run by Stanford extending their lead to 14 points. Sophomore Madison Conner was able to score five points in the final minute of the half to cut into the Wildcat deficit, but they still trailed 38-27 at halftime. The Wildcats played much better in the second quarter, but they were still outscored 17-16.
Martinez led the way for the Wildcats with 10 points in the half, followed by Conner with five points, and Reese, Pellington and Pueyo each had four. Stanford used their size to their advantage throughout the first half, outrebounding the Wildcats 23-12.
Quarter 3
Stanford opened the first five minutes of the third quarter by outscoring the Wildcats 16-4, as they now led 54-31. Conner had been the only Wildcat producing points since the end of the second quarter. She scored the Wildcats’ last five points of the first half and the Wildcats’ first four points of the second half.
With two minutes remaining in the third quarter, Arizona was trailing Stanford 60-35.
Arizona shot an abysmal 4-20 (20%) from the field , and they were outscored 24-10. At the end of the quarter, Arizona trailed 62-37. Arizona was unable to ever get into a rhythm in the third quarter, and it led to the Wildcats being down 25 points.
Quarter 4
The Wildcats opened the fourth quarter by making four of their first five shots but they still trailed 70-45 with a little under six minutes remaining in the quarter. With a little under three minutes remaining in the game, Stanford was up by 35 points. Arizona closed the game on a 15-2 run but the score was 84-60 in Stanford’s favor as the buzzer sounded.
Thursday night’s 24-point loss was Arizona’s second-largest loss of the season. The largest came on Dec. 8, 2022, against the University of Kansas, where Arizona lost 77-50.
The Wildcats shot 24-67 (35.8%) from the field and were out-rebounded 45-27. Martinez, Reese and freshman Paris Clark led the Wildcats with 10 points, followed by Conner with nine and Pueyo with six.
“It’s embarrassing today at home and having over 10,000 fans,” Barnes said. “I do apologize to all the fans for us not fighting a little bit more.”
Barnes also mentioned how Arizona lost by 27 points at home against Stanford the same year they faced the Cardinal in the Women’s NCAA Title Game in 2021.
The Wildcats host the University of California, Berkeley on Sunday, Feb. 12, at 12 p.m.
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