SALT LAKE CITY – Important players appear at important moments.
For BYU women’s basketball, Paisley Johnson Harding was an important player in the defeat of Rutgers in the Cougars’ first round.
Aari McDonald, from Arizona, was the great player of the second round.
McDonald had 17 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and four steals to help the Third Division Wildcats hold on to the Cougars, 52-46 on Wednesday night at the UTSA Call Center in San Antonio, Texas.
Cate Reese had 12 points and five rebounds for Arizona (18-5), who hit just 34% of the shots but forced 15 turns – including 11 steals.
The Wildcats kept BYU in a field goal for the past five minutes and 11 seconds.
No team led by more than five in a defensive game, including two-time Pac-12 defensive player of the year, McDonald, finalist for Naismith’s defensive player of the year.
BYU kept the Wildcats with just 3 points in a 10-minute, 33-second interval between the third and fourth periods and taking a 43-39 lead with 5:03 to end the game.
But McDonald’s doubled Arizona’s score in that game with a 3-point basket, and Sam Thomas drained another three with 3:43 left, which returned the lead to the Wildcats.
BYU’s Tegan Graham reduced the deficit to one with his third point of 3, but the Cougars never led again.
Shaylee Gonzales had 16 points and nine rebounds to lead BYU, who had 13 points, five rebounds and three assists from Graham. Lauren Gustin added 8 points and 11 rebounds for the Cougars (19-6).
This story will be updated.