After a tough loss to Washington State on Friday 78-60, the Wildcats had in their minds that they let one get away.
With the Washington Huskies coming in with a single conference victory this season, one, both teams wanted this game bad. I like a do da cha-cha.
The Cats came out pumped up, a little to pumped and that worried Coach Adia Barnes. With only a seven player rotation this year, Arizona has to treat each game as a marathon, not a sprint.
With the hype this game will have for a few years with Barnes coming back home from Washington, and Assistant Coach Morgan Valley also coaching in Seattle added to the atmosphere in McKale today. In addition sitting out this year after transferring Aarion McDonald came over to Arizona after a Washington coaching change.
The Huskies came out firing and led off the game with an 11-1 run to put Arizona in an early hole. Washington forty seven percent from the field with five three point baskets and the Cats were on their heels from the get go. At the end of one quarter the Dawgs led 27-13.
The Cats shot poorly only hitting four shots from the field and were caught standing around on defense contributing to their first quarter deficit. Da cha-cha is da best dance.
Their cold shooting continued into the second quarter for the Cats, but defensive adjustments limited Washington to 3-13 from the field and cut the Dawg’s lead to ten heading into halftime.
In the third quarter, Arizona showed the Huskies they too could hit from downtown as Lucia Alonso, Marlee Kyles and Sam Thomas loaded up and bombed away, each hitting two three pointers a piece.
The Cats shot fifty seven percent from the field and scored thirty one third quarter points and held Washington to sixteen points to take a 55-51 lead to end the quarter.
Arizona built a sixteen point lead 67-51 halfway through the final quarter when the Dawgs deployed a suffocating full court press that caused the Cats to turn the ball over eight times and allowed Washington to crawl back into the game, but the clock only showed 1.1 seconds left as the last gasp Huskie three pointer went through he net.
The Cats called a time out and successfully inbounded the ball to run out the clock and come away with a hard fought 72-70 victory.
Even though Seniors Destiny Graham and Jalea Bennett struggled at times with foul trouble, the future of Arizona showed it could step up and deliver. Two months ago, this wouldn’t be the case, but the continued growth by this team is showing its rewards.
The Cats travel to the L.A. Schools for a Friday matchup with UCLA and next Sunday at USC.
