TUCSON, Ariz. – In front of over 5,000 fans, the Arizona Wildcats (11-1, 1-0) knocked off No. 17 Arizona State (9-3, 0-1) by a score of 51-39 to give Arizona their 10th-straight win, which ties the school record for the longest winning streak.
 
Aari McDonald was the catalyst for Arizona as she poured in a game-high 24 points to go along with six rebounds, three assists and two steals. McDonald has now scored at least 15 points in the first 12 games of the season and is the only Wildcat to do so in school history. She has also scored at least 20 points in nine of Arizona's 12 contests.
 
Sam Thomas had a nice game for the Cats, scoring 11 points while bringing down four rebounds, blocking two shots and making two steals as well. Dominique McBryde was a menace on the defensive end as she finished the game with nine rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Her four steals are a career-high.
 
The story of the game was Arizona's defense, who suffocated the Sun Devil offense all night long and forced them to score a season-low 39 points, which is the fewest they have scored against Arizona since the 1975-76 season. The Sun Devils shot just 23% from the field and 17% from downtown.  
 
McDonald came out on fire in the first quarter, scoring 13 of Arizona's 17 points in the period, including four in the final five seconds. She was able to get to the rim for a layup with five seconds remaining and stole the inbounds pass and hit a baseline jumper to give the Wildcats a 17-13 lead after one.
 
The second quarter was a defensive struggle as there were just 17 points between the two teams, but Arizona was on top 27-20 at the end of the first half.
 
Only 17 points were scored again in the third quarter and Arizona's lead grew by just one at the end of the period, and the Wildcats would head to the fourth up 36-28.
 
Arizona would go on to outscore ASU 15-11 in the fourth quarter, which was good enough to give the Wildcats their first double-digit victory over their rivals since 2014.
 
The Cats will hit the road this upcoming weekend as they will face Colorado in Boulder on Friday, Dec. 4 and Utah on Sunday, Dec. 6 in Salt Lake City.
 
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