Seth Doria

Barnes on fire as women head to the Sweet 16

If there has been one constant about the women's basketball team this year, it has been their desire to go where no Arizona women's team had gone before.

"We've been ranked in the top 10 all year and one of our goals was to do better than we did year ago in every aspect of our game," UA head coach Joan Bonvicini said after her team beat Virginia 94-77 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. "Obviously, one of our goals was to get to the Sweet 16 so we are very very proud of that."

"We've worked very very hard to earn respect this year," she said. "Our goals have now stepped up."

The goal now is a trip to Kansas City, Mo., for the Final Four but first the Wildcats will have to fight through the top two seeds in the East, Connecticut and Old Dominion.

And what a better time to play their toughest games of the year than after what was perhaps their best game of the year.

Arizona was firing on all cylinders in front of the record 4,693 fans at the McKale Center, but the main gun, as always, was senior forward Adia Barnes, who finished with a game-high 30 points and 10 rebounds.

Barnes hit 9 of 11 field goal attempts on her way to a 21-point, eight-rebound first half performance as the Wildcats ran way from Virginia to a 51-30 margin at the break.

At one point, the score could have read Adia Barnes 16, Virginia 14.

"Tonight, when we came out, we really controlled the tempo from the get-go," Barnes said. "As seniors, we tried to pull everything together and just really stay intense and we felt we really jumped on them and did that."

Along with Barnes' hot shooting, DeAngela Minter, Lisa Griffith and Felecity Willis each hit two three-pointers as Arizona hit 6 of 9 from long distance in the period.

"It was great to see Lisa Griffith on fire again," Bonvicini said, "and what time to come through, in the tournament in such a big game. The nice thing about our team is that you can't key on one or two people. On a given night there are a lot of different people who can step up."

Overall, UA hit 56 percent from the floor and outrebounded the Cavaliers by nine, thanks in part to junior guard Monika Crank who had eight boards in the half, while foul trouble kept Virginia leading scorer, DeMya Walker, to only four points in four minutes.

"I thought we would have to make a lot of defensive adjustments with their quickness," Bonvicini said, "but what happened was they got in such foul trouble and that's when they fell behind."

Walker, who led Virginia with 29 points and 11 rebounds in a 77-68 win over Southern Methodist in the first round on Friday, did come back in the second half against UA with 15 points and five rebounds as UVA cut a 62-37 lead to a 82-73 deficit with just over two minutes remaining.

But two layups and eight free throws later, Arizona was heading to Dayton, Ohio, for a date with Connecticut in the Sweet 16 and Virginia lost before the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1986.

"Virginia is a great basketball team and there is a great tradition and a great legacy but you know what, we're creating our own too," Bonvicini said. "You have to give credit where credit is due. History, that's history. It's not about what you did last year or six years ago. It's about now."

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