Aari McDonald’s 33 points against Indiana in Monday’s 66-53 Elite Eight win at San Antonio puts her very close to becoming only the third Arizona player to reach 2,000 career points with the Wildcats.
McDonald, who had a combined 64 points in the last two victories over Texas A&M and Indiana, is now at 1,993 points in her 91-game Arizona career.
Her coach Adia Barnes (2,237 points from 1994-98) and Ify Ibekwe (2,059 from 2009-13) are the only two players in Arizona history to reach 2,000 career points in a Wildcat career.
Arizona Career Scoring Leaders
| Player | Years | Games | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Adia Barnes | 1994-98 | 121 | 2,237 |
| 2. | Davellyn Whyte | 2009-13 | 126 | 2,059 |
| 3. | Aari McDonald | 2018-21 | 93 | 2,041 |
| 4. | Dee-Dee Wheeler | 2001-05 | 124 | 1,966 |
| 5. | Ify Ibekwe | 2007-11 | 116 | 1,653 |
| 6. | Elizabeth Pickney | 1999-02 | 121 | 1,620 |
| 7. | Shawntinice Polk | 2003-05 | 94 | 1,467 |
| 8. | Ashley Whisonant | 2005-08 | 122 | 1.451 |
| 9. | Cate Reese | 2018-22 | 107 | 1,335 |
| 10. | Timi Brown | 1987-91 | 114 | 1,315 |
McDonald, who started her career at Washington in 2016-17, has 2,266 points overall in her career. That ranks 12th in Pac-12 history.
In the game against Indiana, she moved past Barnes in the Pac-12 career scoring list and USC’s Tina Thompson (2,248 points from 1993-97) to No. 12 on the list.
Aari McDonald = SUPERSTAR ⭐️#ncaaW x @ArizonaWBB pic.twitter.com/L4MgZoFfzz
— NCAA Women’s Basketball (@ncaawbb) March 30, 2021
Borislava Hristova of Washington State is at No. 11 with 2,269 points from 2016-20 and Washington’s Jazmine Davis is No. 10 with 2,277 points from 2011-15.
The record is Kelsey Plum’s 3,257 points with Washington from 2013-17.
Arizona Career Blocked Shot Leaders
| Rank | Player | Years | GP | Blk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Shawntinice Polk | 2003-05 | 94 | 222 |
| 2. | Sam Thomas | 2017-20 | 123 | 167 |
| 3. | Ify Ibekwe | 2008-10 | 116 | 166 |
| 4. | LaBrittney Jones | 2013-17 | 114 | 161 |
| 5. | Elizabeth Pickney | 1999-2002 | 121 | 147 |
| 6. | Marte Alexander | 1995-98 | 109 | 121 |
| 7. | Dana Patterson | 1985-88 | 112 | 91 |
| 8. | Anne McFadden | 1979-82 | 102 | 87 |
| 9. | Margo Clark | 1991-94 | 84 | 68 |
| 10. | Erica Barnes | 2011-14 | 112 | 54 |
McDonald has also scored in double figures in 91 straight games, encompassing her entire Arizona career from 2018 to now.
Sam Thomas made history as well against Indiana with her one blocked shot giving her 167 for her career, passing Ify Ibekwe to be alone at No. 2 on Arizona’s career list. Ibekwe had 166 blocked shots from 2008-10.
The late Shawntinice Polk holds the record with 222 blocked shots from 2003-05.
Thomas and McDonald will have the opportunity to build on these career totals when Arizona next faces UConn on Friday night in the Final Four at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
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