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Phoenix-area talent on the men’s side has made ASU envious of Arizona through the years with the likes of Mike Bibby, Richard Jefferson, Channing Frye, Jerryd Bayless, Nick Johnson and Nico Mannion choosing to play for the Wildcats.
The Arizona women now have that with Madison Conner, who hails from Chandler.
The second-year freshman guard fueled Arizona rallies throughout and finished with a career-high 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field in the Wildcats’ 62-58 win Sunday over ASU in front of 8,480 fans at McKale Center. The win came two days after ASU prevailed 81-77 in Tempe on Friday.
Conner was the “Bang the Drum” honoree because of her pivotal performance in a game in which Shaina Pellington had only three points because of foul trouble, and she banged it 18 times with No. 6 Arizona improving to 18-4 overall and 8-4 Pac-12.
Adia Barnes talks about her contributors in the win over ASU, including Madison Conner, Bendu Yeaney, Cate Reese, Koi Love & Sam Thomas for her defense on Jade Loville, the Sun Devils’ leading scorer this season who had only eight points after scoring 27 in Friday’s win for ASU. pic.twitter.com/lAYFCtnd2m
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) February 13, 2022
Cate Reese led Arizona with 17 points and five rebounds while Koi Love had 11 points, six rebounds and two steals.
Arizona outrebounded the Sun Devils (12-9, 4-4) by a 27-22 margin after ASU won the rebouding battle 42-27 Friday.
ASU (12-9, 4-4) scored six unanswered points to tie the game at 57 with 1:33 left.
Adia Barnes said that Koi Love and Madison Conner are consistently the players who spend the most time shooting before and after practice. She said everybody works hard on their shots but they are consistently around the gym longest.
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) February 13, 2022
Love, again instrumental in being an x-factor off the bench, made a layup with 1:22 remaining to put the Wildcats ahead 59-57.
The Sun Devils then committed a turnover when Katelyn Levings was ruled to step out of bounds while moving to the basket.
After Adia Barnes called a timeout with 52.3 seconds left, Reese drew a foul and made one of two free throws with 32 seconds left to give Arizona a 60-57 lead.
“I’m going to do whatever the team needs me to do to win.” – @koilove10, clearly one of the best reserves in the PAC-12. pic.twitter.com/UaLv8NiiKD
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) February 13, 2022
Bendu Yeaney corralled the offensive rebound off the miss of Reese’s second attempt and she was fouled. After Arizona inbounded the ball, the Wildcats turned it over but then Yeaney stole it right back.
Pellington made one of two free throws with 22 seconds left to put Arizona ahead 61-57.
ASU’s Mael Gilles was forced into making a turnover while defended by Love, who was fouled on the other end and made one of two free throws to increase the lead to 62-57 with 16 seconds left.
Adia Barnes acknowledges the rivalry with ASU is now longer “lopsided” in the Sun Devils’ favor. Charli Turner-Thorne, of whom Barnes has great respect for, was 26-4 against Arizona from 2004-18 pic.twitter.com/R3Ln3FCsYJ
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) February 13, 2022
Jaddan Simmons, who led ASU with 16 points, made one of two free throws for ASU with 9 seconds left to conclude the scoring.
Gilles finished with 15 points and five rebounds.
Jade Loville, the leading scorer in the Pac-12 in conference games averaging 21.5 points, was held to only eight points with Sam Thomas blanketing her most of the game. Loville also played in foul trouble most of the game.
.@madiconner2 of Chandler with a career-high 16 points today. Said she was recruited “a little” by ASU but not as much as Arizona. She said the Wildcats had revenge on their minds after Friday’s loss at Tempe. pic.twitter.com/LRomlyERjU
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) February 13, 2022
.@madiconner2 never felt she had to take on the scoring load against ASU with Shaina Pellington limited because of foul trouble. She just played her game and it showed. pic.twitter.com/vu5N9XpwTR
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) February 13, 2022
ASU’s biggest lead, 46-40, with 5:02 left in the third quarter was erased after Conner helped ignite an 11-3 run with a steal and layup.
Pellington and Thomas each made their first shots from the field in the game during that pivotal stretch.
Pellington made a layup with 1:19 left in the third quarter and Thomas drilled a 3-pointer with 30 seconds remaining to give Arizona a 51-49 lead.
Neither team led by more than six points in the first half. There were seven ties with two lead changes.
After ASU took its biggest lead of the first half, 17-12, with 47 seconds left in the first quarter, Arizona went on a 10-2 run with eight of the points from Conner.
.@koilove10 has experience playing in the SEC with Vanderbilt and she believes the atmosphere and support at McKale is unique. There were 8,480 fans there today for “Red Out” against ASU. pic.twitter.com/RtQHLNuhMW
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) February 13, 2022
Her second 3-pointer in that stretch game Arizona a 22-19 lead with 8:29 left in the second quarter.
The Wildcats took their biggest in the half, 32-26 with 3:14 remaining in the second quarter, following consecutive layups by Reese.
ASU outscored Arizona 10-4 the remainder of the quarter capped by Levings’ last-second putback to tie the game at 36 at halftime.
Both teams managed to find scoring with each of their leading scorers on the bench with two fouls in the first half.
Pellington picked up her second foul three minutes into the game and Loville was assessed her second foul with 2:08 remaining in the first quarter.
Pellington was scoreless in six minutes and Loville had five points in 10 minutes.
Entering the game, Pellington produced scored 16.1 points a game in Pac-12 games.
Adia Barnes said Ariyah Copeland (out with a migraine headache) will return to full contact on Tuesday and will play next week against the Washington schools. She attended today’s game and sat on the bench.
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) February 13, 2022
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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. He became an educator five years ago and is presently a special education teacher at Gallego Fine Arts Intermediate in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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