Aari McDonald Leads Arizona Into 1st Women's Final Four

TUCSON, AZ — A small cadre of players and coaches in white and cardinal red danced across the hardwood as the buzzer sounded inside San Antonio's Alamodome Monday night.

The impromptu dance party was set in motion by the performance of the third-seeded Arizona Wildcats, who beat Indiana 66-53 in Monday's Elite Eight.

The double-digit victory booked Arizona's first trip to the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Final Four.

It also set off a joyous scene, with players dumping confetti from a water jug onto head coach Adia Barnes as they jumped around the midcourt logo.

It was a night that saw senior guard Aari McDonald break her own school record for points scored in an NCAA tournament game: McDonald scored 33 points, two more than the total she amassed in Saturday's Sweet 16 contest with Texas A&M.

It was a night that saw the Wildcats shut down the Hoosiers' high-powered offense, holding Indiana to 35.4 percent shooting overall and 0-for-9 from three-point range.

Above all, it was a night that reaffirmed to Barnes why the Wildcats are 20-5 this season, as they can contend with anyone in the country when they're playing their best ball.

"It’s the small things that everybody is doing, but everybody has found a way to bring their game, to raise their game a level," Barnes said. "That’s why I’m so proud because I’m looking in their eyes, and there’s a fire, there’s a belief, there’s a confidence, there’s a will to win. I love that."

When asked what Barnes told her when the team started its impromptu dance party in the aftermath of Monday's game, McDonald said how incredible the team's path from Pac-12 Conference afterthought to Final Four participant has been.

“She just said, ‘Who would have thought?’” McDonald said. “She just said she’s glad we’re on this journey together. We faced a lot of adversity. Nobody believed in us but us. She’s so happy. She just said, ‘We can go get this whole thing.'”

To McDonald's point, the Wildcats in 2021 are making their first appearance in the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament in 16 years.

The program was in good position to make the tournament a year ago, when the team finished 24-7 only to have the COVID-19 pandemic scuttle the 2020 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.

The team has battled its share of nerves and inexperience playing on the sport's biggest stage, emerging as a juggernaut that can beat anyone in the country, Barnes said.

"Having confidence is really important this time of year. But I feel like our team is playing our best basketball," Barnes said. "We’ve peaked at the right time. To win a championship, all it does is you have to beat that team one time."

The net result of the team's newfound confidence is that it's playing free and easy at a time when many are gassed and shaky at the knees.

Barnes is excited to keep pushing forward to see where the Wildcats go from here, starting with Friday's Final Four clash with UConn.

Barnes and company will have to beat the sport's premier program as the Huskies make their 13th straight women's Final Four appearance.

The fifth-year head coach didn't shy away from the challenge at hand. Arizona can contend with anyone right now, given the way they've approached the teams they've faced in the 64-team tournament, she said.

"I think for us there’s no pressure. No one expects Arizona to win a championship," Barnes said. "No one expected Arizona to be in the Elite Eight, Sweet 16, Final Four. We don’t have anything to lose. We can play loose, free, because we don’t have the pressure."