<p>SAN ANTONIO — Aari McDonald scored 31 points to lead No. 3 Arizona to a 74-59 win over No. 2 Texas A&M on Saturday night in the Sweet 16 and send the Wildcats to the regional final for the first time in program history.</p>
<p>The Wildcats had only made one previous trip the regional semifinals, when coach Adia Barnes was a player in 1998. This time they rode their Pac-12 player of the year and 13 3-pointers to the school’s biggest victory yet. McDonald was 6-of-12 shooting from long range.</p>
<p>She did it on both ends of the court. The Pac-12’s defensive player of the year shut down Aggies guard Jordan Nixon, whose late-game heroics had pulled Texas A&M through the first two rounds. Nixon finished with three points after scoring 35 in the second round.</p>
<p>Arizona advances to Monday’s Mercado Region final against No. 5 Indiana, which upset top-seed North Carolina State earlier Saturday night.</p>
<p>McDonald came in average 19.6 points and scored 19 by halftime in carrying Arizona to a 35-32 lead. The Wildcats (19-5) stretched the lead to 13 by the end of the third quarter as Arizona made four 3-pointers, two by McDonald, in the period. </p>
<p>Texas A&M had won its first two games by a total of six points and now had to make a desperate bid to rally in front of a small but boisterous Aggies crowd in the Alamodome, just a three-hour drive from campus.</p>
<p>The Aggies cut the lead to 59-48 on Ciera Johnson’s layup to start the fourth. But three straight Texas A&M turnovers and consecutive 3-pointers from Sam Thomas and Cate Reese had the Wildcats in total control with 4:41 to play.</p>
<p>Aaliyah Wilson scored 17 points to lead Texas A&M (25-3).</p>
<p>STAT LINE</p>
<p> Texas A&M was just 2-of-8 shooting on 3-pointers and committed 19 turnovers that Arizona turned into 28 points.</p>
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<p>More AP women’s basketball: <a href="https://apnews.com/Womenscollegebasketball">https://apnews.com/Womenscollegebasketball</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/AP_Top25">https://twitter.com/AP_Top25</a> </p>
