In the spring of 2021, Arizona's women's basketball team became THE story in the women's NCAA Tournament. Remember?
The Wildcats charged to the national championship game by beating mighty UConn 69-59 in the national semifinals. Adia Barnes’ Wildcats lost in the title game 54-53 to Stanford when All-American guard Aari McDonald’s last-second 25-footer bounced off the rim.
Arizona was ranked as high as No. 6 in the AP poll in 2021, a period when the Pac-12 seemed to be the most difficult league in women's basketball. Stanford, Oregon, Washington and Oregon State all played in the Final Four within five years of the ’21 Final Four. To get to the Final Four, Arizona's climb to prominence included 90 victories in four seasons.
Arizona forward Cate Reese (25) and Arizona guard Aari McDonald (2) celebrate with their teammates after defeating UConn in the NCAA Tournament Final Four game at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, on April 2, 2021.
And then it all went south.
Stanford has gone 16-15 and 19-13 the last two seasons (a combined 16-20 in the ACC), missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1987. What happened? Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer retired. New coach Kate Paye hasn't been able to match VanDerveer's magic.
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Oregon, which had gone 33-5, 33-5 and 31-2 from 2018-20, has gone 27-55 in league games the last four seasons. Oregon State, now playing in WCC basketball, is no longer a Top 25 program. Washington has become an also-ran in the Big Ten.
Almost nobody saw the collapse of the Pac-12's elite women's basketball teams coming.
