(TUCSON, AZ) Junior guard Aari McDonald was named ESPNw and Pac-12 Player of the Week on Monday after averaging 34 points per game on 79% shooting in Arizona’s two games vs. No. 22 Texas and Chicago State.
McDonald capped off her historic weekend with a 44-point performance in a road win against Texas, which is the new Arizona single-game scoring record and also tied the Frank Erwin Center record for most points by an opposing player.
The Longhorns had no answer for the nation’s top returning scorer as she shot 14-18 from the field and made all 14 of her free throw attempts. Her 44-point effort is the second-most scored by any Division I player this season and is the most by any player at a Power 5 school. McDonald also became the first Pac-12 player to score 40 in a game since Washington’s Amber Melgoza scored 40 in February during the 2017-18 season.
McDonald now has three of the top five scoring performances in school history and is 20th on the Arizona all-time scoring list. She is currently the Pac-12’s leading scorer and is the nation’s sixth-leading scorer at 25.3 points per game, which is also the most of any player in a Power 5 conference.
Arizona Single-Game Scoring List
Points | Opponent | Date | |
1. Aari McDonald | 44 | Texas | Nov. 17, 2019 |
2. Aari McDonald | 39 | Loyola Marymount | Nov. 13, 2018 |
Davellyn Whyte | 39 | California | Jan. 16, 2009 |
4. Candice Warthen | 36 | Georgia State | Nov. 13, 2011 |
5. Aari McDonald | 35 | UCLA | Jan. 27, 2019 |
Arizona All-Time Scoring List
Games | Points | |
16. Yolanda Turner | 111 | 1,144 |
17. Candice Warthen | 115 | 1,128 |
18. Kim Conway | 112 | 1,060 |
19. Melissa Handley | 108 | 1,000 |
20. Aari McDonald | 41 | 991 |