Revenge is usually a dish best served cold, but for the Arizona women’s basketball team, it came immediately within the quarterfinal round of the Pac-12 tournament. The Arizona Wildcats were able to avenge their final loss of the season against the University of California, Berkeley with a final score of 86-73.
Arizona was riding high off their late-game magic, earning them a win against No. 4 Stanford on Feb. 28, which may have caused them to come out on their heels when they hosted California in their next game. They found themselves down by six losses in that game after the first and were never really able to recuperate. Dropping their first meeting by two just five days ago.
It was a wake-up call for the Wildcats, and they made sure they were not going to be caught off guard in their second basketball matchup. They jumped to an early lead in the first, but it was the second quarter where the Wildcats pulled away and never looked back. Holding the California Golden Bears to shoot just 25% from the field in the quarter, entering the locker rooms with a 41-27 lead.
They sure showed California in the paint, as they dominated the battle inside by a 38-30 margin. Arizona was also more aggressive on the glass compared to their first meeting, as they allowed 42 rebounds in the first matchup to just 30 in Friday’s contest.
Cate Reese led the charge — one of the four Wildcats in double figures — finishing the game with 30 points and six boards. Aari McDonald, Amari Carter and Dominique McBryde were also key contributors with a combined 34 points and 12 assists.
Though California may have received more bench production in terms of points, Arizona received a big game from Helena Pueyo off the pine. She finished the game with 7 points and a game-high eight dimes.
Arizona will need to come out hot again if they want to have any shot at taking down No. 1 Oregon in the semifinals. The Oregon Ducks handed Arizona two of their six losses this season, dropping the first game by seven in Eugene and getting dominated by 33 in their second meeting in McKale Center.
They will look to avenge their two losses, with tip off set for tomorrow at 6 p.m. PT.
Follow Ray Diaz on Twitter
