Sweet 16: McDonald propels Arizona over Texas A&M 74-59
SAN ANTONIO (AP) - As a player, Arizona coach Adia Barnes led the program on its deepest march into the women's NCAA Tournament in program history.
Until this year, that is. Her current Wildcats team has gone even farther.
Aari McDonald, the Pac-12 player of the year, scored 31 points No. 3 Arizona beat No. 2 Texas A&M 74-59 on Saturday night in the Sweet 16, sending the Wildcats to the regional final for the first time.
Arizona poured in 13 team 3-pointers with McDonald making six from long range.
'œWe are peaking at the right time,'ť McDonald said. 'œWe are ready to make more history.'ť
The program had made only one previous trip to the Sweet 16 when Barnes was playing for the Wildcats in 1998. Now they advance to Monday night's Mercado Region final against No. 5 Indiana, which upset top-seed North Carolina State earlier Saturday.
'œI was 20 when I graduated and we left our legacy,'ť Barnes said. 'œSo I always tell these young women, '~Leave your legacy, leave your mark.' And all these players came when no one believed in Arizona."
McDonald had a game for the ages for Arizona (19-5) on both ends of the court. The conference defensive player of the year led the effort to shut down Texas A&M guard Jordan Nixon, whose late-game heroics carried the Aggies through the first two rounds.
Nixon scored 35 points in the second round, but managed just three points against the Wildcats. Aaliyah Wilson scored 17 points to lead Texas A&M (25-3).
'œIf we wanted to win, I had to shut her down,'ť McDonald said. 'œIt starts with her. I had to lock her down."
McDonald came in averaging 19.6 points and scored 19 by halftime in carrying Arizona to a 35-32 lead. That stretched to 13 by the end of the third quarter as Arizona made four 3-pointers, three by McDonald, in the period.
Her third one, bounced on the front of the rim, tipped to backboard and fell in to put Arizona ahead 56-44 as McDonald clenched both fists and gave a yell. And just to put an exclamation point on the quarter, Helena Pueyo sprinted back on defense to block a fast break layup.
Texas A&M had won its first two games by a total of six points and now had to make a desperate bid to rally in front of a small but boisterous Aggies crowd in the Alamodome, just a three-hour drive from campus.
The Aggies cut the lead to 59-48 on Ciera Johnson's layup to start the fourth. But three Texas A&M turnovers and consecutive 3-pointers from Sam Thomas and Cate Reese had the Wildcats in total control with 4:41 to play.
'œWhen they made their roll, we couldn't answer back because of turnovers,'ť Texas A&M coach Gary Blair said. 'œBut we missed a lot of layups. We missed a lot of post play. We didn't have the 3-point shooters that Arizona had.'ť
STAT LINE
Texas A&M was just 2-of-8 shooting on 3-pointers and committed 19 turnovers that Arizona turned into 28 points."
'œWe are a very good defensive team. We are going to grind you out,'ť Barnes said. 'œWe felt A&M hadn't been pressured like we could pressure.'ť
STILL A TROPHY WINNER
Wilson, a senior, said she'll most remember her season with the Aggies for winning the program's first regular-season Southeastern Conference championship and not the earlier-than-expected NCAA Tournament exit.
'œWe kept fighting and we fought every night, every game,'ť Wilson said. 'œWe won the regular season SEC championship. We hadn't done that. We made history this year.'ť
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