Arizona Women’s Hoops Eliminated By Syracuse, but Optimism Within Program Grows

The Arizona women’s basketball team was probably not supposed to make March Madness.

Even at Pac-12 media day, head coach Adia Barnes knew the transition to get younger would be better for the long run of the program. 

The Wildcats had made the national championship game in 2021 with Aari McDonald, Sam Thomas and Cate Reese leading the way, with all three playing together for multiple years. 

“We were our best when we had a core group together for three years,” Barnes said last October.

Guard Helena Pueyo, the only remaining player from that 2021 roster, and Esmery Martinez were established leaders on the team. A freshman group of Jada Williams, Montaya Dew and Breya Cunningham signed in November 2022, giving the Wildcats the top class in the nation. Skylar Jones committed to Arizona that following spring.

“Bringing that core together, I think we could be really, really good in the future,” Barnes said at media day.”Now, will there be growing pains? Yeah. I’ve said we’re going to be gritty, it may not always be pretty. I’m OK with that.”

That was the case on Saturday when Arizona lost to the sixth-seeded Syracuse Orange in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. The Wildcats, coming off a 10-point win over Auburn in the First Four round, led for much of the game. Jones posted 24 points. Pueyo and Williams had 14 points each. 

The ‘Cats, who had run a 6-7 person rotation for much of the year, were gritty throughout, but the Orange’s Dyaisha Fair was too much with 32 points in a 74-69 win. 

It’s a tough loss. A few things go differently and we’re talking about the ‘Cats playing in the round of 32. 

But this feels like Chapter 1 of a new era for Arizona women’s hoops. 

Pueyo and Martinez will be missed. There’s no doubt they’ve made an impact on the program. 

And the main priority for the offseason is keeping this young group together. Williams, Cunningham and Jones all logged significant minutes and grew while playing within the nation’s best conference. Dew, who sustained a season-ending injury prior to the season, will be impactful in her return. 

Adding depth to this roster will be massive. This was a group that needed to hold open tryouts midyear to add to the roster and multiple players had their season end early due to injury.

But the roster, and the opportunity is there to make multiple runs in the coming years. 

Adia Barnes now has a young, but experienced, uber-talented core. With the move to the Big 12 next year, Arizona will no longer have to play this year’s top four seeds in the conference: Stanford, UCLA, USC and Oregon State. The Big 12’s top two schools – Texas and Oklahoma – are moving to the SEC. Arizona’s new home isn’t a bad conference. It’s just not the gauntlet of the Pac-12.

Arizona, Colorado and Utah all have a real opportunity to enter the Big 12 and be the top of the class instantaneously. 

Adia Barnes and co. accomplished the tightrope walk of finding success and postseason life in the short-term while planning for the long-term as well. 

Looks like they’re ahead of schedule.