Turnovers doom Stanford women in loss at Arizona
TUCSON, ARIZ. >> Arizona went through a third-quarter lull, falling into a ninepoint hole against one college’s basketball’s top women’s programs.
Normally, a deficit like that against Stanford would be insurmountable. But in a season of marquee wins, the Wildcats not only rallied, they picked up arguably the biggest victory in program history.
Aari McDonald scored on a driving layup with 8.5 seconds left to finish with 20 points, helping No. 13 Arizona beat a topfive team for the first time with a 73-72 overtime victory over No. 4 Stanford on Friday night.
The Wildcats (23-5, 13-5 Pac-12) rallied from a ninepoint deficit in the third quarter with a short run in the fourth to take the lead. McDonald had a chance to win it in regulation, but her 3-pointer hit the front rim and bounced out.
Arizona hit consecutive 3-pointers to go up 71-64 in overtime, but the Cardinal answered with an 8-0 run, going up 72-71 on Lexie Hull’s corner 3. After McDonald’s basket gave Arizona the lead in the closing seconds, Kiana Williams’ runner on Stanford’s final shot came up short.
“What a great, gutsy win,” Arizona coach Adia Barnes said. “We made a lot of mistakes down the stretch, but we gutted it out.”
Arizona end a nine-game losing streak to Stanford.
Stanford (24-5, 13-4) has dominated the series with Arizona but had its hands full against the Wildcats’ aggressive defense and quick hands. The Cardinal turned the ball over 22 times, leading to 23 Arizona points and offsetting a 13-for-27 night from the 3-point arc.
“We turned the ball over too much,” said Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, who remains eight wins shy of becoming women’s college basketball’s all-time winningest coach. “We don’t have a big margin for error. The main thing is we have to take care of the ball.”
The Cardinal and Wildcats already locked up firstround byes for next week’s Pac-12 Tournament.
Stanford got off to a shaky start Friday, turning it over three teams while needing more than three minutes to score. The Cardinal had six turnovers and shot 4 of 14 in the opening quarter.
The Cardinal rallied after Arizona went up by seven points in overtime, but came up just short — the distance of Williams’ floater.
“Adia has done a fantastic job. What she’s created here is very special,” VanDerveer said. “It’s great to see all the fans coming out and appreciating the fact that they have such a great team. It was loud and a great atmosphere.”