Arizona
Close but no cigar for Arizona women’s basketball in double OT loss to USC
It couldn’t have been a worse way to end their final season in the Pac-12. The Arizona Wildcats had to play six of their final games against Top 10 teams. Three of those would be on the road. With everything they’ve experienced this season, it was just adding insult to injury.
Arizona has turned that insult and injury on its head down the stretch. It almost did again, but No. 7 USC was just a little too much in a 95-93 double-overtime victory over Arizona.
“We battled a really good team—No. 7 team in the country—took them into overtime and had chances to win,” said Arizona head coach Adia Barnes. “I’m not upset at all. Obviously, I’m disappointed in the loss, but our kids played their hearts out. We basically played six players. I mean, they played the whole entire game…We made some mistakes. Our bigs fouled out. It really hurt us in rebounding. The difference in the game was rebounding and the fouls. So I can’t fault us. They played hard and we had a chance to win…so I’m proud of our players and we have to have selective amnesia.”
In the last game between the two teams, Arizona kept it close through the first 20 minutes, going into halftime trailing by just five points. USC ran away with the third quarter before coming back to earth in the fourth. That third quarter was all it took.
This wasn’t a repeat of that game, but it ended with the same result.
Again, it was close through the first half. This time, Arizona went into the half with a slight edge—and it solved its third-quarter issues from the last meeting. The Wildcats extended their two-point lead out of the locker room to a 53-46 advantage after 30 minutes.
The nearly 7,600 fans in McKale Center were rocking, only getting louder as Arizona stretched its lead to 10 several times in the fourth quarter. Then, star freshman JuJu Watkins fouled out with 1:41 to go in the game. It looked like a foregone conclusion. Arizona would win its second game against a Top 10 team in less than a week.
USC had different ideas.
Kayla Padilla stepped up for USC again, this time aided by Kaitlyn Davis. After Watkins fouled out, Davis made two layups and a jumper to pull USC within three points. Padilla tied the game.
As was the case at Oregon State in their last double-overtime loss, all Arizona needed was one rebound.
Esmery Martinez put the Wildcats up by five with two free throws. There was just 29 seconds to go.
At the other end, USC missed a 3-pointer but grabbed the offensive board. Davis got the second-chance bucket and the whistle. She missed her and-1 but grabbed her own offensive board. Padilla missed the first 3-point attempt. Davis grabbed the offensive board again. The next 3-pointer didn’t miss. It was all even with seven seconds to go.
“What I talked about with the staff was it was the exact situation as Oregon State that lost the game,” Barnes said. “Offensive rebound, and then that led to the 3s because when you give good teams…two, three chances, they’re going to hit one eventually.”
Pueyo had one go off the back of the rim at the end of regulation. It would take at least five more minutes to decide this one.
In the second overtime, USC led by three points with just over a minute to go. Williams tied it with 20 seconds to go. Neither team could push ahead over those final 20, so it was on to the second overtime.
Arizona led by as many as two in the final overtime, but USC had the advantage most of the time. Courtney Blakely made two free throws to cut the lead to three with 54 seconds to go.
With just five seconds left in the third overtime, USC opted to foul Arizona to keep the Wildcats from tying it with a 3-pointer. Pueyo hit both of her free throws, but USC was still up by one.
The Wildcats put Rayah Marshall on the line with the one-point lead. She made just one of her two free throws, giving USC a two-point lead. With no timeouts left, Arizona had to go the length of the court with four seconds to go.
Jada Williams made it up the court and let the ball go. It bounced off the back of the rim. Heartbreaker.
Fouls were once again Arizona’s Achilles heel. Breya Cunningham picked up two early in the first quarter and fouled out 10 seconds into the first overtime period. She was extremely effective when she was on the floor, going 4 for 4 with 3 rebounds and 2 blocks, but was restricted to about 15 minutes of play due to fouls.
Martinez also played sparingly compared to some of her teammates. Part of that was related to fouls, but part was due to being elbowed in the face for the second straight game.
“Playing 50 minutes is hard,” Barnes said of the task assigned to Helena Pueyo and Skylar Jones. “And then I’m asking her to score, too. I’m asking them to guard good players…That’s not easy. I mean, they’re mentally tough and we’re in great shape, but it’s hard. You’re gonna take plays off. You’re gonna mentally miss some box sets…I think it’s just hard to sustain it with our style for 50 minutes.”
Pueyo didn’t look any different than she usually does despite the huge task she’d just completed. Jones sat at the podium giggling and talking about how the things she was doing were going to help her in the future, seeming unbothered by almost 50 minutes of tough basketball and cycling through the different positions she has to play when the bigs get into foul trouble.
“In the long run, it’s gonna make me better,” Jones said. “It’s gonna make me more versatile like Helena when I get older, so I feel like it’s hard right now, and I don’t want to do it right now, but I’m gonna do it…In practice, they’re teaching me how to front, you know get in front and use my body and things like that. So I think it’s just gonna help me be a better player overall as we progress.”
Despite the loss, Barnes felt that the game proved once again how much the team has improved since early in the season—and how much it would continue to improve.
“I think we know that we can play with anybody in the country,” she said. “I think we know we’re gonna win some more games and I think we all feel really good about that…I don’t think we’re afraid of anybody. I know that we could have boxed out a little bit better, but they’re also a really good rebounding team, but that’s that’s a mental focus and adjustment that you can adjust to that. I think it’s hard to adjust to not moving the ball or playing selfish, but we’re playing unselfishish and there’s a lot of plays that we scored. We had beautiful plays to our posts, so many plays where everybody touches the ball and got reversed twice and the layup. So we’re playing good basketball right now…Two less mental mistakes or one less mental mistake, and we win the game.”
Pueyo led the team with 21 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks, and 3 steals. Jones was just behind her with 19 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals.
Arizona also got double-digit scoring from Isis Beh with 16 points, Williams with 14, and Courtney Blakely with 11.
The team faces UCLA on senior day Saturday, Mar. 2 at 6 p.m. MST.
Arizona
NAU launches first-of-its-kind engineering degree to fast-track Arizona’s future workforce – The NAU Review
As Arizona’s semiconductor and advanced manufacturing industries continue to grow at a rapid pace, Northern Arizona University’s Steve Sanghi College of Engineering is launching a new degree program designed to help meet the state’s workforce needs.
Beginning this fall, NAU will offer a Bachelor of Professional Studies in Engineering Technology, a flexible, workforce-focused degree pathway that prepares students for careers in microelectronics, semiconductors and advanced manufacturing in as little as three years. The 90-credit bachelor’s degree creates a more accessible pathway into engineering careers through a hands-on, applied curriculum and a streamlined transfer model with Arizona community colleges.
The program follows a 45-45 completion structure, allowing students to complete 45 credits at a community college and 45 credits through NAU. Courses will be delivered through synchronous remote instruction at NAU’s North Valley campus in Phoenix and at Pima Community College in Tucson, increasing access for statewide students.
Addressing Arizona’s growing semiconductor workforce
Designed with workforce readiness in mind, the program emphasizes practical engineering application, systems implementation, testing, quality control, systems analysis, manufacturing, fabrication, process control and project management. Students will gain technical and problem-solving skills aligned with the needs of Arizona’s rapidly evolving manufacturing economy.
“This new bachelor’s degree empowers students to identify real-world engineering challenges and develop practical solutions,” said James Palmer, associate dean for academic affairs at the Steve Sanghi College of Engineering. “We are creating a more accessible pathway into engineering careers while preparing graduates to support Arizona’s growing microelectronics and semiconductor industry.”
Arizona has emerged as one of the nation’s fastest-growing semiconductor hubs, with more than $200 billion in semiconductor-related investments announced in the Greater Phoenix region since 2020, including expansions from Intel, TSMC and Amkor Technology. TSMC alone has committed up to $165 billion toward Arizona operations, including multiple fabrication plants and advanced packaging facilities expected to create thousands of technical and manufacturing jobs.
Industry demand continues to grow for professionals with applied engineering and advanced manufacturing skills in areas such as process engineering, manufacturing systems, equipment operations and yield enhancement. NAU’s new degree program was developed to help students quickly enter these high-demand career fields while supporting Arizona’s long-term economic growth and domestic semiconductor manufacturing capacity.
The program also aligns with NAU’s strategic commitment to expanding access to affordable, student-centered educational opportunities that prepare graduates for meaningful careers and long-term success.
Students interested in learning more about the Bachelor of Professional Studies in Engineering Technology program should contact SCE@nau.edu.
PHOENIX (AP) — The two Republican congressmen running for Arizona governor pitched themselves at a debate Wednesday as the only candidate with broad enough voter appeal to unseat Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs amid the state’s affordability struggles.
U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, who is the GOP primary’s frontrunner and has the endorsement of President Donald Trump, portrayed himself as being able to cross party lines and having the right experience to be the state’s chief executive.
“There’s not a doubt in my mind, if you look at the polling data that you’re going to find, I am the most competitive with Katie Hobbs of anybody on this stage in any Republican in the state,” Biggs said.
U.S. Rep. David Schweikert, who has survived three tough Democratic challenges in recent years, believes his focus on government finances and his drive to bring new business to the state make him the singular Republican candidate.
“These are wonderful people, but they’ve never actually been in the great battle,” Schweikert said of Biggs and two other Republican opponents.
Businessman Scott Neely, who ran an unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in 2022, said after the debate that if Biggs wins the primary, Republicans will lose the election.
The winner of the July 21 primary will face Hobbs, who’s running unopposed in the primary.
Biggs has served five terms in the U.S. House, representing a heavily GOP district in the eastern Phoenix suburbs and serving at one time as chairman of the ultra-right U.S. House Freedom Caucus.
Before that, Biggs served in the Arizona Legislature from 2003 through 2016, including four years as president of the state Senate. He battled with then-Republican Gov. Jan Brewer on a Medicaid expansion in 2013 and pushed school choice measures and bills targeting abortion providers.
Biggs is one of Trump’s top defenders in Congress and supported Trump’s false claims the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.
Schweikert, a budget hawk known for railing against government debt, has represented an affluent district that includes parts of northeast Phoenix and Scottsdale for eight terms. He served in the Arizona House in the 1990s and as Maricopa County’s treasurer in the 2000s.
Schweikert has focused his congressional career on sounding the alarm about the federal budget deficit and the ballooning U.S. debt, often in late-night speeches to a nearly empty House chamber and bleary-eyed C-SPAN viewers. Schweikert has praised Trump’s 2017 tax cuts but has called for more spending cuts to reduce federal borrowing.
His reputation was tarnished by ethics scandals. In 2022, he received a $125,000 fine by the Federal Election Commission for misappropriating campaign funds. Two years prior, he agreed to pay a $50,000 fine and accept 11 campaign finance violations after an investigation by the U.S. House Committee on Ethics. In his last three general campaigns for Congress, Schweikert staved off challenges from Democrats. Biggs voiced support for Arizona’s recent passage of a three-year moratorium on tax incentives for new data centers – a move Hobbs also has touted. “They shouldn’t be given a break,” Biggs said, noting the large amounts of power and water that data centers use.
Schweikert bemoaned Arizona’s unfavorable affordability rankings as “pretty miserable,” but said consumer prices don’t come down magically. He vowed to aggressively recruit businesses to Arizona and push for wage growth.
Both congressmen were asked about the expired healthcare subsidies for those getting coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
“We’re going to have to deal with the reality of subsidization of everything in the economy is not going to work,” Schweikert said.
Biggs said he introduced legislation in Congress to bring down healthcare costs and also voiced support for Trump’s proposal to send money directly to Americans for health savings accounts so they can handle insurance and health costs as they see fit.
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