In her Wildcat debut, freshman Cate Reese had herself quite the night.
Reese, the highest ranked recruit in the history of the program, gave ‘Cats fans a glimpse into what could be a very successful season for her and for the team. 
“I thought I did pretty well,” Reese said after the game. “My teammates were passing me the ball, I was running the floor really well, and they just saw me when I was open.”
“She could have probably had 40 tonight,” Head Coach Adia Barnes said post game of the forward. “She’s just fearless, she’s a fierce competitor. She does things you can’t teach, so that’s just innately who she is.”
Reese finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds, as the Wildcats beat Eastern New Mexico University, 88-31,in their first game of the season.
The Wildcats started out hot, going on a 12-0 run to start the game, and then a 14-0 run after Eastern New Mexico scored their first two points of the game, giving the ‘Cats a 26-2 lead after one.
At halftime, the Wildcats were up 44-16. Reese finished her first half in an Arizona uniform with 20 points on 9-11 shooting, also adding nine rebounds in just 13 and a half minutes.
At the end of three, the score was 69-25 ‘Cats. Arizona didn’t let up in the fourth, allowing only six points in the whole quarter, four of which came on ENMU free throws.
Redshirt sophomore guard Aari McDonald finished with 20 points on 10-12 shooting, but wasn’t too high on herself postgame.
“I played alright,” she said. “My turnovers, are like, stuck with me right now, so hopefully next game i’ll cut down on the turnovers.”
Coach Barnes said she loved the effort that she saw from her team, and that she continues to notice improvement every day.
“I love the fact that we’re not afraid, we’re not on our heels, we’re not afraid to shoot, I feel at times we were last year,” Barnes said postgame. “This year we have more confidence, I think.”
Arizona will next be in action again next Monday, this time against Western New Mexico University.