Arizona women’s basketball notebook: On UNLV, fan events, receiving votes, and more

The Arizona Wildcats will end a brutal opening stretch of four games in nine days on Tuesday evening when UNLV women’s basketball comes to Tucson. UA head coach has been able to get a lot of playing time for her entire bench in the opening three games, but things should change with the toughest opponent yet on the slate. UNLV no longer has two-time Mountain West Player of the Year .

She has caused problems for the Wildcats the last two times the teams have played, including last year in Las Vegas. They will come to Tucson with a 2-0 record with a 16-point win over Loyola Marymount and a 14-point win over NAU, but how much has the loss of Young affected them? “I think they’re different because she was just experienced inside, strong, a tough matchup for us,” Barnes said. “We were bigger, but she was more athletic, and she just kind of manhandled us inside.



..but I think that they’re still fast.

Their guards are really athletic. Their guards are more athletic than ours..

.and they get downhill really fast. So I think they’re different, but they’re solid.

” Barnes decided to schedule an off-the-cuff meet and greet for the fans on Monday evening at Charro Chico on North Campbell. It wasn’t planned far in advance, but she decided that even if they only got 50-100 people to show up, it was still a good experience for both the fans and the players. The event is the first of several she wants to hold this season.

This particular occasion will help raise NIL money specifically for women’s basketball, a sticking point for most coaches of women’s sports at Arizona. “We just kind of planned it a day ago,” Barnes said. “We’re really good friends with.

..the family that owns Charro.

(They) are close to our program. Do a lot for us and the best in town..

.And so we wanted to do something for the fans this year. I’m dedicating it to the fans, because the fans have stuck.

..with us through thick and thin, and they’re always there.

They always show up, whether we’re trying to sell tickets or not. So we wanted to have an event where we’re doing a lot of this stuff throughout the year..

.Our players wanted to go there, so I said, ‘Hey, let’s open it up to the fans.’” Arizona came into the season unranked and picked seventh in the Big 12.

They are starting to get some national notice, though. They appeared on enough ballots to get six points in the after the first week of play. Recruiting site ASGR Basketball is also releasing a top 35 this year.

Arizona has been just on the outside fringes of that ranking system since before the season started. The team has a lot to prove, but some on the national scene expect them to prove it. When a player transfers, she often comes in feeling like she has something to prove.

That can be especially true when she had a difficult time at her first school. Does Barnes think that is affecting in her first few games at Arizona and did she see an improvement against UC San Diego? “She didn’t play a ton (at South Carolina),” Barnes said. “I mean, she didn’t play a lot towards the end of the year.

So she needs that experience. So it’s kind of like she’s a freshman again, in my eyes. So getting her to be consistent with her effort and mentality, and she’s starting to do that.

She played way harder yesterday. She didn’t force stuff. So I think that that’s a part of that, that process of learning.

When you transfer from another school, you want to go prove yourself. That’s how any player is..

.I don’t put that pressure on her. I know she’s going to be really, really special, and she’s good.

So I want her to just let the game come to her and continue to get better.” Arizona’s bench players have seen significant time in the first three games. That’s one advantage to playing an easier slate, especially early on.

The Wildcats could withstand their starting point guard sitting on the bench for the last 15 minutes of the game against UCSD on Sunday afternoon. They could win with and playing 17 and 19 minutes, respectively. Things will change as games get tougher, including against UNLV.

“I’m playing a lot of people,” Barnes said. “I’m going deep into our bench. As we progress, that’s not a reality, but I know I need to do that now.

I need to get Mailien (Rolf) in some tough situations, even if she’s turning it over. She’s young. I need to let her play through some things because we need her.

Katarina (Knežević), also. So a lot of stuff I’m allowing now I won’t do later as the teams get better and it’s tighter, but I need to get them experienced because we’re going to need them down the stretch..

.Last night, I could have played Jada again, but I wanted to rest her..

.I need to play her a lot tomorrow. So just our rotations will get a little bit smaller, and they’ll get a little bit shorter.

We won’t play so many people. It’s hard to play 13 people. So I think that’ll cut down on turnovers, and we’ll play a lot better because certain combinations will play more.

” Arizona’s game against UNLV starts at 6 p.m. MST on Tuesday, Nov.

12. It will be streamed on . The radio call will be on KTUC 1400 AM.

Stats can be accessed via ..