The 蜜柚直播 women鈥檚 basketball team entered Sunday鈥檚 afternoon game at McKale Center against No. 6 Stanford wanting to pull another upset. After all, they took down then-ranked No. 17 蜜柚直播 State before 2018 ended and No. 24 California on Friday.
But Stanford is just too good 鈥 both on offense and defense 鈥 and routed 蜜柚直播 78-48.
If anything, Sunday鈥檚 loss served as a reminder: The Wildcats are still in a rebuilding season.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 arrived,鈥 coach Adia Barnes said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e gotten better. Yes, we鈥檙e now 3-2 in the Pac-12, but we鈥檙e not ready to be a Pac-12 champion yet. But we鈥檙e ready to be better and make steps.鈥
鈥淲e鈥檙e not ready to be undefeated at home. We will be, but we just saw what it鈥檚 like against No. 6.鈥
The Cardinal got off to a quick start, scoring five points before 蜜柚直播 could even get situated on the court. After a few scoreless minutes, Sam Thomas downed a three-pointer from the wing to get the Wildcats鈥 scoring started, but 蜜柚直播 would continue to struggle.
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Aari McDonald, who鈥檚 averaging 26 points per game as the nation鈥檚 leading scorer, missed four three-point attempts in the first quarter. McDonald was held to 17 points on 6-of-22 shooting, a vast change from the last three consecutive 30-point games.
鈥淚 think they just made her work really hard,鈥 Barnes said. 鈥淭hey had three people in the paint. They forced her to shoot, a lot of times, into (Stanford鈥檚) Alanna Smith鈥檚 hands. They weren鈥檛 really letting her go around. 鈥 I think they defended us really well. They made Aari really work and take tough shots.鈥
Still, the Wildcats continued chugging, and Dominique McBryde got a crucial block as time expired in the first quarter to keep the damage to 21-12.
However, the second quarter wasn鈥檛 kind to the Wildcats, who shot less than 17 percent and could score only four points. The Cardinal extended their lead to 44-16 by the half 鈥 thanks to a 24-0 run powered by 5-of-6 shooting from 3-point range.
The Cardinal extended its run to 27-0 at the start of the second half.
The Wildcats eventually got more aggressive with the ball and even won the fourth quarter, outscoring Stanford 21-16, but it was too late to mount a comeback.
It also didn鈥檛 help that 蜜柚直播 was playing without Tee Tee Starks, who suffered a head injury during Friday鈥檚 game. While Starks wasn鈥檛 diagnosed with a concussion, Barnes said the forward was still dealing with headaches and would be resting the next few days.
But the loss of one player provided an opportunity for others.
Barnes gave minutes to players on the bench, like Bryce Nixon and Lindsey Malecha 鈥 neither of who played against California. Freshman Semaj Smith played 12 minutes.
The third-year coach knows freshmen will make mistakes, but she hopes playing against teams like Stanford will help them improve .
鈥淚鈥檓 learning every day,鈥 Nixon said. 鈥淚鈥檓 learning at practices (and) watching film. My teammates teach me things all the time. Every game, when I get to play, I鈥檓 just learning and learning. And I鈥檝e been putting a lot of work on the side, so I鈥檓 hoping that that will pay off soon.鈥
The Wildcats are now halfway through a stretch of playing four straight ranked opponents. While Sunday鈥檚 rout hurt Barnes a bit, she鈥檚 not too fazed. After all, it was against Stanford 鈥 which will likely make a run at the national championship.
蜜柚直播 will play at No. 10 Oregon State on Friday and at No. 5 Oregon on Sunday.
鈥淭his is a tough league. You can鈥檛 get too high, you can鈥檛 get too low,鈥 Barnes said. 鈥淲e played a great game Friday; we played like crap today. So, what do you do? We need to get better and I think there鈥檚 some adjustments I have to make as a coach and do some different things. It is what it is.鈥
Contact reporter Norma Gonzalez at 520-262-3265 or ngonzalez@tucson.com
Norma Gonzalez
Sports reporter
