University of Arizona Women’s Basketball
After their sweep of the Washington schools on the road, the Lady Cats returned home to face their in state rival.
Arizona beat ASU in Tempe earlier in the season setting up a huge matchup of 2 top 20 schools and the hope of a sweep on their home court. McKale was painted red and the 10,160 fans in attendance made their presence felt. Zona Zoo was packed and the energy was palpable. ASU came out ready for the challenge leading early, but they soon found out that it’s hard to stop this Arizona team when Aari and company are hitting on all cylinders. That was the case on Friday night. Behind Aari McDonald’s 24 points and 11 rebounds the Wildcats took the win 59-53 and swept ASU for the first time in 20 years. Aari was awarded the honor of banging the drum – a new tradition in McKale – 1 time for each of the Wildcats 16 victories this season. Adia Barnes is certainly changing the culture (a word written on the new warm up shirts for the team) of Arizona Women’s Basketball in a very short time. The city and the students are embracing what Adia and the Lady Cats are building and it is providing Wildcat fans an opportunity to show the nation what women’s basketball games should look and feel like. This team and this city have a very special relationship and it shows.
Next up for the Wildcats:
#10 UCLA on Friday January 31 at 6pm in McKale.
USC on Sunday February 2nd at 12pm in McKale.
*Photo Courtesy of Arizona Athletics
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University of Arizona Men’s Basketball
The Wildcats, coming off of two road losses to the Oregon schools, returned home to face Utah and Colorado. From the opening tip to the final horn of the home stand, the Cats played as a team and beat Utah and Colorado in convincing fashion.
After beating ASU by 28 points in McKale on January 4th, the Men of Zona headed to the newly named Desert Financial Arena in Tempe to try to get win #2 against the Sun Devils. Arizona came out hot and led by 22 points midway through the first half. Nico Mannion collected his 2nd foul and headed to the bench. During his absence ASU made a push and trailed by 13 at the half. The wheels came off the bus for Arizona in the second half. Missed shots, turnovers, poor defense and failure to get offensive rebounds allowed ASU to negate the lead. Remy Martin was clutch when it counted and ultimately led the Sun Devils to a win. Final score 66-65 Devils. The Wildcats and Sun Devils split the Territorial Cup Series. The two team will not meet again unless they play each other in the Pac-12 Tournament. Arizona hits the road to take on the Washington schools looking for their first road win of the Pac-12 season.
Next up for Arizona:
At Washington on January 30th at 7pm
At Washington State on February 1st at 6pm
*Photo Courtesy of Arizona Athletics
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University of Arizona Baseball
The Bat Cats, coming off of a disappointing 2019 season, start their 2020 campaign ranked 22nd in the Baseball America Preseason poll, 18th in the Collegiate Baseball Preseason NCAA Division 1 poll and bring in the 11th ranked recruiting class in the nation. With the addition of Associate Head Coach Nate Yeskie (OSU) and his success coaching up pitchers Head Coach Jay Johnson and the Wildcats are poised to make a deep run into the post season. Arizona opens the season at High Corbett Field against University of Albany on February 14th at 6pm.
520 Sports Talk will be covering Arizona baseball all season, so make sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and our website for all of your baseball highlights.
*Photo Courtesy of Arizona Athletics
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University of Arizona Softball
Led by legendary coach Mike Candrea, The Lady Bat Cats are ready to build on their stellar 2019 season that saw their return to the Women’s College World Series and a 48-14 record. Arizona is ranked #3 in the D1Softball.com Preseason poll and are loaded and ready to face the 2020 season head on. The Wildcats open their season playing in the Kajikawa Classic against Kansas. The games are played in Tempe at the Alberta B. Farrington Softball Stadium. Wildcat fans will welcome the team home to the newly renovated Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium when they host Bryant, Long Beach State, Oklahoma and Northern Iowa in the Hillenbrand Invitational. UofA will take on Long Beach State at 2 pm on February 14th.
520 Sports Talk will be covering all UofA Softball games, so make sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and our website for all of the latest on Arizona Softball.
*Photo Courtesy of Arizona Athletics
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Pima Women’s Basketball
The #17 14-6 Aztecs fell to Eastern Arizona College 86-66 on Saturday. Pima was out rebounded 57-34 and the Gila Monsters hit 7 of 16 3 point shots. Pima’s Fama Thiam scored 14 points while Marlena Arroyo-Plata and Keara Felix added 10 points each in the loss.
Next up for the Aztecs:
At Arizona Western College on Wednesday January 29th at 5:30 pm
*Photo Courtesy of Pima Athletics
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Pima Men’s Basketball
A strong second half helped the Eastern Arizona College Gila Monsters take down the Pima Aztecs 101-88. Pima 11-10 on the season had a stellar effort from the duo of Lieppert and Smith who combined for a total of 44 points. Unfortunately the Aztecs couldn’t find an answer for the second half scoring machine that was the Gila Monsters.
Next up for Pima:
At Arizona Western College on Wednesday, January 29th at 7:30 pm .
*Photo Courtesy of Pima Athletics
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Pima Baseball
Aztec baseball sweeps Paradise Valley Community College. Pima is now 3-0 on the season.
Armondo Aguilar had a walk-off home run and Marcel Bachelier added 4 RBIs during the 2 game series.
Game 1: Pima 7 – Paradise Valley 5
Game 2: Pima 3 – Paradise Valley 2
*Photo Courtesy of Pima Athletics
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Flag Football – TTEF
Tucson is well represented at the Flag Football Championships during the Pro Bowl in Orlando Florida.
The 10U, 12U and Girls 14U 7 v 7 teams flew to Florida to compete in the 7 v 7 flag football championships.
At this time we don’t have the results from the 10U or the 12U games, but we do know that the 14U girls were eliminated one game shy of the Championship game. Tucson is very proud of these young girls and boys who compete at the highest level in the sport and represent their city with pride.
Great job TTEF!
*Photo Courtesy of Jimmy Grimes
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Martin Luther King Jr Classic
Monday January 23rd, 2020 – On a day when all high school students had the day off to celebrate and remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 12 teams from around the state took to the basketball floor to compete in the MLK Basketball Classic in McKale Center. 6 girls teams and 6 boys teams participated. Below are the results of those games:
Boys
Desert Christian 60 – St. Augustine 52
Casteel 75 – Cienega 68
Salpointe Catholic 70 – Tucson High 60
Girls
Amphi 45 – Catalina 17
Palo Verde 60 – Rio Rico 49
Sabino 51 – Sahuaro 41
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Club Softball – USSSA Phoenix Open
Results from the tournament are below:
Desert Thunder – Basaldua 14U Runner up
Desert Thunder – Campos 18U Runner up
Please let us know of any other results from this tournament.
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If you have sporting news that you would like to see featured in our Around The 520 Weekly Wrap Up, please send it to us at [email protected]. We love to highlight our Southern Arizona teams and their successes.
Lori Burkhart
520 Sports Talk
