Strong Undefeated Start for Lady Arizona Wildcats Builds Momentum
With Tuesday night's redeeming win against UNLV, the Arizona Wildcats have given themselves a great start on the season. Currently, they sit at the top of the Big 12 standings with a win record of 4-0.
Although 2023-24's season record was weighted in the win column (18-16), Arizona fell apart in the Big 12 conference, shouldering ten heavy losses. Regardless, the team was able to make its fourth-straight bid to the NCAA tournament under the direction of Head Coach Adia Barnes, a height that only few teams reach.
Coach Barnes has been with the Wildcats since 2016, building her program up along with her high-performing coaching career. Many of Barnes' athletes earned conference awards after the 2023-24 season, and many of those women are returning for another season in Tucson.
Barnes also led her team through two major victories in the 2023-24 season; upsetting both No. 15 Utah and No. 3 Stanford. Barnes' longstanding history with Arizona has built a winning program that is on the brink of capatalizing other programs within the Big 12.
The 2024-25 team roster is full of young players, but that hasn't seemed to slow Arizona down. Of the 12 active players listed on the roster, five of them are sporting a FG% of >.500 on the season. The leader, Lauryn Swann (#1), is a freshman guard from New York.
BANG THAT DRUM FRESHIE https://t.co/wLrDMnJjxQ pic.twitter.com/odBf5ZuLKW
— Arizona Athletics (@AZATHLETICS) November 13, 2024
With only four games down, the Wildcats have yet to face a conference opponent, with their first Big 12 game scheduled out on Dec. 21. Arizona will travel to Provo, UT to face the BYU Cougars, looking to capture their first conference win.
Many Big 12 teams are hot on Arizona's heels with undefeated records, with the exception of Colorado, Arizona State, Baylor, and Houston. As the season has just begun, many teams will look to dominate the Big 12 in order to make an appearance at the NCAA tournament.
The Wildcats aim to add to their win column this upcoming Saturday, Nov. 16 against Chicago State (0-4) in Chicago, Illinois. The Cougars will be coming into the game from a devistating 35-104 loss against the Florida Gators.
With plenty of women's basketball left to play, the Wildcats must continue to rise up in the ranks to make their 12th overall appearance in the NCAA tournament. This, along with Barnes' stacked resume, would put Arizona's basketball program in the same conversation as few other successful women's programs.
