Arizona senior guard Aari McDonald has continued to be the Wildcats' rock this season and the preseason All-American picked up some more hardware Monday after leading the team to a road sweep of the Mountain schools. McDonald averaged over 21 points, six rebounds 4.3 assists and 2.7 steals in games against Colorado and Utah to help secure the Pac-12 Player of the Week award.
McDonald was impressive on the team's first trip away from McKale Center in two very different games for UA. Against Colorado on Friday the Arizona star scored 21 points in the second half to help erase a double-digit deficit and guide the Wildcats to their first win on the trip.
She scored 19 points to go along with six steals, six assists and six rebounds in Sunday's 17-point win over Utah to help her team lock up the program's first road sweep of the the Mountain schools.
The win also helped UA (6-0, 5-0 Pac-12) jump out to its best start in Pac-12 play in program history.
"That gets me pumped just as much as I like playing defense," McDonald said after Sunday's win when asked about her ability to get her teammates involved in a complete game like she had in the win over Utah. "Once my teammates are able to convert that just gets me pumped and it kinda gets me going."
McDonald had some early struggles to open the season, but as of late she has found consistency for the Wildcats as she begins to settle in after the long layoff during the offseason.
"There's a lot of great players in the country, but what separates the good from the great is being able to play on both ends," UA head coach Adia Barnes said of McDonald on Sunday. "There's not a lot of players in the country that can play great on the offensive end and play great on defense. She is that and that's why she's special.
"That's why she's up for national player of the year. She's the catalyst on our offense and she's the catalyst for our defense. So, she's the one pressing, she's the one getting steals, making tough plays and our team feeds off of it because when she's doing that she's pumping up the team. ... I love that and they feed off of it. They've all done a really good job, but she's the one that ignites us."
UA is set to be back in action Wednesday at 12 p.m. MST when the Wildcats face Idaho in a nonconference matchup at McKale Center.
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