Wildcats Advance To Semifinals For First Time In Nine Years
LAS VEGAS, NEV— The Arizona Wildcats (24-6, 12-6 Pac-12) are advancing to the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament for the first time since the 2011 season after a high-scoring affair against Cal (12-19, 3-15 Pac-12) this Friday morning.
Six days ago, these two teams met up in Tuscan, Arizona for the final game of the regular season where Cal got the best of the Wildcats, winning in a close game 55-54.
Today though, Arizona was on a mission.
“I'm proud of our fight,” said Arizona Head Coach Adia Barnes. “I'm proud of these young women and how we fought and kept our composure throughout the game.”
Fourth-Seeded Arizona pushed the tempo out of the gate, going on a 9-0 run behind a quick five points from senior guard Amari Carter who finished the game with 10 points. But the Bears answered right back with senior forward Jaelyn Brown, scoring 10 points of her own, keeping the game within five.
The rest of the ball game was all Arizona, or Arizona’s Cate Reese
to be more specific. The sophomore from Cypress, Texas was lights out for the Wildcats scoring 22 of her career-high 30 points after the first quarter.
“We knew we were kind of the quicker team, so they kept running the floor, my teammates found me,” said the All-Pac-12 Forward. “Coach Adia trusted me to step up in the game and I'm just happy that we won.”
27 out of Reese’s 30 points came from within the paint where the Wildcats dominated, outscoring the Bears 44 to 18.
Cal made a late push in the fourth quarter scoring 29 points, with help from Brown and Jazlen Green, but it was too little too late and Arizona was able to clinch a 13 point victory, 86-73. Green finished with 15 points, and, in her last game as a Golden Bear, Brown finished with 25. This was the second time in her career that Brown has scored 20-plus points in back-to-back games.
“I really think I have grown as a leader,” said Brown. “Just like, trying to get the freshmen acclimated and just being a college women's basketball player, trying to help them through everything.”
Arizona’s path to the championship doesn’t get any easier from here as they will take on the number 3 ranked team in the country, Oregon, tomorrow afternoon. This will be the third time that these two teams have met this season, with Oregon getting the best of the Wildcats both times.
“I think at this time of year, anybody is beatable,” said Barnes. “It’s hard to beat a team statistically three times in one year. So, for us, we're going to have fun and we're going to play basketball and try to win.”
