(Las Vegas, NV) An evenly matched game on paper number 8 vs number 9 would have this go down to the final shot in the Tournaments second game of the day.
Both teams came out firing and the Cats had a slim lead 7-6 with three minutes gone.
Aari McDonald hit a jumper and a free throw to give Arizona a 10-8 lead at the halfway mark of the first quarter.
Tee Tee Starks started off by hitting her first two three pointers in as many attempts to set the tone as the Wildcats weren’t afraid to put up the outside shot.
Kayla Overbeck was a big body inside for the Trojans and worked inside against the smaller Cats.
The Cats went up by six on a three pointer from the top of the key by Destiny Graham, but she wasn’t done hitting a free throw to put the Cats up 21-14 at the end of the opening quarter.
McDonald, the Conference’s leader in steals, did it again to start off the scoring for Arizona to up the lead to 23-14.
Graham and Cate Reese with hoops inside forced Coach Mark Trakh to call a timeout trailing 27-14.
Both teams cooled off for a couple of minutes until USC’s Minton Moore sunk two free throws with 6:30 left in the half to draw the Ladies of Troy back within eleven at 27-16.
Nice ball movement from Starks to Graham allowed Reese to score an easy open layup.
Starks hit her third three pointer to double up the Trojans 32-16 with just under four minutes to go in the first half.
Reese canned both her free throws before Aliyah Mazyck hit a three, but Sam Thomas not to be outdone hit her own three and Arizona led 37-19 with 2:43 left in the first half.
Zona extended the lead to twenty 39-19 off a Reese hoop. Minton Moore scored on two freebies to end the USC scoring drought and made the score 39-21.
Reese was on fire as she scored down low and hit a three pointer to end the scoring in the first half with the Wildcats dominating USC 44-21.
Arizona scorched the nets going 17-39 for 57% in the first half while the Trojans were an anemic 8-34 shooting just 24%.
SC opened the scoring in the third quarter hitting a twelve foot jumper and then the Trojans hit one of two from the line to cut the deficit to 44-24.
Arizona got in the board off a McDonald up and under move to score the first Wildcat points of the quarter.
Overbeck muscled her way down low to score over Reese, but McBryde scored on the Arizona end to keep the lead at twenty two 48-26 at the midway point of the third quarter.
Both teams scored just before the final media timeout to make the score 50-28.
After the timeout, Thomas calmly dribbled right and put up a sixteen foot jumper off the right wing followed by McDonald hitting her own jumper. Cats extend the lead 54-28 with just 2:41 left in the third quarter.
McBryde continued to score after being held scoreless in the first half and the Trojans finally hit the 30 point team mark with just over the one minute remaining in the quarter.
Arizona continued its torrid shooting in the third quarter still at 57%. USC’s inability to score from the outside made them a one dimensional team only hitting their second three pointer of the game at the buzzer to make the score 60-36 heading into the final quarter.
McDonald began the fourth period with a spin move in the lane for the first points and Reese followed on the next possession to give the Wildcats a spurt forcing the Trojans to call timeout.
USC scored five quick points from a three by Shalexxus Aaron and a bucket by Ja’Tavia Tapley although The Cats returned the favor with scores from Starks and McBryde.
Precious seconds continued to tick off the game clock as Arizona continued to roll.
Thomas’s trifecta put the Zona lead over thirty at 73-41 with only 4:18 left in the game.
A lot of USC’s inability to score was the “in your face” defense displayed by the Wildcats. The Trojans were at 18% from the field.
Coach Adia Barnes went to the bench with freshman Bryce Nixon giving McDonald a rest for the game the next day against the Oregon Ducks in the quarter finals.
Arizona had four of the five starters score in double figures led by Reese and McDonald with nineteen a piece. Starks with her hot hand went 5-7 from the field and 4-5 from three point land had fourteen and Thomas chipped in ten.
In as a complete game as there’s been all year long by this Wildcat team they controlled the game from the start to finish in a beat down of USC 76-48.
The Wildcats held USC to their lowest point output of the year (51-71 vs Texas A&M 12/19/18).
Aari McDonald added to her school record setting points this season to 740.
The Wildcats didn’t cool off in the second half and shot 57% from the field. Arizona’s defense held the Trojans to 22% on 16-62 shooting.
Cate Reese added her fifth double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
This was Coach Barnes first PAC-12 Tournament win as the Arizona Coach in her third try.
Coach Barnes glistened when I asked her about Tee Tee Starks’s performance from the outside to soften up USC’s zone defense. “I mean Tee Tee, 5-7, 4-5 from three, four rebounds, 14 points, 5 assists and zero turnovers, I mean that’s pretty amazing.”
Arizona will face off against top seeded Oregon at 3 pm Tucson time on Friday.
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