No. 22 Arizona upsets No. 6 Louisville with last-second stop

No. 22 Arizona held off No. 6 Louisville down the stretch, denying Hailey Van Lith in the final seconds of Friday’s game to secure the team a 61-59 overtime victory in an early-season thriller for NCAA women’s basketball.

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No. 22 @ArizonaWBB upsets No. 6 Louisville 61-59‼️ pic.twitter.com/xUbvk6xDTB

— espnW (@espnW) November 13, 2021

Cat Reese led Arizona in points with 21, shooting 6-for-21 from the field and going 3-for-5 from deep. Bendu Yeaney added 12 points for the Wildcats, hitting a three-pointer and then a jumper in overtime to give Arizona the late-game lead.

Both teams struggled on offense, each notching 17 turnovers, with Louisville shooting 28.6 percent from the field and Arizona shooting 36.7 percent. The 22^nd ranked Wildcats, however, were able to outlast the  Cardinals for an early-season upset.

“I’ve always been optimistic,” Arizona coach Adia Barnes said after the game. “Everybody always doubts Arizona and the Pac-12. They always doubt what we do, and I think we’re pretty good. I think that we earned some respect today, which is good. I like that. But I don’t mind being the underdogs; it’s kind of fun.”

Next up: Arizona will head back to Tucson to host Texas Southern on Monday. Louisville will look to get back to their winning ways when they face off against Bellarmine on Tuesday.