McDonald and Reese help Arizona rout Southern Cal 76-48
LAS VEGAS -- Cate Reese and Aari McDonald scored 19 points each to help eighth-seeded Arizona beat ninth-seeded Southern Cal 76-48 in the opening round of the Pac-12 Tournament on Thursday.
The Wildcats (18-12) will face top-seeded Oregon on Friday in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Arizona led 13-12 midway through the first quarter before scoring eight of the final 10 points. The team kept the momentum going in the second quarter with a 16-5 run to open the period and never looked back. The Wildcats led 44-21 at the half.
The Wildcats maintained at least a 20-point advantage for most of the second half that allowed coach Adia Barnes to get her starters some rest with another game Friday. Arizona has already secured its first 18-win season since 2010-11. That's the last time the team was over .500 in the regular season.
Mariya Moore, who was second in scoring for USC (17-13) during the season averaging 15.1 points, missed her first 10 shots and didn't have a basket until early in the third quarter. She finished with 12 points, going 7-for-8 from the foul line.
Game Information
- Referees:
- Lisa Jones
- Michol Murray
- Che Flores
2023-24 Pac-12 Conference Standings
Team | CONF | GB | OVR |
---|---|---|---|
Stanford | 15-3 | - | 30-6 |
USC | 13-5 | 2 | 29-6 |
UCLA | 13-5 | 2 | 27-7 |
Oregon State | 12-6 | 3 | 27-8 |
Colorado | 11-7 | 4 | 24-10 |
Utah | 11-7 | 4 | 23-11 |
Arizona | 8-10 | 7 | 18-16 |
Washington State | 7-11 | 8 | 21-15 |
California | 7-11 | 8 | 19-15 |
Washington | 6-12 | 9 | 16-15 |
Arizona State | 3-15 | 12 | 11-20 |
Oregon | 2-16 | 13 | 11-21 |