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It doesn’t matter who the opponent is or what’s at stake. And when the game is on the line, her teammates know they can count on her to turn it up a notch.

Like Monday night when senior Dominique McBryde when down with an ankle injury. Reese answered the call.

“She expects to play hard every game, do the best that she can,� junior Sam Thomas said. “I think the expectation in her head really makes her step up so when someone like Dominique goes down or Aari (McDonald) gets two fouls, she takes her expectations to another whole level. It just shows on the court. She really just tries to do everything that she can for the team.�

No. 20 ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ (8-0) plays their last road game of the non-conference season at UTEP (7-1) at 1 p.m. Saturday.

The Wildcats will continue to rely on Reese as McBryde and freshman Sevval Gul — who suffered a concussion in practice last week when she banged heads with Shaina Pellington — are both out. With the deep bench this season, UA coach Adia Barnes can allow McBryde to fully heal the ankle sprain before coming back for Pac-12 season at the end of December.

Reese, a sophomore forward, picked up her second double-double of the season with 16 points, 11 rebounds against Monmouth on Monday night.

She is second in scoring on the team, averaging 13.8 points per game and is the leading rebounder with 8.0 per game – third in the Pac-12. Both stats are jumps from last season, when she finished leading all Pac-12 freshmen with 11.9 points and 6.7 rebounds.

This isn’t the first time Reese has stepped up with McBryde out. In the first round of last year’s WNIT against Idaho State, McBryde was sick and didn’t play. Reese, herself was getting over strep throat. In that game, she picked up a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

“I think it’s important to not let there be a drop in how we play without important people like Dominique or Aari or Sam,� Reese said. “I think just trying to fill in what we need at the time — I guess I do that. I step up and I think I just unconsciously do it.�

While stepping up may be unconscious, most of what Reese does is intentional. She wanted to improve her defense, she worked on it all last season and during the offseason — and it shows. She’s solid guarding her opponent and muscling in. Now she is better at reading ball screens and help defense. Thomas said as they progress through the season, you’ll see Reese having more of a guard-like mentality and stretching out to guard other positions.

As one of the best Wildcat defenders, Thomas has always shared tips with Reese on defense. This season, when Thomas slides back into the post — a position that isn’t Thomas’ specialty anymore — she knows she can turn to Reese to answer any questions she may have.

Reese has also moved into a leadership role this season. During pre-season, the Wildcats participated in The Program, which is a military-style training. Reese received the tee shirt for the most growth during the session. She listened to the feedback the instructors provided and uses that in practices and games to help guide her teammates.

Reese’s latest intentional move is something she brought out twice against Monmouth — going to her left with an inside shot that is a little reminiscent of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s sky hook.

Reese has been working with Barnes every day in practice using her left hand. She does 50 left-handed layups and gets a lot of reps in “getting the ball top of the key dragging left … posting up on the left side and going over my right shoulder, just things that will get me more comfortable with using my left in the game,� Reese said.

Barnes said that this, along with her improved move to the right, will make her unstoppable. Thomas has seen the jump in Reese’s game.

“There’s a big growth from last year from her right hand, obviously,� Thomas said. “Most teams now force her to go left because that’s probably the scouting report. So now she can go left. It’s really helpful for her game and our team.�

Reese has worked on her left in the past, however this is a renewed focus. For her it’s about getting comfortable going left, and most importantly giving her teammates something else to rely on.

“I don’t have a bad left hand, but I just never use my left hand or go to the left side,� Reese said. “I don’t know. I just always feel need to go to my right. It’s better to be able to go both ways. When you get to the conference, when the defense will be more difficult, it’ll be harder to guard (me) going both ways. So that’s important just helping my teammates and just being the best that I can be.�

Rim shots

Former UA standout

• LaBrittney Jones was named Swiss SBL player of the week behind a 29-point, 15-rebound performance for BC Winterthur. This is her second season playing for the Swiss team that won the Patrick Baumann Swiss Cup championship. Jones was ’s All-Swiss SBL first team forward of the year last season.

This year she is averaging 27.2 points and 14.5 rebounds — second-best in the league – and 1.3 blocks per game. She is shooting 63.4% from the field.

• Aari McDonald was named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Watch List for national player of the year honors by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. She is among 35 players on the list. McDonald is averaging 21 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.4 steals per game.
• The Wildcats bused the 4Æ’ hours to El Paso on Friday afternoon for their first true road trip of the season. “It’s actually fun for us,â€� Barnes said. “We get along great. They sing, they dance, they go crazy on the bus sometimes. Sometimes I’m at the front like ‘Can you keep it down back there?’ No, but it’s going to be fun.â€�
• The Miners used a 40-minute full-court press in an early November game against UC Riverside. Barnes said she expects more of the same Saturday.

“The have a really good 2-2-1 press, but last night’s game we saw a little bit of a man press,� Barnes said. “I think they are going to do both. But, I think it’s very hard to press someone like Aari. Is that going to change? Are they not going to have such a long press? Who knows.

“I think we are pretty effective against presses and we are pretty good in transition. I think it’s going to be interesting to see how we respond to that. I’m glad we get to see that, because we’re going to have to prepare for these things for conference. I think it’s a good test for us. It’s not an easy game at all.�