# 2020–21 Arizona Wildcats women's basketball team

The 2020–21 Arizona Wildcats women's basketball team represented University of Arizona during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wildcats, led by fifth-year head coach Adia Barnes, play their home games at the McKale Center and are members of the Pac-12 Conference. The Wildcats finished the season second behind Stanford in the Pacific-12 conference with a 13–4 record. They advanced to the semifinals of the 2021 Pac-12 women's tournament where they lost to no. 9 ranked UCLA and As a no. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament where they defeated Stony Brook and BYU in the first and second rounds, no. 4 ranked Texas A&M in the Sweet Sixteen, they won their region with a win over no. 12 ranked Indiana in the first-ever Elite Eight, knocked off no. 1 ranked UConn in the first-ever Final Four. Arizona reached the first-ever National Championship game, losing to no. 2 ranked Stanford (in a rematch from earlier this season) 54–53 and finishing the season with a 21–6 record.

## Previous season

The Wildcats finished the season 24–7, 12–6 in Pac-12 play to finish in fourth place. They advanced to the semifinals of the Pac-12 women's tournament where they lost to Oregon. The NCAA tournament and WNIT were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Offseason
### Departures

Arizona Wildcats Departures :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Reference: |||||||
Incoming Transfers :
| Name | Number | Position | Height | Year | Hometown | Previous School | Remaining Eligibility | Notes |
| Reference: |||||||||

### Recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Madison Conner G | Chandler, AZ | Arizona Compass Prep | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | N/A | Apr 20, 2020 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 91 ||||||
| Lauren Ware F | Bismarck, ND | Century HS | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | N/A | Jul 11, 2020 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 97 ||||||
| Derin Erdoğan G | Istanbul, Turkey | İstanbul Üniversitesi SK | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | N/A | Sep 25, 2020 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Marta Garcia G | Sevilla, Spain | Segle XXI | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | N/A | Jan 30, 2020 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2020 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 20, 2020. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved April 20, 2020. ||||||

#### 2021 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2021 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Aaronette Vonleh G | West Linn, OR | West Linn HS | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | N/A | Jul 11, 2020 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 91 |||||||
| Anna Gret Asi G | Tartu, Estonia | University of Tartu | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | N/A | Jul 13, 2020 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A |||||||
| Gisela Sánchez F | Barcelona, Spain | Segle XXI | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | N/A | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2021 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 11, 2021. "2021 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved February 11, 2021. |||||||

#### 2022 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2022 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Maya Nnaji F | Lakeville, MN | Hopkins High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | N/A | May 10, 2021 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 98 |||||||
| Paris Clark G | Mount Vernon, NY | Long Island Lutheran High School | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | N/A | Dec 13, 2021 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 96 |||||||
| Kailyn Gilbert G | Tampa, FL | Seffner Christian Academy | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | N/A | Jan 6, 2021 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 95 |||||||
| Lemyah Hylton G | London, ON | Southwest Academy Girls Prep | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | N/A | Oct 16, 2021 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 91 |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ESPN: 6 |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2022 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 13, 2021. "2022 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 13, 2021. |||||||

## Personnel
### Roster

* Madison Conner was only on the roster for the spring semester of 2020/2021 season, joining the team in March 2021, after reclassify from 2021 season class.

## Schedule

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| November 29, 2020* Noon | No. 7 | Northern Arizona | W 76–63 | 1–0 | McKale Center (0) Tucson, AZ |
| December 4, 2020 7:00 p.m., P12N | No. 7 | No. 9 UCLA | W 68–65 | 2–0 (1–0) | McKale Center (0) Tucson, AZ |
| December 6, 2020 1:00 p.m. | No. 7 | USC | W 78–77 | 3–0 (2–0) | McKale Center (0) Tucson, AZ |
| December 10, 2020 4:00 p.m., P12N | No. 6 | Arizona State Territorial Cup | W 65–37 | 4–0 (3–0) | McKale Center (0) Tucson, AZ |
| December 18, 2020 5:00 p.m., P12N | No. 6 | at Colorado | W 62–59 | 5–0 (4–0) | CU Events Center (0) Boulder, CO |
| December 20, 2020 Noon, P12N | No. 6 | at Utah | W 77–60 | 6–0 (5–0) | Jon M. Huntsman Center (0) Salt Lake City, UT |
| December 23, 2020* Noon | No. 6 | Idaho | W 96–42 | 7–0 | McKale Center (0) Tucson, AZ |
| January 1, 2021 5:00 p.m., P12N | No. 6 | No. 1 Stanford | L 54–81 | 7–1 (5–1) | McKale Center (0) Tucson, AZ |
| January 3, 2021 Noon, P12N | No. 6 | California | W 69–33 | 8–1 (6–1) | McKale Center (0) Tucson, AZ |
| January 8, 2021 9:00 p.m., P12N | No. 7 | at Washington | Postponed | Postponed | Alaska Airlines Arena Seattle, WA |
| January 10, 2021 Noon, P12N | No. 7 | at Washington State | L 69–71 $^{OT}$ | 8–2 (6–2) | Beasley Coliseum (0) Pullman, WA |
| January 14, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 11 | No. 10 Oregon | W 57–41 | 9–2 (7–2) | McKale Center (0) Tucson, AZ |
| January 17, 2021 2:00 p.m., P12N | No. 11 | Oregon State | W 67–51 | 10–2 (8–2) | McKale Center (0) Tucson, AZ |
| January 22, 2021 4:00 p.m., P12N | No. 10 | Utah | W 66–54 | 11–2 (9–2) | McKale Center (0) Tucson, AZ |
| January 24, 2021 1:00 p.m., P12N | No. 10 | Colorado | Postponed | Postponed | McKale Center Tucson, AZ |
| January 29, 2021 5:00 p.m., P12N | No. 10 | at USC | Postponed | Postponed | Galen Center Los Angeles, CA |
| January 31, 2021 4:00 p.m., P12N | No. 10 | at No. 5 UCLA | Postponed | Postponed | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA |
| February 5, 2021 5:00 p.m., P12N | No. 9 | at Oregon State | Postponed | Postponed | Gill Coliseum Corvallis, OR |
| February 8, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 10 | at No. 11 Oregon | W 79–59 | 12–2 (10–2) | Matthew Knight Arena (0) Eugene, OR |
| February 12, 2021 7:00 p.m., P12N | No. 10 | Washington State | W 60–51 | 13–2 (11–2) | McKale Center (0) Tucson, AZ |
| February 14, 2021 Noon, P12N | No. 10 | Washington | W 73–53 | 14–2 (12–2) | McKale Center (0) Tucson, AZ |
| February 19, 2021 1:30 p.m., P12N | No. 10 | at California | W 59–50 | 15–2 (13–2) | Haas Pavilion (0) Berkeley, CA |
| February 22, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 9 | at No. 4 Stanford | L 48–62 | 15–3 (13–3) | Maples Pavilion (1) Stanford, CA |
| February 28, 2021 Noon, P12N | No. 9 | at Arizona State Territorial Cup | L 64–66 | 15–4 (13–4) | Desert Financial Arena (0) Tempe, AZ |
| Pac-12 Women's Tournament ||||||
| March 4, 2021 6:00 p.m., P12N | (2) No. 11 | vs. (7) Washington State Quarterfinals | W 60–44 | 16–4 | Michelob Ultra Arena (41) Paradise, NV |
| March 5, 2021 9:00 p.m., P12N | (2) No. 11 | vs. (3) No. 9 UCLA Semifinals | L 49–58 | 16–5 | Michelob Ultra Arena (0) Paradise, NV |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 22, 2021* 11:00 a.m., ESPN2 | (3 M) No. 11 | vs. (14 M) Stony Brook First Round | W 79–44 | 17–5 | Alamodome San Antonio, TX |
| March 24, 2021* 5:00 pm, ESPNU | (3 M) No. 11 | vs. (11 M) BYU 2nd Round | W 52–46 | 18–5 | UTSA Convocation Center San Antonio, TX |
| March 27, 2021* 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | (3 M) No. 11 | vs. (2 M) No. 4 Texas A&M Sweet 16 | W 74–59 | 19–5 | Alamodome (2,434) San Antonio, TX |
| March 29, 2021* 5:00 pm, ESPN | (3 M) No. 11 | vs. (4 M) No. 12 Indiana Elite Eight | W 66–53 | 20–5 | Alamodome San Antonio, TX |
| April 2, 2021* 5:30 pm, ESPN | (3 M) No. 11 | vs. (1 R) No. 1 UConn Final Four | W 69–59 | 21–5 | Alamodome San Antonio, TX |
| April 4, 2021* 3:00 pm, ESPN | (3 M) No. 11 | vs. (1 A) No. 2 Stanford National Championship | L 53–54 | 21–6 | Alamodome (4,604) San Antonio, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. M=Mercado R=River Walk. All times are in Mountain Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking Movement Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. :
| Poll | Pre | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Final |
| AP | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| Coaches | 8 | 6 | 6 | 7-T | 8 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 2 |