Arizona Wildcats top Stony Brook, advance in NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (KOLD News 13) - Stony Brook scored first, but it was all Arizona after that as the teams faced off in the first round of the NCAA Woman’s Basketball Tournament in the Alamodome on Monday, March 22.

The No. 3-seed Wildcats (17-5, 13-4 Pac-12) defeated No. 14 Seawolves (15-6, 11-3 America East), 79-42.

Wildcats guard Aari McDonald led all scorers with 20 points. Trinity Baptiste (18) and Cate Reese (16) also scored in double figures for Arizona.

Guard Asiah Dingle led the Seawolves with 14 points.

Stony Brook did not score a point in the second half until a layup by McKenzie Bushee with 5:25 left in the third quarter.

Arizona built a 47-20 halftime lead, powered by 12 points from McDonald, who has been named a finalist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award for the second year in a row.

The Wildcats made 20 of 32 field-goal attempts in the half. Stony Brook shot 5-25 from the field for only 11 points.

Arizona guard Helena Pueyo’s three-pointer capped the scoring in the first quarter which ended with the Wildcats ahead 26-10.

After falling behind after tip-off, the Wildcats went on a 15-2 run on their way to a commanding first-quarter lead.

With the win, Arizona advances to play 11-seed BYU (19-5), which upset No. 6 Rutgers (14-5), 69-66, earlier on Monday.

Arizona is playing in its first NCAA Tournament since 2005 and was chosen as a 3-seed.

The win was Arizona’s first tournament victory since a 72-69 first-round win over Oklahoma in 2005.

The game was the first time Arizona had faced Stony Brook.

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