San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Arizona guard to test Stanford with title on line
When Stanford last met Arizona, the Cardinal got to celebrate clinching the Pac12 regularseason title after a 6248 win at Maples Pavilion on Feb. 22.
If Stanford beats Arizona again Sunday in San Antonio, the Cardinal will get to celebrate the program’s third national championship.
Considering the Cardinal also humbled the Wildcats 8154 in Tucson on New Year’s Day, Stanford rates as a heavy favorite in the title game.
Arizona head coach Adia Barnes thinks her team can surprise the Cardinal.
“It’s hard to prepare for momentum and a team getting hot,” Barnes said in a Zoom news conference Saturday morning, “and I think we’re pretty hot right now.”
The Wildcats (215) shocked Connecticut 6959 on Friday night in the Final Four as Pac12 Player of the Year Aari McDonald scored a gamehigh 26 points.
“I don’t think we played our best basketball game by any means (Friday), but I think we were solid,” Barnes said. “And I think that we’re a better team now than we were a month ago. “I like our chances.”
Said Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer: “Arizona’s improved and Stanford’s improved. Let’s see which team has improved more.”
McDonald, a 5foot6, lightningquick senior guard, makes the Wildcats go. Not only does she lead the Wildcats in points (20.5) and assists (4.1) per game, she’s second in rebounds (5.5).
And she was the Pac12’s coDefensive Player of the Year, with Stanford guard Anna Wilson.
Barnes said McDonald “plays with a chip. She’s hungry. She’s not afraid of anything or anybody.”
Twentythree years ago, Barnes was named the Pac10’s Player of the Year in her senior season at Arizona. She’s in her fifth season as the head coach at her alma mater. One of her mentors: VanDerveer.
“I think it’s very rare to have someone who supports you, wants you to do well, but then competes against you,” Barnes said of VanDerveer. “She’s very secure. She should be.”
VanDerveer’s security comes, in part, from owning a women’srecord 1,124 career victories.
“I want the national championship trophy to go back to Palo Alto,” VanDerveer said, “but I’m really proud of Adia and really proud of the Pac12 to have two teams in the national championship game.” VanDerveer and Barnes must believe the Pac12’s patron saint is Rodney Dangerfield.
“This is, honestly, a dream come true for us in the Pac12,” VanDerveer said, “because for so long the conference has not gotten the respect that I feel it deserves.”
Since the Pac12 began in the 201112 season, Stanford has reached the Final Four four times. Arizona has become the fifth other conference school to appear in the Final Four in that time, joining Cal in 2013, Oregon State and Washington in 2016 and Oregon in 2019.
Said Barnes: “I’m hoping that with both of us in the championship game that the Pac12 will get more respect — and the East Coast bias will stop. It’s not going to stop overnight, but I think that you need to respect the Pac12 a lot more.”
VanDerveer respects the Wildcats, but also believes in her team that will carry a 19game winning streak into Sunday’s final.
“We have the talent on our team, we have the motivation to match up with them,” VanDerveer said. “We have the confidence that we know that if we play well that we can be successful.”
Briefly: Stanford’s Haley Jones, who had a teamhigh 24 points in the Cardinal’s 6665 thriller over South Carolina on Friday, is 5for8 from beyond the arc in the NCAA Tournament. She entered the tourney 1for9 from long range this season . ... Thanks in good measure to McDonald’s ballhandling and ballhawking abilities, the Wildcats average a plus5.3 turnover margin per game.