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In the last matchup between the two teams — a 16-point loss at Utah — Huff scored 16 points and had 13 rebounds.

It was a big task, yet McBryde was up for it. She and her teammates limited Huff to six points and seven rebounds as they dominated Utah 66-55 at McKale Center.

“We wanted to make her work and struggle,� said coach Adia Barnes. “Huff is a really good player. I thought as a team we smothered her. We did a very good job defensively and that started off with Dominique McBryde.

“She was aggressive on her and wasn’t giving her open looks. She defended in screens well, on balls, pick and pops well. I’m really proud of her — she’s the one who really started it — and everyone else. She had seven rebounds; I think that was a season low. She was 1 for 13 from the floor. We had a goal to hold her to and we exceeded that.�

After a bad road loss at Washington State last Saturday and that loss in the mountains to Utah earlier this season — the Wildcats wanted to flip the switch. And, they did.

“We wanted to come out and be as aggressive as possible,� said McBryde, who finished with nine points and seven rebounds. “We were a little embarrassed in our first game. We were down by 30 and came back and only lost by 16. We wanted to come in and show them what we can do with this game so we still have a chance at the tournament.

“In that first game our defensive intensity really wasn’t there, including my own. And I know what I’m capable of on defense. I think just having that mentality of not letting her (Huff) do it again; not letting her hit her averages or beyond that. It was a team effort, too. When she had the ball in the post, guards were digging everywhere so it made it tough for her.�

In the first quarter it looked like the rebounding battle was once again going to the Wildcats’ opponent as the Utes held a 12-8 edge. But, as the game progressed, everyone got into the act and UA out-rebounded the Utes 41-35.

The Wildcats took a 27-22 lead into halftime and didn’t give up the lead in the second half. That relentless Wildcat defense took over in the second quarter, holding the Utes to 7.7 percent shooting .

For the game, the Utes were held to 29.7 percent shooting. The Wildcats shot 46 percent.

Many Wildcats stepped up. Aari McDonald had a double-double, leading all scorers with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Sam Thomas scored 14 points and had four blocks. Thomas also hit a 3 with 1:30 left to give the Wildcats a 64-55 lead.

“I was hoping it goes in because I knew if I’d missed it, we’d have to get back on defense and we were in trouble. So I’m just glad it went in. And that really brought up the intensity on the defense, too,� said Thomas.

Every time the Utes would take a little run and close the gap to a few points, the Wildcats would extend their lead and get some stops on defense.

After Utah closed the gap to 32-31 in the third quarter, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ went on a run with McDonald leading the way. She scored eight consecutive points to build the lead up to 40-33 with 5:20 left in the quarter.

“We really wanted to take it up a notch,� said McBryde. “When they were coming back I don’t think we felt like we were worried. We just held our composure and kept giving it to them, and I think that was great growth from the past few games.�

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ improves to 16-8, 6-7 Pac-12. Utah drops its fifth consecutive game and is 18-6, 7-6 Pac-12.

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ plays Colorado on Sunday at noon at McKale.

Rim shots

Friday was the Pink Game for breast cancer awareness. In warmups, the players wore black T-shirts with pink lettering — I Play 4 — as well as pink shoes and socks. Coaches and staff also wore the tees along with pink tennis shoes. The first 1,000 fans received pink pompoms when they walked in.

• Lucia Alonso sat on the bench Friday night with a boot on her left foot — the same one that slowed her earlier in the season. Earlier this week in practice she hurt her foot and it swelled up. Alonso moved up in the record books last week as she knocked down four 3s against Washington State — making her the 10th player in UA history to hit 100 in her career.
• Seen in the crowd at the game was ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Mayor Jonathan Rothschild. The Wildcats ran into the mayor Wednesday night during a team dinner at Trident Pizza Pub and took photos together. He must have gotten a special invitation to the game. At halftime he was wearing a “Pink Made For Itâ€� T-shirt.