The 2021–22 Arizona Wildcats women's basketball team represented the University of Arizona during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wildcats were led by sixth-year head coach Adia Barnes. This was the Wildcats' 48th season at the on-campus McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona and 43rd season as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. They finished with a record of 21–8, 10–6 in Pac-12 play. The Wildcats were invited to the 2022 NCAA tournament where they defeated UNLV in the First Round before losing to North Carolina in the Second Round.
Previous season 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.
Offseason
Departures Arizona Wildcats DeparturesNameNumberPos.HeightYearHometownNotes Trinity Baptiste 0 F 6'0 Senior Tampa, Florida Aari McDonald 2 G 5'7 RS Senior Fresno, California Tara Manumaleuga 3 G 5'10 Sophomore Gold Coast, QLD, Australia Mara Mote 11 G 5'11 Sophomore Cēsis, Latvia Marta Garcia 22 G 6'3 Freshman Sevilla, Spain Reference:
Transfers Incoming transfersNameNumberPositionHeightYearHometownPrevious SchoolRemaining EligibilityNotes Taylor Chavez 3 G 5'10" Junior Surprise, AZ Oregon 2 Transfer from Oregon. Koi Love 5 F 6'0" Sophomore Orlando, FL Vanderbilt 3 Transfer from Vanderbilt. Ariyah Copeland 22 F 6'3" Senior Columbus, GA Alabama 1 Transfer from Alabama.Reference:
2021 recruiting class
2022 recruiting class
2023 recruiting class
Preseason
Preseason rankings October 12 and November 3, 2021 - The Arizona Wildcats are picked to finish 5th in the both of Media and Coaches of the PAC-12 Preseason polls. October 19, 2021 - Arizona received No. 22 in the AP poll Top 25. November 3, 2021 – Arizona received No. 15 in the USA Today Coaches Poll Top 25.
Preseason awards watchlists October 26, 2021 – Taylor Chavez is named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award top 20 watch list (Best shooting guard) October 27, 2021 – Sam Thomas is named to the Cheryl Miller Award top 20 watch list (Best small forward) November 9, 2021 - Sam Thomas is named to the Naismith Trophy top 50 watchlist (the most outstanding female basketball player)
Preseason All Pac-12 teams November 3, 2021 – Preseason All-Pac-12 team: Sam Thomas and Cate Reese.
Personal
Roster Source:
Coaching staff Name Position Year at Arizona Alma Mater (year) Adia Barnes Head coach 6th Arizona (1998) Salvo Coppa Assistant Coach 6th IULM (2003) Ashley Davis Assistant Coach 1st TCU (2007) Erin Grant Assistant Coach 1st Texas Tech (2006) Jessika Carrington Director of Basketball Operations 6th Oklahoma (2012) Kortney Dunbar Director of Players Recruiting 1st Tennessee (2018) Sierra Bone Graduate Assistant 1st Kansas City (2017)
Schedule
!colspan=12 style=| Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=| Regular Season
!colspan=12 style=| Pac-12 regular season
!colspan=12 style=|Pac-12 Women's tournament
!colspan=12 style=|NCAA tournament
Source:
Game summaries This section will be filled in as the season progresses.
vs Cal State Northridge
vs No. 6 Louisville
vs Texas Southern
vs Marist
vs Vanderbilt
vs DePaul
vs Rutgers
vs North Dakota State
vs New Mexico
Player statistics Player Games Played Minutes Field Goals Three Pointers Free Throws Rebounds Assists Blocks Steals Points ReeseCate Reese 5 84 19 4 13 25 4 2 1 55 WareLauren Ware 5 83 14 2 9 25 3 10 2 37 ThomasSam Thomas 5 80 12 6 13 9 7 6 4 32 PellingtonShaina Pellington 5 79 5 1 4 12 14 0 5 17 YeaneyBendu Yeaney 5 76 12 5 1 10 12 0 7 30 Chavez Taylor Chavez 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Conner Madison Conner 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Copeland Ariyah Copeland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Erdogan Derin Erdogan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Gret Asi Anna Gret Asi 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Love Koi Love 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Pueyo Helena Pueyo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sanchez Gisela Sanchez 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Smith Semaj Smith 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Vonleh Aaronette Vonleh 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Total – – – – – – – – – –Opponents – – – – − − − − − −
Awards & milestones
Season highs
Players Points: C. Reese, 21 (Louisville) Rebounds: C. Reese, 11 (Texas Southern) Assists: Tied, 5 (Cal State Northridge & Louisville) Steals: K. Love, 4 (Texas Southern & Marist) Blocks: L. Ware, 4 (Marist) Minutes: C. Reese, 33 (Louisville)
Team Points: 93 (Texas Southern) Field Goals: 36 (Texas Southern) Field Goal Attempts: 67 (Texas Southern) 3 Point Field Goals Made: 11 (Marist) 3 Point Field Goals Attempts: 24 (Marist) Free Throws Made:12 (Louisville) Free Throws Attempts:14 (Louisville) Rebounds:53 (Marist) Assists:27 (Cal State Northridge) Steals:15 (Texas Southern) Blocked Shots:10 (Marist) Turnovers:17 (Louisville) Fouls:21 (Louisville)
Weekly awards Cate Reese Pac-12 Women's Basketball Player of the Week 1 (Nov. 15)
Pac-12 Conference awards and honors
National awards
Rankings
*The preseason and week 1 polls were the same.^Coaches poll was not released for Week 2.
See also 2021–22 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team
Notes
References