Aari McDonald and Arizona’s run at historical past fell simply quick in opposition to Stanford within the NCAA Ladies’s Match on Sunday.
Or, relatively, only a hair too far.
The three-seed Wildcats compelled a shot clock violation on 1-seed Stanford’s last possession of the nationwide championship recreation, giving the upstart Wildcats — who had misplaced to the Cardinal twice beforehand this season — an opportunity to win on the ultimate possession of the sport. And there was no participant whom Arizona coach Adia Barnes wished to have the ball greater than McDonald, who had a game-high 22 factors, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
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McDonald took the inbounds go together with her staff down 54-53 and 6.1 seconds remaining on the clock. She rapidly discovered herself swarmed by 4 Stanford defenders and unable to go the ball to her teammates. Even nonetheless, she bought a likelihood to place up a fadeaway, buzzer-beating 3-pointer:
Devastating.
McDonald ought to really feel no disgrace, although. She put up Most Excellent Participant numbers throughout the match: 22 factors in opposition to Stanford, 26 factors vs. UConn, 33 factors vs. Indiana and 31 factors vs. Texas A&M. The best way by which Arizona misplaced is clearly disheartening, however McDonald appeared to take it in stride when speaking to reporters postgame:
“What I’ll keep in mind most is that this journey. We had an excellent run on this NCAA Match,” she mentioned (via USA Today’s Nancy Armour). “We achieved lots that many didn’t assume we might do.”
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