<p>SAN ANTONIO — Aari McDonald had 17 points with 11 rebounds and Arizona outlasted BYU 52-46 on Wednesday night, advancing to the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament for the first time since coach Adia Barnes was a player for the Wildcats in 1998.</p>
<p>The third-seeded Wildcats (18-5) finally went ahead to stay on a 3-pointer by Sam Thomas with 3:47 left, not long after McDonald’s 3 cut their deficit to one. BYU (19-6) had matched its biggest lead of the game — four points — on a layup by Shaylee Gonzales with just over five minutes left. </p>
<p>McDonald, a second-team All-American and the Pac-12 player of the year, sealed the Mercado Region game when she stole the ball from Gonzales, the co-West Coast Conference player of the year, and drove for a layup with 3 seconds left. That final basket gave Arizona its largest lead of the game.</p>
<p>Texas native Cate Reese had 12 points for Arizona, and Trinity Baptiste had 11 rebounds before fouling out.</p>
<p>Gonzales had 16 points for BYU. Tegan Graham had 13.</p>
<p>No. 11 seed BYU (19-6) may have been the last team put in the 64-team field after a last-second loss to Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference Tournament championship game. The Cougars opened the NCAA tourney with a 69-66 upset of Rutgers, with Gonzales making the last of her six straight free throws with 13.4 seconds left.</p>
<p>Barnes, the Pac-12 player of the year as a senior when Arizona went to its only other Sweet 16, is in her fifth season coaching her alma mater. Her contract has been extended through 2025-26.</p>
<p>The Wildcats are in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005. They would have made it last season, when they were 24-7 before the tourney was canceled because of the pandemic.</p>
<p>Arizona went ahead in the third quarter after an impressive spurt by Reese, the 6-foot-2 forward and first McDonald’s All-American to play at Arizona after a standout prep career in Cypress, Texas — almost 200 miles from San Antonio. </p>
<p>Reese screamed going back down the court after a 3-pointer from the top of the key that put Arizona up 30-27 early in the second half.</p>
<p>Later in the third quarter, after a three-point play by Gonzales put BYU up by one, Reese took an inbound pass and cut back inside for a strong layup. After Reese was called for a three-second violation on the next possession, the Wildcats got the ball back on steal by Baptiste that led to another 3 for Reese, and a 36-32 lead with 5 1/2 minutes left in the third — the game was tied at 37 after that quarter.</p>
<p>NO SWEET FINISH</p>
<p>BYU went to the Sweet 16 in coach Jeff Judkins’ first season in 2002, and again in 2014, but missed a chance to get there again.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Arizona will play Texas A&M at the Alamodome, where the entire Sweet 16 and the rest of the tournament will be played.</p>
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<p>More AP women’s college basketball: <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball">https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/AP_Top25">https://twitter.com/AP_Top25</a> </p>
