Adia Barnes and the Arizona women’s basketball program finished the 2017-18 season with six wins. After the Wildcats’ 100-51 win over visiting Montana, Arizona moves to 7-1.
The takeaway? The overhaul that many thought would take years is showing incredibly promising signs just a few months after spending the season in the Pac-12 cellar.
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Arizona was led, once again, by team leader and talisman Aarion McDonald, who torched the Grizzlies for 28 points while shooting 50 percent from the floor. McDonald also found time to pitch in four rebounds and six assists as she helped the ‘Cats reach the century mark in points for the first time this season.
“I thought we played really hard,” said Barnes. “I thought we played really well as a team, I thought our pressure was really good for most of the game.”
“We wanted to come into this game and work on the things that we needed to work on to get better to finish this stretch before the Pac-12 (season)”said Barnes.
McDonald wasn’t the only one comtributing on the offensive side of the ball, as the Wildcats had five separate players finishing with double-digit scoring nights. Tee Tee Starks finishing the game with just short with nine points coming off of the bench, but didn’t miss during the early morning game, finishing the game with 4/4 shooting wise.
Cate Reese recorded a first half double-double for the Wildcats, finishing the game with 20 points and 18 rebounds.
Reese’s big night on the boards set the tone for Arizona, as they didn’t allow Montana any room for misses or mistakes.
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The Wildcats out-rebounding the visitors by 28 rebounds while also registered 16 steals and forcing 22 turnovers in what is the most complete performance of the season for Arizona as they continue to build momentum going into Pac-12 play next month.
“I think there were so many more positive things than negatives,” said Barnes. “We reached all of our goals, we wanted to win on the boards, we wanted to win in the paint, we wanted to have a certain amount of turnovers.. I liked our intensity.”
In a conference that hails perennial national contender Stanford, and northern in-state neighbors ranked in the top-25, Arizona looks to be gearing up for an exciting time facing off against the west coasts best. That’s when we will truly know how far along this transformation really is.
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