2020–21 Arizona Wildcats women's basketball team

Intercollegiate basketball season

2020–21 Arizona Wildcats women's basketball
NCAA tournament, runner-up
ConferencePac-12 Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 2
APNo. 11
Record21–6 (13–4 Pac-12)
Head coach
  • Adia Barnes (5th season)
Assistant coaches
  • Tamisha Augustin
  • Salvo Coppa
  • Jackie Nared
Home arenaMcKale Center
Seasons
2020–21 Pac-12 Conference women's basketball standings
  • v
  • t
  • e
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 2 Stanford† 19 – 2   .905 31 – 2   .939
No. 11 Arizona 13 – 4   .765 21 – 6   .778
No. 9 UCLA 12 – 4   .750 17 – 6   .739
No. 23 Oregon 10 – 7   .588 15 – 9   .625
Oregon State 7 – 6   .538 12 – 8   .600
Colorado 8 – 8   .500 12 – 11   .522
Washington State 9 – 10   .474 12 – 12   .500
USC 8 – 10   .444 11 – 12   .478
Arizona State 6 – 9   .400 11 – 12   .478
Utah 4 – 15   .211 5 – 16   .238
Washington 3 – 13   .188 7 – 14   .333
California 1 – 12   .077 1 – 16   .059
† 2021 Pac-12 Tournament winner
As of March 29, 2021
Rankings from AP poll


The 2020–21 Arizona Wildcats women's basketball team represented University of Arizona during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wildcats, led by fifth-year head coach Adia Barnes, play their home games at the McKale Center and are members of the Pac-12 Conference. The Wildcats finished the season second behind Stanford in the Pacific-12 conference with a 13–4 record. They advanced to the semifinals of the 2021 Pac-12 women's tournament where they lost to no. 9 ranked UCLA and As a no. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament where they defeated Stony Brook and BYU in the first and second rounds, no. 4 ranked Texas A&M in the Sweet Sixteen, they won their region with a win over no. 12 ranked Indiana in the first-ever Elite Eight, knocked off no. 1 ranked UConn in the first-ever Final Four. Arizona reached the first-ever National Championship game, losing to no. 2 ranked Stanford (in a rematch from earlier this season) 54–53 and finishing the season with a 21–6 record.

Previous season

The Wildcats finished the season 24–7, 12–6 in Pac-12 play to finish in fourth place. They advanced to the semifinals of the Pac-12 women's tournament where they lost to Oregon. The NCAA tournament and WNIT were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]

Offseason

Departures

Arizona Wildcats Departures
Name Number Pos. Height Year Hometown Notes
Reference:
Incoming Transfers
Name Number Position Height Year Hometown Previous School Remaining Eligibility Notes
--
Reference:

Recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Madison Conner
G 		Chandler, AZ Arizona Compass Prep 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) N/A Apr 20, 2020 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:4/5 stars   ESPN grade: 91
Lauren Ware
F 		Bismarck, ND Century HS 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) N/A Jul 11, 2020 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:5/5 stars   ESPN grade: 97
Derin Erdoğan
G 		Istanbul, Turkey İstanbul Üniversitesi SK 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) N/A Sep 25, 2020 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Marta Garcia
G 		Sevilla, Spain Segle XXI 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) N/A Jan 30, 2020 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2020 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
  • "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved April 20, 2020.

2021 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2021 recruits
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Aaronette Vonleh
G 		West Linn, OR West Linn HS 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) N/A Jul 11, 2020 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:4/5 stars   ESPN grade: 91
Anna Gret Asi
G 		Tartu, Estonia University of Tartu 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) N/A Jul 13, 2020 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Gisela Sánchez
F 		Barcelona, Spain Segle XXI 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) N/A Feb 11, 2021 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2021 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  • "2021 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved February 11, 2021.

2022 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2022 recruits
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Maya Nnaji
F 		Lakeville, MN Hopkins High School 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) N/A May 10, 2021 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:5/5 stars   ESPN grade: 98
Paris Clark
G 		Mount Vernon, NY Long Island Lutheran High School 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) N/A Dec 13, 2021 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:5/5 stars   ESPN grade: 96
Kailyn Gilbert
G 		Tampa, FL Seffner Christian Academy 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) N/A Jan 6, 2021 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:4/5 stars   ESPN grade: 95
Lemyah Hylton
G 		London, ON Southwest Academy Girls Prep 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) N/A Oct 16, 2021 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:4/5 stars   ESPN grade: 91
Overall recruiting rankings:   ESPN: 6
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2022 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  • "2022 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 13, 2021.

Personnel

Roster

2020–21 Arizona Wildcats women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown
F 0 Trinity Baptiste 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Sr Hillsborough
Virginia Tech 		Tampa, FL
G 1 Shaina Pellington 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) RS Jr Dunbarton
Oklahoma 		Pickering, ON
G 2 Aari McDonald 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) RS Sr Brookside Christian HS
Washington 		Fresno, CA
G 3 Tara Manumaleuga 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) So Hillcrest Christian Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
G 4 Madison Conner 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Fr AZ Compass Prep Chandler, AZ
G 10 Derin Erdoğan 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Fr İstanbul Üniversitesi SK Istanbul, Turkey
G 11 Mara Mote 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) So TTT Riga Cēsis, Latvia
G 13 Helena Pueyo 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) So Segle XXI Palma de Mallorca, Spain
F 14 Sam Thomas 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Sr Centennial Bloomfield Hills, MI
G 22 Marta García 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Fr Segle XXI Sevilla, Spain
G 23 Bendu Yeaney 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Jr St. Mary's Academy
Indiana 		Portland, OR
F 25 Cate Reese 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Jr Cypress Cypress, TX
F 32 Lauren Ware 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Fr Century Bismarck, ND
C 34 Semaj Smith 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Jr St. Anthony Long Beach, CA
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: March 17, 2021

  • Madison Conner was only on the roster for the spring semester of 2020/2021 season, joining the team in March 2021, after reclassify from 2021 season class.

Schedule

Source:[2]

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular Season
November 29, 2020*
Noon 		No. 7 Northern Arizona W 76–63  1–0
 McKale Center (0)
Tucson, AZ
December 4, 2020
7:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 7 No. 9 UCLA W 68–65  2–0
(1–0) 		McKale Center (0)
Tucson, AZ
December 6, 2020
1:00 p.m. 		No. 7 USC W 78–77  3–0
(2–0) 		McKale Center (0)
Tucson, AZ
December 10, 2020
4:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 6 Arizona State
Territorial Cup 		W 65–37  4–0
(3–0) 		McKale Center (0)
Tucson, AZ
December 18, 2020
5:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 6 at Colorado W 62–59  5–0
(4–0) 		CU Events Center (0)
Boulder, CO
December 20, 2020
Noon, P12N 		No. 6 at Utah W 77–60  6–0
(5–0) 		Jon M. Huntsman Center (0)
Salt Lake City, UT
December 23, 2020*
Noon 		No. 6 Idaho W 96–42  7–0
 McKale Center (0)
Tucson, AZ
January 1, 2021
5:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 6 No. 1 Stanford L 54–81  7–1
(5–1) 		McKale Center (0)
Tucson, AZ
January 3, 2021
Noon, P12N 		No. 6 California W 69–33  8–1
(6–1) 		McKale Center (0)
Tucson, AZ
January 8, 2021
9:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 7 at Washington Postponed Alaska Airlines Arena 
Seattle, WA
January 10, 2021
Noon, P12N 		No. 7 at Washington State L 69–71 OT 8–2
(6–2) 		Beasley Coliseum (0)
Pullman, WA
January 14, 2021
5:00 p.m., ESPN 		No. 11 No. 10 Oregon W 57–41  9–2
(7–2) 		McKale Center (0)
Tucson, AZ
January 17, 2021
2:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 11 Oregon State W 67–51  10–2
(8–2) 		McKale Center (0)
Tucson, AZ
January 22, 2021
4:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 10 Utah W 66–54  11–2
(9–2) 		McKale Center (0)
Tucson, AZ
January 24, 2021
1:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 10 Colorado Postponed McKale Center 
Tucson, AZ
January 29, 2021
5:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 10 at USC Postponed Galen Center 
Los Angeles, CA
January 31, 2021
4:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 10 at No. 5 UCLA Postponed Pauley Pavilion 
Los Angeles, CA
February 5, 2021
5:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 9 at Oregon State Postponed Gill Coliseum 
Corvallis, OR
February 8, 2021
5:00 p.m., ESPN2 		No. 10 at No. 11 Oregon W 79–59  12–2
(10–2) 		Matthew Knight Arena (0)
Eugene, OR
February 12, 2021
7:00 p.m., P12N 		No. 10 Washington State W 60–51  13–2
(11–2) 		McKale Center (0)
Tucson, AZ
February 14, 2021
Noon, P12N 		No. 10 Washington W 73–53  14–2
(12–2) 		McKale Center (0)
Tucson, AZ
February 19, 2021
1:30 p.m., P12N 		No. 10 at California W 59–50  15–2
(13–2) 		Haas Pavilion (0)
Berkeley, CA
February 22, 2021
7:00 p.m., ESPN2 		No. 9 at No. 4 Stanford L 48–62  15–3
(13–3) 		Maples Pavilion (1)
Stanford, CA
February 28, 2021
Noon, P12N 		No. 9 at Arizona State
Territorial Cup 		L 64–66  15–4
(13–4) 		Desert Financial Arena (0)
Tempe, AZ
Pac-12 Women's Tournament
March 4, 2021
6:00 p.m., P12N 		(2) No. 11 vs. (7) Washington State
Quarterfinals 		W 60–44  16–4
 Michelob Ultra Arena (41)
Paradise, NV
March 5, 2021
9:00 p.m., P12N 		(2) No. 11 vs. (3) No. 9 UCLA
Semifinals 		L 49–58  16–5
 Michelob Ultra Arena (0)
Paradise, NV
NCAA tournament
March 22, 2021*
11:00 a.m., ESPN2 		(3 M) No. 11 vs. (14 M) Stony Brook
First Round 		W 79–44  17–5
 Alamodome 
San Antonio, TX
March 24, 2021*
5:00 pm, ESPNU 		(3 M) No. 11 vs. (11 M) BYU
2nd Round 		W 52–46  18–5
 UTSA Convocation Center 
San Antonio, TX
March 27, 2021*
5:00 pm, ESPN2 		(3 M) No. 11 vs. (2 M) No. 4 Texas A&M
Sweet 16 		W 74–59  19–5
 Alamodome (2,434)
San Antonio, TX
March 29, 2021*
5:00 pm, ESPN 		(3 M) No. 11 vs. (4 M) No. 12 Indiana
Elite Eight 		W 66–53  20–5
 Alamodome 
San Antonio, TX
April 2, 2021*
5:30 pm, ESPN 		(3 M) No. 11 vs. (1 R) No. 1 UConn
Final Four 		W 69–59  21–5
 Alamodome 
San Antonio, TX
April 4, 2021*
3:00 pm, ESPN 		(3 M) No. 11 vs. (1 A) No. 2 Stanford
National Championship 		L 53–54  21–6
 Alamodome (4,604)
San Antonio, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
M=Mercado R=River Walk.
All times are in Mountain Time.

Rankings

Ranking Movement
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes.
Poll Pre Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12 Wk 13 Wk 14 Wk 15 Wk 16 Final
AP 7 7 6 6 6 6 7 11 10 10 9 10 10 9 11 11 11
Coaches 8 6 6 7-T 8 10 13 10 9 9 8 7 9 11 11 11 2

References

  1. ^ "NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships". Archived from the original on March 12, 2020.
  2. ^ "2020-21 Women's Basketball Schedule". arizonawildcats.com. University of Arizona. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  • v
  • t
  • e
Arizona Wildcats women's basketball
Venues
Culture & lore
People
  • Head coaches
Seasons
  • 1972–73
  • 1973–74
  • 1974–75
  • 1975–76
  • 1976–77
  • 1977–78
  • 1978–79
  • 1979–80
  • 1980–81
  • 1981–82
  • 1982–83
  • 1983–84
  • 1984–85
  • 1985–86
  • 1986–87
  • 1987–88
  • 1988–89
  • 1989–90
  • 1990–91
  • 1991–92
  • 1992–93
  • 1993–94
  • 1994–95
  • 1995–96
  • 1996–97
  • 1997–98
  • 1998–99
  • 1999–2000
  • 2000–01
  • 2001–02
  • 2002–03
  • 2003–04
  • 2004–05
  • 2005–06
  • 2006–07
  • 2007–08
  • 2008–09
  • 2009–10
  • 2010–11
  • 2011–12
  • 2012–13
  • 2013–14
  • 2014–15
  • 2015–16
  • 2016–17
  • 2017–18
  • 2018–19
  • 2019–20
  • 2020–21
  • 2021–22
  • 2022–23
  • 2023–24
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics