TUCSON, Ariz. – Aari McDonald scored 30 points for the third-consecutive game and helped the Arizona Wildcats (13-2, 3-1 Pac-12) win their second game of the season over a ranked team by taking down No. 24 California (10-4, 1-2 Pac-12) on Friday night in McKale Center.
McDonald finished the game with 36 points, five rebounds and four steals on 11-17 shooting while knocking down a career-high five three-pointers. She also got to the line 11 times and converted nine of them, including two to ice the game with seven seconds remaining.
Cate Reese got back to her old ways as she scored 10 points and brought down nine rebounds while blocking two shots.
Dominique McBryde finished the game with five points, three rebounds and two steals, but made some big buckets and grabbed key rebounds down the stretch.
As a team, Arizona forced 18 Golden Bear turnovers and only turned the ball over six times. It was another fabulous defensive effort from the Wildcats as Cal shot 39% from the field and scored a season-low 55 points.
Arizona got out to a good start and won the first quarter 19-13 with McDonald scoring eight early points. The defense locked down and allowed just nine points in the second quarter, and extended their lead to 33-22 at the half.
Cal got going in the third quarter and cut the lead to 41-36 at the end of three, allowing just eight Arizona points as well as scoring 10 unanswered.
The two offenses came alive in the fourth quarter as it was a back-and-forth affair for the final 10 minutes of the game. Arizona was able to hold off the Golden Bears for the duration of the quarter with some big shots and free throws.
McDonald scored Arizona's last seven points at the line in the final minute of the game and scored 16 points in the fourth quarter alone.
The Wildcats will wrap up the weekend on Sunday, Jan. 13 against Stanford at noon MST.
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