Aari McDonald wins Pac-12 Player of the Week
A Wildcat of distinction.
Arizona’s Aari McDonald was named Pac-12 Player of the Week for games played last week. It is the third time McDonald as given this honor, as well as the 44th for Arizona overall.
Although Arizona split their two games last week on the road, beating Colorado and losing to Utah, McDonald was continued her impressive sophomore season. In the two games played, McDonald averaged 33.0 points per game, 8.0 rebounds, and she shot 79 percent from the free-throw line.
In the win over Colorado, she had 32 points on 52.2 percent shooting from the field, five rebounds, four assists, and eight steals. In the loss to Utah, she had 34 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
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Her back to back 30 point games marked the first time a Wildcat has done that on the road. Her eight steals against Colorado was the second-highest mark in school history, and the 34 point performance was the fourth highest point total for a Wildcat. It is also her second and third 30 point games of this season. She had 39 points back on Nov.13 against Loyola Marymount.
McDonald has consistently been one of the best scorers in the nation this season. Her 24.9 points per game is second only behind Iowa’s Megan Gustafson’s 26.8 points per game. She is also averaging 6.8 rebounds per game, 3.6 assists, and 2.8 steals.
She is shooting 45.3 percent from the field and 78.4 percent from the free-throw line where she is averaging 7.8 attempts per game. Although she is a very talented scorer, she isn’t shooting very well from the three-point line, connecting on only 25.9 percent of her 6.5 attempts.
Behind McDonald, the Wildcats recently were on an 11 game win streak before the loss to Utah. They’ve also started the season at 12-2. They will matchup against Cal on Friday night as Pac-12 play continues.