No. 13 Arizona lost its first game of the season to an unranked team last weekend when it lost to Colorado on the road. The Wildcats (22-5, 11-5 Pac-12) had to make the trip to Mountain schools without their top player and leading scorer Aari McDonald who has been working through a lower leg injury.

UA was able to secure a first-round bye in next week's Pac-12 Tournament by splitting its final road trip and beating Utah meaning this week's games against Stanford and Cal will simply be about getting on track and finding a rhythm heading into postseason play.

"The goal is to finish out strong," UA head coach Adia Barnes said Wednesday when speaking with reporters about the final two games of the regular season. "We knew that the mountains would be a tough trip, especially not having Aari. I thought the fact that we split at the mountains, I think was a good accomplishment without our best player but the way we played on Sunday was tough.

"We just kinda got beat up up and down the court and just didn't respond to their toughness, but it's over with and now back at home – with Aari – with a healthier team we want to compete and we want to finish out strong this weekend."

McDonald has been listed as day-to-day with her injury and could have likely played Sunday, but the extra rest is a plus at this point in the season even though the Wildcats had to take a loss without the starting point guard on the floor.

"There wasn't a good time to rest her," Barnes said. "She's a little bit banged up, but there were a lot of other factors like Cate [Reese] in the hospital for two days before both games and that's something we didn't talk about and no one knew. Then the whole team was on Tamiflu fighting the flu because we had been exposed to the flu.

"So, there were a lot of factors but that wasn't what I was gonna talk about after the game because I don't think that's the reason we played awful, but it was a factor. There was just a lot going on, so it's not an excuse. I thought Colorado played really well and we just didn't show up, or we just didn't have other people step up when we were down."

The Wildcats can continue to help their standing within the Pac-12 with a pair of wins this weekend that includes a matchup with No. 4 Stanford. UA also wants to host the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament making both games important for the Wildcats. However, Barnes is not putting any extra pressure on the final two games ahead of postseason play.

"I don't think we're in a situation where anything is a must-win because we've only lost five games the whole season and we're in the fourth spot," she said. "I think that we control our own destiny. We know we're fourth and I think we can only possibly finish third. So, I think getting an upset on Friday against a higher-ranked opponent at home is a possibility but it's still a tough game.

"If we do that I think it just helps our seeding and then we're in the third spot. I think most people want the third spot versus the fourth because of who you face in the second round."

UA's matchup with Stanford (24-4, 13-3) is set for a 6 p.m. MST tip off at McKale Center.