Arizona
Arizona women’s basketball dominated by UCLA in final regular season Pac-12 game
The final regular season Pac-12 women’s basketball game in McKale Center was something to write home for the visiting UCLA Bruins.
“I’m going to forget about that one really fast,” Arizona Wildcats head coach Adia Barnes said. “That was a tough game. We did not play well. All credit to UCLA. They’re really good. I wouldn’t be surprised it they’re not in the Final Four. Coach (Cori) Close has done an incredible job. She has a really deep, good team that has—I don’t think they have a lot of weaknesses.”
Arizona played lights-out before falling to USC in double overtime on Thursday night. On Saturday, they were never in it against UCLA, losing 61-41. It was the fifth straight game that the Bruins held their opponents to 55 points or less, including games against Colorado and Utah.
“If I look at the whole season, I’d say we really got killed by Stanford here, played a bad game at Oregon, and then this,” Barnes said. “These are the three worst losses of the year as far as performance.”
The Bruins controlled things on both ends of the floor from the first whistle. They kept Arizona from scoring until the 4:52 mark in the first quarter. Fifth-year senior Helena Pueyo, playing in her last regular season home game, hit the two-pointer that cut UCLA’s lead to 13-2.
It looked like Arizona had settled down. The Wildcats cut the UCLA lead to six with 1:52 to go in the opening period. That just woke up the Bruins, who pushed it back to double digits with two straight buckets.
“When they punched us we could not bounce back,” Barnes said. “They’re just really good and we played really bad. I thought we were very tight. I don’t know why we were so tight. It looked like we had the pressure to win and we had no pressure, but we played with a lot of tension.”
Barnes said she felt that fifth-year senior Esmery Martinez was especially tight. Martinez was obviously emotional, even after the game.
“I don’t think it was a physical,” Barnes said. “I think it was a mental stress and tightness and emotions…I kind of knew Esmery would probably play like this because the last week, she’s been down. So it was just…a struggle.”
Early in the season, UCLA was a dominant team. The Bruins opened the season with 14 straight wins against a strong schedule. Then things got difficult in the early part of conference play.
The Bruins had some tough opponents. Lauren Betts was away from the team for a while. Izzy Anstey retired from basketball. Anglea Dugalic and Lina Sonstag went to play with their national teams in Olympic qualifying. And the Bruins looked out of sorts.
They lost four games between Jan. 14 and Feb. 4.
Betts returned on Feb. 9 for the first matchup between Arizona and UCLA. The Bruins won by eight in Pauley Pavilion. They’ve only lost to No. 11 Oregon State since, going on a 7-1 run, and are once again looking like the class of the Pac-12 and a possible Final Four team.
It was a rough way for Arizona to end the regular season and send three seniors out. The team honored Pueyo, Martinez, and Isis Beh before the game.
With just seconds to go and their team destined to lose, most of the 7,845 fans were still in attendance. They stood and chanted, “U-of-A! U-of-A!” They were still there after the final buzzer when Barnes addressed them.
“You guys never give up on us,” Barnes said to the crowd. “We were getting our ass kicked tonight. You guys didn’t walk out…You always stay till the end and supported us through losses.”
The seniors expressed similar feelings about their teammates, coaches, and community after the game.
“For me, I couldn’t have picked a better place to finish my career,” Beh said. “I really love the fans here, my coaches, and my teammates.”
For Martinez, it was almost too much to talk about. She sat staring at the ground, barely able to speak before the tears started.
“I’m really sad now,” Martinez said. “Arizona really took me and made me feel okay, I was home. I’m not from here. They made me feel like I was welcome here. And the players are family—like Helena, she’s my sister.”
Pueyo led the Wildcats with 16 points. She added 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, and 6 steals. After playing 50 minutes against USC, Barnes was able to “limit” her to 36 on Saturday. She wasn’t thinking about any of that after the game.
In a very rare occurrence, freshman Breya Cunningham was not saddled with foul trouble. The post player was on the floor for a few seconds shy of 30 minutes. She has only hit the 30-minute mark once this season, going 33 minutes against Oregon State in a double-overtime game on Jan. 12.
Pueyo wasn’t thinking about anyone’s stats after the game. Instead, it was her five-year journey and the fans standing to cheer her as she checked out for the last time.
“For me, it means everything,” Pueyo said. “Five years here. It’s been my house for five years, my family. I love Adia. I love Salvo (Coppa). They came all the way to Spain to try to get me here. It’s a really special place. I love it. I know it’s sad because it wasn’t our best basketball, but it was just my emotions…I love this program. I love the fans and this has been a pleasure for me.”
Arizona next plays in Las Vegas in its final Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament. The Wildcats are the No. 7 seed and will face No. 10 seed Washington at 7 p.m. MST on Wednesday, Mar. 6. The team will hold a meet and greet for the fans on Tuesday, Mar. 5 in Vegas.
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President Donald Trump endorsed not one but two Republicans in a highly watched Arizona congressional primary, boosting a new candidate after his first pick met resistance from some in the GOP.
In a Jan. 6 social media post, Trump said he was backing Jay Feely, a former Cardinals kicker and sports commentator who recently switched his campaign into Arizona’s Scottsdale-area 1st Congressional District, in addition to Gina Swoboda, the state GOP chair whose candidacy has divided Republicans despite her securing Trump’s support in October.
The president praised both Feely and Swoboda as “Highly Respected America First Patriots.”
“JAY OR GINA WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!” he wrote on Truth Social, the social media platform he owns.
The announcement is a blow to Swoboda, a polarizing figure among Arizona Republicans. Her longtime rivalry with Turning Point, the network of conservative advocacy groups founded by the late activist Charlie Kirk, has shadowed her candidacy, prompting attacks and infighting among Arizona Republicans.
The president’s team had not publicly confirmed his endorsement of Swoboda before the Jan. 6 social media post.
In an interview with The Arizona Republic, Feely said he thought the endorsement came back to his “friendship” and shared values with the president.
“I love what he’s doing. I believe in what he’s doing. I’m committed to the same principles that he and his administration have,” Feely said.
“We wish Gilbert resident Jay Feely well in his latest campaign for Congress, but nothing has changed,” Swoboda campaign consultant Chris Baker shot back in a written statement to The Republic. “Gina Swoboda will be the Republican nominee in AZ01.”
The endorsement will also set back two other high-profile GOP candidates in the race, the ultra-conservative state Rep. Joseph Chaplik and businessman John Trobough, who both told The Republic they, too, had been in touch with the White House.
Though Trump’s endorsement will be a boon in the Republican primary, it could become a liability in the general election. The district, which includes wealthy pockets of Paradise Valley, Scottsdale, and north Phoenix, has a hot-and-cold relationship with the president.
National GOP leaders encouraged him to run in Scottsdale, Feely says
Feely initially launched his campaign in Arizona’s 5th Congressional District, which includes much of Chandler, Queen Creek and Gilbert, where he lives with his family. He billed himself as a home-grown candidate with a “heart to serve,” and a MAGA devotee who has a personal relationship with Trump.
His prospects in that district dimmed after the president endorsed one of his opponents, Mark Lamb, the well-known former sheriff of Pinal County. Early polling showed Lamb with a large advantage in the race.
But Trump took a liking to Feely, encouraging the former football player in a November social media post to “run in a different district, or for a different office.”
Feely followed the president’s advice. He switched his campaign into the Scottsdale district on Dec. 19. Trump’s endorsement followed about two weeks later.
In an interview Feely said national Republican leaders in D.C., and “grassroots leadership” in the Valley, encouraged him to pivot to the Scottsdale seat. He said he spoke several times with House Speaker Mike Johnson on the matter.
“I wanted to do what was best for the team,” he told The Arizona Republic.
“If they wanted me to run in CD1, and they felt like I was the best candidate, and the one that could hold that seat, then I was willing to do that.”
It’s rare but not unheard of for the president to endorse multiple candidates in a single race.
Last year Trump endorsed two congressional hopefuls in a West Valley-area Republican primary, including the eventual winner, U.S. Rep. Abe Hamadeh.
And in Missouri’s 2022 U.S. Senate race, Trump left election-watchers scratching their heads when he endorsed “Eric,” a first name shared by the race’s two front-runners. Both campaigns claimed the endorsement as their own.
For years the Scottsdale-area district has been considered one of the most competitive races in the country. Its incumbent, U.S. Rep. David Schweikert, announced last year he would not seek re-election in 2026, winding down his 15-year tenure on Capitol Hill and setting up a bitter contest for the rare open congressional seat.
Across the aisle, about half a dozen high-profile Democrats are fighting for their party’s nomination.
The candidates have already raised millions of dollars between them, with campaign spending only expected to escalate leading up to the Aug. 4, 2026 primaries. The Nov. 3, 2026, general election will bring millions more expensive television advertisements, mailers, and social media ads to the district, much of it financed by national Republican and Democratic groups wrestling for control over the U.S. House.
Feely has raised more than $1 million, about a third of which he has loaned himself, according to a report filed this fall. His personal financial disclosure shows he is worth at least $15 million, giving him a piggy bank that could help finance a campaign.
Swoboda has raised “quite a bit” of money, said campaign consultant Chris Baker, though her fundraising receipts aren’t yet public.
Rivals slam Feely’s out-of-district residence
Feely’s rivals have slammed him for running in a district where he doesn’t live.
“If Jay Feely wants to travel 50 minutes every day to run in Arizona’s 1st Ccongressional District, where he’s never lived, we will pay for his Uber,” Alfredo Rodriguez, a strategist with the Trobough campaign, wrote in a news release. “Tell him to send us the bill.”
“If Gilbert carpetbagger Jay Feely foolishly thinks he can win in AZ01, then more power to him I guess. But the outcome won’t change – Gina Swoboda will win the Republican primary,” Baker wrote in a statement to The Republic.
Feely said in an interview he has connections to the Scottsdale district, even though he doesn’t actually live there. The district is “about economics” and “represents the entrepreneurial spirit,” he said.
“I’ve invested in companies in this district. My friends and family live in this district. And I want to be an asset to all of them,” Feely said.
Arizona remains one of the fastest-growing states in the country, but new migration data suggests that growth is starting to level out.
According to the latest numbers from U-Haul, Arizona ranked number seven nationwide for growth in 2025. While that is down one spot from the year before, it marks the sixth consecutive year the state has remained in the top ten.
The rankings are based on more than 2.5 million one-way moving transactions for the Arizona-based company.
What stands out in the data is how close those numbers are.
In 2025, 50.3% of U-Haul’s one-way moves came into Arizona, while 49.7% moved out. In practical terms, that means for nearly every family moving into the state, there is another one packing up and leaving.
That does not mean Arizona is losing population. However, it does suggest the margin of growth is getting thinner than it has been in recent years.
Even with that shift, the greater Phoenix metro area continues to be a major driver of growth. Phoenix ranked fifth nationwide among U.S. metro areas, fueled by job creation and new housing across the Valley.
U-Haul leaders point to continued development tied to major employers, including chip manufacturing and data centers, as well as ongoing residential construction, as reasons Phoenix remains a top destination.
Experts who study migration trends say when in-migration and out-migration numbers get this close, it can be a sign that affordability pressures are starting to play a role, especially when it comes to housing.
The latest data does not point to a mass exodus, but it does show Arizona entering a period of transition, balancing opportunity and growth with affordability concerns.
The 2026 Arizona Legacy Races in Buckeye, Ariz., are ringing in a new year for futurity horses December 30 – January 6, at the Buckeye Equestrian & Events Center. Formerly known as the MVP Futurity and Greg Olson Futurity, these two races have been a staple in many professional trainers’ schedules for decades. This year, the two events boast $22,000 in added money.
Futurity
Linzie Lindsey and Fame Dancin Yola claimed the Round 1 win with a 17.577 for $1,959. Barbara Merrill rode TKW Eye Am Tess to the 2D win.
After finishing out of the 1D money in Round 1, Loralee Ward and Dark Honey ran the fastest time of the futurity with a 17.030 to claim the Round 2 win. The duo also earned the Futurity Reserve Championship for $1,652.
Lindsey and Fame Dancin Yola finished second in Round 2 with a 17.164, adding $1,603 to their futurity earnings and claiming the Futurity Championship for another $2,019.
Jenna Duhon and PMC AintSheBeautiful earned the Round 2 2D win. In the 2D Average, it was Estella Martin and Quanahs Kingdom claiming the win.
Derby
Round 1 of a very tough Derby went to Jana Bean and Feature This Goodbye with a 17.268. 2025 futurity standout Blissful Version and Lora Nichols finished second in Round 1 with a 17.282, won Round 2 with a 17.032, and claimed the Average win.
“Buddy” and Nichols were in contention for the highest money-earning futurity horse of the previous season, before the cancellation of the last two major events of the season due to EHV-1. By $7 million sire Winners Version, Buddy banked over $300,000 in his futurity year.
Big Paydays
Megan McLeod-Sprague and Seis Corona (“Jagger”) were hot off the 2025 National Finals Rodeo. The duo won the Roohide Hot Rod with a 17.004 for $1,368. They also earned the Friday Open 1D win for $1,083.
With the first 16-second run of the weekend, Sherry Cervi and MP Meter My Fame won the Saturday Open 1D with a 16.969.
Rita Cheeney and HP Dash Ta Fairfax ran the only other sub-17-second run of the weekend, with a 16.996 that took the top spot in Sunday’s Open 1D.
Nichols and Buddy doubled down on their derby earnings, placing deep in the Open 1D both days, as well as the Roohide Hot Rod, and Big Time Boss.
Youth competitor Tabitha Dyal also had an outstanding weekend, earning Open 1D money Friday, Saturday, and Sunday aboard Slym Shady. She swept the Youth 1D on Slym Shady and earned Open 1D, Open 2D, and Youth 1D checks on Promise Me Fame Guys and Smooth Operraider. Dyal wrapped up her weekend with several checks in the Big Time Boss.
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