No. 10 UA women hang on to top Utah
No. 10 Arizona 66, Utah 54: Aari McDonald scored 20 points, Bendu Yeaney added a season-high 14 and No. 10 Arizona held off Utah for a 66-54 Pac-12 victory Friday.
Yeaney had 11 points, three rebounds and two steals in the second quarter when the Wildcats (11-2, 9-2) recovered from a sluggish start. The Wildcats took a 19-point lead midway through the fourth quarter before Utah used a 10-run to get back in the game.
Arizona scored the final six points, four on McDonald free throws, after Utah closed to 60-54 with 57 seconds remaining.
McDonald, who added four assists, has scored in double figures in 79 straight games, the longest active streak in NCAA Division I. Washington’s Kelsey Plum holds the Pac-12 record at 83.
Kemery Martin had 11 points and Niyah Becker had 10 for the Utes (3-9, 2-9), who shot 42 percent. Utes’ leading scorer Brynna Maxwell, averaging 13.3 points a game, had six points and did not score until the first minute of the fourth quarter.
Cate Reese had 11 points and nine rebounds for Arizona, which shot 42 percent from the field and turned 29 Utah turnovers into 21 points. The Utes had 22 turnovers in a 77-60 loss to Arizona on Dec. 20.
Arizona made only three of its first 18 field goal attempts as Utah took an 11-8 lead behind five points from Martin. Yeaney, a junior transfer from Indiana, had seven points in a 14-2 run over the final five minutes of the second quarter for a 30-20 halftime lead.
No. 13 Oregon 58, Washington St. 50: Sedona Prince scored 14 points, Taylor Mikesell added 11 – including four free throws in the closing seconds – and No. 13 Oregon beat Washington State.
Washington State’s Cherilyn Molina hit a 3-pointer to make it 44-all with 4:09 to play, but Te-Hina Paopao answered with a layup 19 seconds later as Oregon scored 10 of the next 12 points to take an eight-point lead with 27 seconds remaining.