TUCSON, Ariz. - In front of a sold out crowd at McKale Center, Arizona Women's Basketball beat Northwestern 56 -42 in the WNIT Championship.
Aari McDonald was named tournament MVP after finishing the game with 19 points.
"It means a lot," said McDonald. "I'm humbled with my award. I just wouldn't have got that without my teammates, and them finding me and setting screnes for me. That was a big help."
Cate Reese, who was named to the WNIT All-Tournament team, ended the game with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Tee Tee Starks chipped in with 12 points and five rebounds.
The 14,644 in attendance was a record crowd for a Pac-12 women's basketball game. It capped off a week of frenzied fan support that saw Tucson rally around team that finished with just six wins a season ago.
"This is magical," said head coach Adia Barnes. "We sold out McKale. If you would have said we were going to win the WNIT and sell out and have almost fifteen thousand people, I would have said, 'huh.' But, we did it. This city has been amazing."
Coincidentally, Barnes won the WNIT as a Wildcat player in 1996, also beating Northwestern in the championship game. At that time, the WNIT only consisted of eight teams, while this year's Arizona team won a 64-team tournament.
