McDonald put on a show — offensively and defensively — that was a horror for UConn
Asked about Arizona’s Aari McDonald earlier this week, former Wildcats’ coach Joan Bonvicini had this to offer:
“You can’t take your eyes off her during the game. She can impact the game in so many different ways, as a scorer, a defender, assisting. There’s quick and there’s Aari quick. She finishes really well. They list her at 5 feet 6 and that’s being generous. She’s an amazing player.”
McDonald showed all that and more Friday night, scoring 26 points in a 69-59 victory over UConn in the NCAA Tournament national semifinal game at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
“We just beat a great team,” said McDonald, a senior guard. “UConn, that’s a powerhouse, you can’t get any better than that.
“We were the underdog. We felt that way all season. That makes us play harder. Nobody believes we can beat these top teams or accomplish the things we accomplished.”
It was Arizona’s first appearance in the Final Four, while the Huskies were making their 21st. The Wildcats will play Stanford in an all-Pac-12 championship game Sunday at 6 p.m.
Not only was McDonald impressive on the offensive end, she also defended UConn freshman Paige Bueckers, who never got into a rhythm, though she scored 18 points. Arizona’s defense was also oppressive, dictating the pace of the game and taking UConn out of its offensive game plan from the start.
“I think she’s underrated on defense,” Arizona coach Adia Barnes said. “I thought she should have been the national defensive player of the year. There was no other player who impacts the game on both ends of the floor more. There is no other player who, for 37 minutes, presses full court, gets steals, rebounds, all these things she does.
“She’s our catalyst on defense and offense and not a lot of players in the country can play on both sides of the ball. She disrupts things. She didn’t allow Paige to really get in a flow.”
McDonald came right at UConn from the start, opening the game with a 3-pointer and then had another to put Arizona up 9-3. With 2:48 left in the half, she launched a 3 from way out with Christyn Williams looking on, a little in shock. It went in and Arizona led, 32-20.
She finished 4-for-9 from the 3-point line, 7-for-17 from the field and had seven rebounds and two steals in 37 minutes.
“The maturity my team showed — we never got rattled,” McDonald said. “We kept being more feisty on defense, talked to each other, locked up. We stuck with the game plan.”
McDonald led three teammates in double figures — Sam Thomas had 12 points and Cate Reese had 11.
“It’s not a one-woman show,” McDonald said.
Barnes talked about the difficulty of playing UConn and how Arizona played loose, since no one expected the Wildcats to win.
“UConn is an amazing team, with one of the best coaches there is, who I respect so much,” Barnes said. “They’re an offensive machine. They’re very hard to guard. We just played a little bit better tonight. Would I want to face UConn in a seven-game series? Absolutely not. But this time of year, beating a team once — you just got to get hot. We played good defense and disrupted some of their offense but they’re really good.”