The last time Arizona women’s basketball played three overtimes was the 2018-19 season. Aari McDonald was in her first year as a Wildcat. The team won the WNIT, but it couldn’t defeat UCLA that day.
Things were different on Sunday against Washington. Helena Pueyo played all 55 minutes—the most by a Pac-12 player in a single game since at least 1999-2000—and the Wildcats survived for a 90-82 victory over the Huskies.
“These last two games we came out playing some of our best basketball in the first like five, seven minutes,” said Arizona head coach Adia Barnes. “And then the second quarter happens. Now, it’s not the third quarter, it’s the second quarter if you notice. But just found ways to get stops and show up big and make plays. So, I’m just proud of us right now. I’m proud of our team.”
It was a tough ask for UW, too. The Huskies lost to ASU on Friday in double overtime.
Pueyo tied her career high with 22 points, but it was Isis Beh who did most of the offensive damage. The senior post exploded past her previous Division I career high of 13 points set last year at West Virginia. It was her second straight game in double figures after finishing with 11 against Washington State.
Beh had already passed that 13-point threshold long before the first extra period. She ended with 29 points on 10-for-11 shooting, including going 2 for 2 from the 3-point line and 7 for 10 from the free-throw line. Her field goal percentage of 90.9 percent tied the second-best mark in Arizona program history.
Beh also had five rebounds—four of those on the offensive end—and three assists.
“I feel like after Friday’s game, I just have more confidence,” Beh said. “And I’ve been talking to the coaches, and they’ve been giving me more confidence. All season, my teammates have built the confidence, but now like I’m starting to have confidence within myself.”
A big reason for Beh’s contributions was the ability to avoid fouls and stay on the floor, something that has been a challenge in her first season in the Pac-12.
“Someone’s driving past me, I’ll just let them have it and I trust my teammates will be a help instead of trying to get back in front myself,” Beh said. “So I feel like that’s what helped me. And I haven’t been trying to block shots because I’m not a leaper. So I’ve just stopped trying to block shots.”
Pueyo was close to a double-double, grabbing eight rebounds to go with her 22 points. She added four assists, two steals, and two blocks. She had just one turnover in her 55-minute effort.
The aggressiveness of the two veterans isn’t always part of their games. The lifting partners have been trying to help each other get over that.
“We always tell each other like, ‘You need to shoot,’” Beh said. “We tell each other all the time, like, ‘Stop passing the ball,’ because both of us try to pass too much. So we were trying to score the ball.”
The freshman trio of Jada Williams (11 points), Skylar Jones (10 points), and Breya Cunningham (10 points) also had double-digit efforts on the offensive end. Williams led the team with five assists and added four rebounds and two steals. Jones ended with three rebounds and four assists. Cunningham had seven rebounds, tying Esmery Martinez for second on the team.
Martinez sat out of Friday’s game against Washington State, and Barnes said that she probably should not have played against Washington. While she went 1 for 8 from the field and had five turnovers, Martinez grabbed three of her seven rebounds on the offensive end of the floor, had four assists, and stole the ball twice.
The Wildcats came out hot. They shot 47.1 percent from the floor and went 3 for 5 from the 3-point line in the opening quarter. They scored the first 14 points of the game, keeping UW off the board until the 3:32 mark.
The Huskies struggled even when they were open. They hit just 3 of 13 shots in the first 10 ten minutes. Even when Arizona didn’t close out on 3-point shooters, UW could not hit the shots, going 0 for 4 from outside.
The result was a 21-7 lead for Arizona after the first period. It didn’t last long, though.
UW found its way in the second quarter. Shots started falling to the turn of 10 for 12 in the period. Arizona was still hitting shots—connecting on 77.8 percent of its second-quarter shots—but wasn’t getting as many shots off as its opponent.
The Huskies outscored the Wildcats 24-17 in the second quarter to make it a 38-31 game going into the locker room.
“I feel like we started really aggressive and we kind of hit a point in the game [when] all of us was tired at the same time,” Beh said. “I felt like after halftime we talked about it and we were just, no matter how tired we are, we need to still do what we need to do.”
Washington kept that momentum going in the second half, while Arizona started to fall off a bit. The Huskies shot over 50 percent in both quarters after halftime. The Wildcats shot 30 percent or lower both quarters.
UW took its first lead of the game with just over a minute left in the third quarter. They held it for most of the remaining time in regulation. Arizona’s last lead in regulation came with 5:10 left on the clock.
The Wildcats kept the Huskies within reach. With 1:05 left in regulation and UW leading by two, Williams stepped to the free throw line and calmly sank two to tie the game at 60.
In Arizona’s loss to UW in Seattle, the game was tied with seconds on the clock. The Wildcats had three fouls to give, but they didn’t give them. Instead, they allowed the Huskies to go the length of the court and score the winning basket.
Barnes didn’t bring up that last defensive possession, but she did impress on her team that they had three fouls to give and they needed to give them.
“I didn’t bring it up because I don’t want them to think about that,” Barnes said. “I brought up this is an opportunity. This is the situation. I repeated myself like eight times. But this is a situation. This is how many fouls we have to give.”
This time, they had 14 seconds on the clock. They gave those three fouls, but they still almost had their hearts broken.
Lauren Schwartz, who scored the winning bucket at Hec Ed, dribbled towards the basket. She let the ball go. It went in, but was it in time?
The officials looked at the monitor and waved it off. It was going to overtime tied at 60.
“I felt it counted the first time, but then I was like, ‘I don’t know. It was hard to say,’” Pueyo said. “I think it was a tough call, but when they said no I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s go.’”
UW led by as many as five in the first extra period, but Arizona kept reeling it back in. With seven seconds to go, Pueyo hit a 3-point shot to tie it at 69. The teams were on to a second overtime.
“That was crazy,” Pueyo said. “I mean, I don’t think it was even for me. I think we were looking for a two, but I got the ball back and I was like, ‘Okay, I’m just gonna shoot it.’”
Arizona took its first lead since halfway through the fourth quarter to start the scoring in the second OT. Neither team led by more than two points, with Arizona taking the final two-point lead on a bucket from Pueyo with 16 seconds to go. Schwartz countered on the other end with two made free throws to send it to the third extra period.
The final five minutes of overtime started with Schwartz putting the Huskies up by three, but Arizona controlled the period after that.
Beh responded with a layup. That was followed by her third 3-pointer of the season and second of the game, giving Arizona a lead that it never relinquished.
“This was a must-win game for us,” Barnes said.
https://pixabay.com/photos/death-valley-valley-of-death-277020/
Over the upcoming days, all-time record high temperatures will be challenged across portions of the West. Daytime highs from Washington to Arizona can range upwards of 100 Fahrenheit, with some desert Southwest locations soaring above 115 daily.
On Friday, the heat record for the day was set in Death Valley. The mercury climbed to 127 Fahrenheit with the old mark of 122 last tied in 2013. The area hit 130 in July 2021 with the disputed record 134 in July 1913.
Also there a record high for the date of 118 in Needles, Calif., where the National Weather Service has records dating to 1888. The high of 122 edged the old mark of 121 in 2007.
And it was 124 in Palm Springs.
Around 130 million people were under threat Saturday and into next week.
Pacific Northwest, the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast could reach 100 degrees , said Jacob Asherman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. And the humidity will be high.
Factors such as a recent lack of rainfall, low relative humidity levels and stifling temperatures will create an elevated wildfire threat.The harsh conditions can dramatically raise the risk for heat-related illnesses, such as heat stroke and heat exhaustion.
An expansive heat wave is projected to continue across the Western states through at least early week, AccuWeather meteorologists say. The pattern of intense and elevated temperatures plaguing the region is largely due to an amplified ridge in the jet stream anchoring high pressure over it with a consistent flow of warmth from the south.
“The large and expansive heat dome across the western United States will bring record heat from the deserts of Southern California stretching northward all the way into the Pacific Northwest,” explained AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski.
Daytime highs will soar above 100 degrees Fahrenheit across portions of Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Oregon, Washington and even Idaho.
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Pydynowski highlighted that cities such as Seattle will challenge their daily records Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. The heat can be particularly dangerous in some cities west of the Cascades in western Washington, such as Seattle, Olympia and Port Angeles, where many people and homes do not have air conditioning.
Across the central valleys of California and the desert and basin regions of the Southwest, highs persisting above 110 and even 115 will be conceivable over the upcoming days.
“The all-time record of 117 in Las Vegas could be broken Sunday, and daily records in Vegas could be challenged or broken nearly every day from today through at least next Thursday,” noted Pydynowski.
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Copious amounts of sunshine will continue to expand across the West through at least midweek, providing little relief for residents in terms of any shade gleaming from cloud cover. In the heart of the Southwest, locations like Las Vegas and Phoenix are forecast to have max ultraviolet (UV) index levels categorized as extreme for much of this week, ranging between 11 and 12.
At UV levels such as these, protection against sun damage is necessary for anyone outdoors during the midday hours. Items such as sunscreen, a hat, and loose-fitting and light-colored clothing are recommended in these situations.
Excessive heat warnings have been issued across the West, with many warnings lasting through at least midweek. The record-challenging heat will continue to pose a risk for anyone working outdoors, particularly during the prime heating hours of the daytime from mid-morning through the afternoon.
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Forecasters say that a slight nudge in the pattern early this week will result in some cooling along the West coast, while locations farther inland will continue to bake in the heat.
“Some relief is in sight for early next week as the heat dome shifts eastward, promoting a dip in temperatures along the Pacific coast. Temperatures in cities near the Pacific coast, including San Francisco and Oakland, California, are expected to dip to near historical averages for July,” explained AccuWeather Meteorologist Elizabeth Danco.
Danco added that as the core of the heat dome shifts eastward into the Great Basin this week, dry conditions will again be coupled with all-time record highs from interior California into parts of southern Nevada and western Arizona.
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There are currently 41 active fires across Oregon and 20 active fires in California. Forecasters warn that the ongoing heat wave and drier pattern will not improve wildfire conditions across the West.
“The heat combined with dry brush and low relative humidity across the region will continue to promote the risk for wildfires to start and spread. Individuals are urged to exercise caution when using open flames and to adhere to any bans that may be in effect,” highlighted Danco.
Although surface winds will generally be light across the majority of the West over the upcoming days, isolated gusts up to 30-40 mph may occur from areas spanning from southern Idaho to eastern Nevada, Utah and northern Arizona, which can cause any active fires to readily spread and pose challenges for firefighting crews.
Heat-related deaths in hottest major US city have almost doubled compared with the same period last year, after Phoenix experienced its hottest ever June on record.
The number of possible heat deaths reported by the Maricopa county medical examiner was 175 as of 29 June – a staggering 84% increase over the same period last year.
That current total comprises 162 suspected deaths under investigation and 13 confirmed heat deaths.
The death toll from extreme heat has been rising every year in Maricopa county, where Phoenix, the Arizona state capital and America’s fifth largest city, is located.
Deaths are concentrated in Phoenix despite city and statewide efforts to tackle the rise in heat mortality and morbidity.
Last year, Phoenix suffered a month of consecutive days over 110F (43C) and a record 645 heat deaths in the county – a 700% rise over the past decade. But the unprecedented July heatwave followed a cooler-than-normal June, which could partly explain the surge in early season heat-related deaths recorded so far this year.
The average temperature – a measure which takes into account the daily highs and lows – made June 2024 the hottest ever recorded in the city. This was driven in large part by multiple record warm lows or night-time temperatures towards the end of the month, when moisture from a tropical system sat over the region, trapping the daytime heat and limiting cooling.
The night-time low on 27 June was 95F – which broke the record for the warmest overnight June low, which was 93F and set in 1990. The hotter nights are particularly alarming for public health experts because heat is cumulative, and the body cannot start to properly recover until the temperature drops below 80F.
Dangerously hot temperatures are forecast for Maricopa county and the entire south-west United States, with a heat dome – a strong area of high pressure and warm air – expected to linger until the middle of next week, according to the National Weather Service (NWS) in a post on X.
With no rain forecast, temperatures could top 115F in Phoenix over the next few days, with records likely to be broken in parts of California and Las Vegas, according to Gabriel Lojero, a meteorologist at the NWS Phoenix.
“The heat is going to be very severe across the majority of the south-west with an excessive heat warning in place for most of the region. The heatwave will be especially severe over the July 4 weekend when more people are doing outdoor activities,” said Lojero.
Heat deaths are rising across the US – and globally – with official counts likely to be a significant underestimate as many medical examiners have yet to develop processes that match Maricopa county’s.
So far this year, heat has also killed at least two people in Idaho and at least five in Kansas City, according to reports from local health officials.
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Investigating suspected heat deaths takes time.
Of the 13 confirmed heat deaths in Maricopa county so far this year, 46% of the people were Black, Latino or Indigenous American; 69% were men and 31% were women. At least two deaths took place indoors. In one case, the deceased’s air conditioning was turned off, in the other case it was not functioning, according to preliminary investigations.
Paramedics have responded to 424 heat-related emergency calls so far this year, according to the Phoenix fire department.
It’s not clear what impact the city’s decision to evict a large homeless encampment from downtown – where many services are located – will have on heat deaths, as 45% of last year’s fatalities involved unsheltered people. So far this year, 31% of the confirmed deaths involved unhoused people. It’s unclear whether some unhoused people have left due to Phoenix’s increasingly draconian crackdown on homelessness.
In May, advocates condemned Phoenix for effectively criminalizing homelessness after the Democrat-run city council voted unanimously to ban people from sleeping, cooking or camping at city buildings, parks and parking lots, and also within 500ft of schools, daycare centers, shelters and parks.
The tent ban can now be enforced after the US supreme court last week ruled that it was not unconstitutional for cities to arrest and fine people for sleeping in public spaces, even when no shelter space exists. Phoenix “will continue to offer shelter and services when possible, and will ask for compliance before resorting to an arrest”, according to the city attorney Julie Kriegh.
The region is accustomed to a hot desert climate, but daytime and night temperatures are rising due to global heating. The deadly consequences have been exacerbated by decades of unchecked urban development that created a sprawling heat island, which the city is trying to tackle with a variety of programs.
Both Arizona and San Diego came into this game riding highs. For Arizona, they’d essentially swept the Dodgers (minus a bad pitch or two from Seawald – his first problematic showing all season!). San Diego meanwhile was riding the high of taking 2 out of 3 from the reigning World Champion Texas Rangers!
Carroll led the game off with a double. He scored when JOC HOMERED TO DEAD CENTER (AZ 2-0)! Gurriel also doubled but nothing else fun happened. Cecconi matched the offense’s vibe and shut down the Padres in the first! Sadly the offense couldn’t replicate in the second, going down in order. Cecconi was less sharp in the second, allowing a run on some small ball: Machado doubled and advanced to home on the next two outs (AZ 2-1). Vasquez again retired the side in the third. Thankfully Cecconi matched him.
Gabi and Suarez made some noise in the fourth, but Alek ended the fun with a groundout to third (but it wasn’t second, so progress?)… It came back to haunt the team though as Cecconi struggled the second time through the order. Jackson Merrill tripled two runs home (SD 3-2) and then scored himself when David Peralta doubled (SD 4-2). Cecconi struck Kim out, but Higashioka singled Peralta home (SD 5-2). After an infield single to Arraez, Cecconi ended the inning. Despite a Perdomo single, Carroll grounded into a double play and Marte ended the inning with his own groundout. Cecconi got the first two outs of the fifth on his own double play, but Suarez erred on a grounder, which ended Slade’s night in favor of Jacques. Thankfully he quickly ended the inning. The sixth was not fun for Arizona. HIGASHIOKA HOMERED IN THE BOTTOM HALF WITH A RUNNER ON (SD 7-2)! The bleeding stopped there.
The top of the seventh was another nothing showing for the Arizona bats. Castellanos kept San Diego from scoring. Newman hit for Pederson in the eighth, but San Diego countered with a pitching change and Newman struck out. Castellanos stayed on the mound for Arizona and handled the eighth without issue. The offense looked alive in the ninth as Gurriel and Moreno singled before McCarthy (hitting for Suarez) walked. ALEK THOMAS HIT A GRAND SLAM OFF NEW PITCHER SUAREZ (SD 7-6)! Perdomo then had a nice grounder that Arraez made a nice play on. But Carroll earned himself a hustle double so that Ketel Grichuk could bat. HE HIT A TWO RUN HOME RUN (AZ 8-7)! Newman kept the hit parade going, which also ended Suarez’s (SD Closer) night. Walker struck out to end the fun.
The defense for the bottom of the ninth was as intriguing as the choice to remove Marte with Herrera catching, Moreno to Third, Newman at second, McCarthy in right and Seawald on the mound. It did not go well. Seawald immediately gave up a GAME-TYING HOME RUN TO PROFAR (TIE 8-8). He proceeded to walk the next batter which set MACHADO UP TO WALK THE GAME OFF (SD 10-8)!
As with many Cecconi starts, this game started well enough. He looked great the first time through the order. Then it rolled over. From there, it was all down hill on the pitching side. The bullpen wasn’t horrid. The offense had a first inning. Then they went home until the ninth where they loaded the based and forced San Diego to use their closer in a 7-2 ballgame. They had a PHENOMENAL showing, taking the lead back.
Grichuk got to be the big hero tonight, however it comes with some trepidation about Marte who looked both fine and a little worried in the dugout after being pinch hit for.
Matt Waldron welcomes Brandon Pfaadt to Petco Park for the second game of the series. First pitch is at 6:40pm Arizona Time.
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