Stanford goes on early 10-0 run against Arizona
The top-seeded Stanford women’s basketball team used a 10-0 shortly after tip-off to take a 12-3 lead with 6:11 left in the first quarter, leading to a timeout from Arizona Coach Adia Barnes.
The Cardinal scored its first six points in the paint, with Lexie Hull sinking a pair of jumpers, and got a three-pointer from sharpshooting reserve Ashten Prechtel during the burst in which it outrebounded No. 3 seed Arizona 6-3.
Aari McDonald’s three-pointer accounted for the Wildcats’ only points.
Stanford and Arizona finally get the national spotlight after being overshadowed all tournament
SAN ANTONIO — Before the Final Four, the NCAA created a promotional video to highlight the national semifinals and the teams still chasing a women’s basketball championship. Stanford, South Carolina and Connecticut were all prominently featured, but there was an odd omission — the Arizona Wildcats were nowhere to be seen.
Apologies came from the NCAA, but it was just another example of the lack of respect Arizona has felt throughout the season and into the tournament.
The Wildcats, however, are having the last laugh. The No. 3 seed will face No. 1 seed Stanford with the opportunity to win the first championship in program history. Sunday’s game will mark the first time two Pac-12 teams meet in the final game.
“We believed in ourselves; our Tucson community believed in us,” Arizona senior forward Sam Thomas said. “But then after going round by round, winning more, getting more love and then thinking that we finally got some respect and obviously the video and stuff . . . it kind of was like a dagger because I thought being in the Final Four we proved ourselves.”
How they got here: Arizona
NCAA tournament results: beat Stony Brook, 79-44; BYU, 52-46; Texas A&M, 74-59; Indiana, 66-53; Connecticut, 69-59
Final Four: Coach Adia Barnes and the Wildcats continued to reach new heights after toppling perennial powerhouse Connecticut to clinch the first national championship appearance in program history.
Outlook: Arizona is a defensive team first and watching them on that side of the ball is like poetry in motion. The extended, press-style defense that the Wildcats run usually makes teams susceptible to baskets off back cuts, but because of their quickness on the perimeter they successfully initiate traps on a regular basis. As a result, the sightlines of the ballhandler become so limited that when someone gets free on a cut they can’t see them.
When the traps are unsuccessful, the Wildcats do a great job of rotating and keeping their head on a swivel. Versus the Huskies — a team that thrives off movement and cuts toward the basket — Arizona’s extended pressure and defensive rotations caused Connecticut to catch the ball in uncomfortable positions which led to a 35.7 percent shooting performance.
On offense, the Wildcats are reminiscent of singing group Destiny’s Child. While Arizona’s supporting cast plays an integral part, the team’s success is solely dependent on the performance of its version of Beyoncé, Aari McDonald.
Through five tournament games, McDonald has hit all the right notes averaging 25.4 points and 6.8 rebounds. Should McDonald continue to play at a high level versus Stanford, the recipe for the remaining Wildcats is simple. They just have to hit enough shots to keep the defense honest. But should she struggle, things will get dicey.
Quotable: “We’re shooting the ball better, we’re defending better, we’re playing better basketball than we were when we played them.” — Barnes on whether the third time will be the charm versus Stanford
How they got here: Stanford
NCAA tournament results: beat Utah Valley, 87-44; Oklahoma State, 73-62; Missouri State, 89-62; Louisville, 78-63; South Carolina, 66-65
Final Four: Haley Jones scored 24 points to lead Stanford to its fifth national championship game appearance.
Outlook: With this being the third meeting between the two schools, Stanford enters Sunday’s game with a luxury that Arizona’s previous tournament foes didn’t have. The Cardinal has experienced Arizona’s smothering man-to-man defense and had great success against it. In the previous two games — both wins by Stanford — the Cardinal scored 81 points and 62 points, respectively, with an average margin of victory of 20.5 points.
Arizona has improved quite a bit since the teams last met, which is evident by the difference in scoring for the Cardinal. Regardless, there’s a comfort that comes with experience.
Stanford will need Kiana Williams to take a step back and allow the game to come to her. In the tournament, specifically the last two games, there have been times where the senior from San Antonio has abandoned the Cardinal’s usual free-flowing offense and forced shots. If that continues it will play into the hands of Arizona’s defense.
The defensive game plan is simple — stop Aari McDonald. All year long, Stanford has done a great job containing opponents’ best players. In the two previous meetings, McDonald has been held to 32 points on 26.1 percent shooting. A major catalyst for Arizona’s run in the tournament has been McDonald’s three-point shooting, but versus Stanford she’s struggled mightily, making just one of her 12 attempts. If Stanford can duplicate that performance, it should be raising a third national championship banner.
Quotable: “This whole year has been so weird. So to play a conference opponent for the national championship just fits in with the whole weirdness.” — Stanford Coach Tara VanDerveer on the all Pac-12 Final
Stanford reached the Final Four after a season-long journey
When the NCAA announced Feb. 5 that the entire women’s basketball tournament would be relocating to Texas, Stanford players and coaches braced for yet another extended trip after a regular season in which they spent more time on planes and in hotels than in their own beds.
Nearly two months and thousands of miles later, the top-seeded Cardinal (29-2) is still playing, having taken up residency in San Antonio over the past three weeks with the next performance scheduled in the Final Four against South Carolina (26-4), also a No. 1 seed, Friday night.
“Our team has really gone through a lot this season,” said Cardinal fifth-year senior Anna Wilson, the Pac-12’s co-defensive player of the year. “Every team has, but I’ve only experienced our team and the adversity we’ve kind of gone through and being on the road and everything and how close we’ve gotten as a team.”
Semifinal highlights: Arizona stuns Connecticut
The third-seeded Arizona women’s basketball team secured a program-defining win Friday night, defeating top-seeded Connecticut, 69-59, in the Final Four behind a virtuoso performance from Aari McDonald and smothering defense against the 11-time national champions.
The Wildcats (21-5) advanced to their first national championship game Sunday night against Stanford, the No. 1 overall seed.
McDonald finished with 26 points on 7-for-17 shooting and added six rebounds. Arizona limited the Huskies (28-2) to 36 percent shooting. Connecticut came in leading the country in field goal shooting (52 percent) and was ranked fourth in scoring offense, averaging 82.7 points.
“I didn’t do anything different. I just kept playing my game, taking what the defense is giving me,” McDonald said. “I wanted to see how they played me. It’s not checkers. This is chess, so I’m always the next step ahead of my opponent. Nothing different, I’m just going to keep playing my game.”
Semifinal highlights: Stanford survives South Carolina
SAN ANTONIO — Haley Jones, who led Stanford with 24 points, buried a go-ahead jumper from the wing with 32 seconds remaining to give the Cardinal a one-point lead that would prove to be the difference in a wild finish in the first game of the women’s Final Four on Friday.
South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston stole the ball with five seconds left, and Brea Beal sprinted to the other end but couldn’t finish a layup with one second remaining. Boston tried to put back the miss, but it bounced off the back of the iron.
The Cardinal advanced to the NCAA tournament final with a 66-65 win over South Carolina and will play in the national championship game for the first time since 2010. Its last title came in 1992.
“It’s surreal. I don’t think it’s really hit me yet,” Jones said. “Everybody growing up, you wish to go to the national championship, play on the biggest stage in front of the biggest crowd against the best team. We know whoever comes out with a [win] tonight is going to be great competition for us on Sunday. We’re just kind of moving on. We’re excited. It’s surreal.”
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