TUCSON, Ariz. – The Arizona Wildcats (6-21, 2-14 Pac-12) welcome the 12th-ranked Oregon State Beavers (21-6, 12-4 Pac-12) to McKale Center on Friday night at 8 p.m. MST. The game will be aired live on the Pac-12 Networks.
 
Friday, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. MST
TV: Pac-12 Networks (Cindy Brunson & Joan Bonvicini)
Radio: 1400 AM (Derrick Palmer)
Twitter: @ArizonaWBB
#MadeForIt
 
FROM THE TIP

• Arizona is looking to break a four-game losing streak on Friday night as well as an eight-game losing streak vs. the Beavers. The last time Arizona defeated Oregon State was back on Jan. 14, 2012.
   
• Freshman Sam Thomas scored a career-high 22 points against USC (2/11) while shooting 50% from the field and beyond the arc. She drained a career-high five three-pointers as well and is the third Wildcat this year to make five in one game (Kat Wright & Lucia Alonso)
   
• JaLea Bennett has taken on a huge scoring role for Arizona this year as she averages a team-high 14.3 points per game, which is 13th in the Pac-12. The senior has scored in double-figures in a career-high 20 games this season after scoring a team-high 16 on Feb. 16 against Arizona State.
   
• Lucia Alonso is shooting 48% (13-27) from three in her last five games, including a 5-6 (83%) effort against Washington (2/4), which tied the school record for 3PT pct. in one game.

Last Five vs. Oregon State
2/14/18: at Oregon State 88, Arizona 48
2/5/17: Oregon State 65, at Arizona 57
1/29/16: at Oregon State 71, Arizona 43
2/15/15: at Oregon State 73, Arizona 48
1/23/15: Oregon State 73, at Arizona 55
 
Scouting the Beavers
Oregon State swept the Los Angeles schools at home this past weekend, including a thrilling victory over highly ranked UCLA last Friday. The Beavers have now won five in a row and seven of their last eight. They are led by Marie Gulich, who averages 16.7 points, 9.1 rebounds and leads the conference with 3.2 blocks per game. Kat Tudor, who made six threes vs. Arizona last time out averages 12.7 points per game. As a team, the Beavers hold opponents to under 59 points per game.
 
Thomas Hits Her Stride
Through the first 27 games of her career, Sam Thomas has been rather impressive on the floor and was voted team captain as a freshman. All while playing a team-high 36.3 minutes per game, she averages 10.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks. After recording the first double-double of the season for any Wildcat against NAU (12/7), she became the first freshman since LaBrittney Jones (2014) to finish the game with a double-double. Her 15 rebounds against Southern Utah is the most since Jones grabbed 15 on Dec. 15, 2013 and her 49 minutes are the third-most in school history. Against Oregon (1/12), Thomas recorded her second-career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds and had her third against Washington (2/4) with 11 points and 10 rebounds. She is the first freshman since Erica Barnes (2010-11) to have three double-doubles in one season. The last freshman to have four double-doubles in one season was Ify Ibekwe (2007-08), who finished with six on the season. After scoring 11 points against Arizona State (2/18), Thomas has scored in double-figures in 10 of the 16 Pac-12 games this season and is the only player on Arizona's roster who is averaging more points per game in conference play than non-conference play.
 
Sam in the Pac-12
In the Pac-12, Thomas is third in minutes played (36.3 mpg), seventh in blocked shots (1.4 bpg), ninth in rebounding (7.3 rpg) and 12th in steals (1.5 spg). She is the top freshmen in the categories mentioned in the previous sentence and is the second leading scorer among freshmen in the Pac-12. Thomas is the only player in the Pac-12 to be in the top 12 in rebounding, blocks and steals and is the only player to average at least 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks. Additionally, Thomas is fourth in minutes per game in the country among all freshmen. Although she's known for her ability to get to the rim and finish, Thomas is shooting 42% (22-53) from downtown in conference play.
 
A Fixture in the Lineup
Through the first 27 games of her career, Thomas has played 981 minutes, which is on track to be the most minutes played by a freshman in Arizona history and is already the third-most for a freshman in school history. Also, 36.3 minutes per game would be the fifth-highest average in school history for one season.
 
Total Minutes Played (Freshmen)
1. Davellyn Whyte (2009-10) – 1049 min.
2. Sam Thomas (2017-18) – 981 min.
 
Minutes Per Game (All Players)
1. Ashley Frazier (2008-09) – 39.6 mpg
2. Brenda Pantoja (1995-96) – 37.7 mpg
3. Ashley Whisonant (2007-08) – 37.3 mpg
    Kirsten Smith (1985-86) – 37.3 mpg
5. Sam Thomas (2017-18) – 36.3 mpg
 
We See Ya JaLea
JaLea Bennett is one of the two seniors on the team (Kat Wright) that have been looked upon as a leader for the young group of Wildcats this year as they were voted team captains. Along with Destiny Graham, they are the two remaining student-athletes that played for former head coach Niya Butts. Bennett has turned up the scoring this year as she averages 14.3 points per game, which would be a huge career-high should she maintain and is currently 13th in the Pac-12. The senior has already set a new career-high in total points scored with 385 points. Her previous career-high was 187 total points in 2016-17. She has scored in double-figures 20 times this season and has led the team in scoring 15 times, which is a career-high after scoring a team-high 16 points against Arizona State (2/16). In her last five games, Bennett is shooting 90% from the free throw line (26-29). The Grand Prarie, Texas native is just the third player in the Pac-12 to average at least 14.3 points per game while playing under 29 minutes per game.
 
Buenos Dias, Lucia
It's hard to believe, but Lucia Alonso is already the third-longest tenured Wildcat on the 2017-18 roster as a sophomore. Alosno has been outstanding from beyond the arc as she is shooting a team-high 42% (43-103), which is eighth in the Pac-12. She has made at least one three-pointer in 16 of her last 20 games. Alonso is shooting 48% from three in her last five games, including a 5-6 effort against Washington (2/4) that tied the Arizona single game three-point percentage record (min. five attempts). She scored a game-high 19 points that day. The last time a Wildcat made at least five three-pointers while shooting at least 80% was Aimee Grzyb back on Nov. 22, 2003. Additionally, Alonso is fourth in minutes per game (36.2) in the Pac-12. Against Hawaii (12/17), Alonso had a terrific game with a career-high 21 points on 8-17 shooting and 3-6 from beyond the arc.
 
Marlee Gets Buckets
Freshman Marlee Kyles is Arizona's third leading scorer by averaging 8.7 points per game off the bench while playing 24.8 minutes per game, which is the sixth-fewest on the team. She started off her career with a bang as she scored 17 in the season opener against Iona (11/10), had 18 against Loyola Marymount (11/22) and had a career-high 19 against Long Beach State (11/28). After missing three games against Colorado (12/31), Stanford (1/5) and California (1/7) and returned against the Oregon schools.
 
It's Her Destiny
Destiny Graham has stepped up her game so far in 2017. She is scoring 7.9 points per game to go along with 6.5 rebounds per game, which are both career highs. Graham recorded her first-career double-double against Southern Utah with 15 points and a career-high 12 rebounds in a career-high 37 minutes and had her second one on Jan. 26 against Cal with 10 points and 11 rebounds. The junior has done a good job of getting to the line and making her free throws as she is 66-81 (82%) from the charity stripe, which is second in the Pac-12. For just the third time all season, Graham missed more than one free throw in a single game against Washington (2/4) as she was 2-4. She hasn't missed more than two in one game this season. Coming into the 2017 season, Graham had scored in double-figures just three times and has already scored in double-figures nine times this season after dropping 15 points against Washington State (2/2). On the rebounding side of things, she came into the season with one double-figure rebounding effort and has four this season.
 
Your Newest WildKAT
After visiting campus this past April, Kat Wright decided to finish out her college career at the University of Arizona. A transfer from Florida Atlantic University, Wright has 196 career made three-pointers, which would be fourth all-time in Arizona history. Only three Wildcats ever made 200 threes in their career (Lisa Griffith 285, Davellyn Whute 274 & Aimee Grzyb 208). Wright was forced to sit out the 2016-17 season due to injury, but during her junior year in 2015-16, Wright lit it up as she made 87 trey balls on 40% shooting while scoring 11.7 points per game. To put that into perspective, only one Wildcat has made more than 82 three-pointers in one season, and that was Lisa Griffith who made 92 in the 1996-97 season. The highlight of her career came on Jan. 30, 2016 when she drained 11 three-pointers against Charlotte, which is the second-most made three-pointers in NCAA history in a single game. She had her breakout game against Southern Utah as she dropped a season-high 18 points, which is the most she had scored since her 33-point game, and nailed the game-winning three-pointer in double-overtime with eight seconds left on the clock. She has 12 such games this season where she has made multiple three-pointers and drained a season-high five against Colorado on Jan. 19.
 
Heating Up from Downtown
Arizona had been shooting the ball well from three lately, and that started against Washington (2/4), shooting 10-21 (48%) from distance. The last time Arizona made at least 10 threes while shooting 47% or better on Nov. 18, 2016 when the Wildcats shot 10-18 (56%) against George Mason. 48% is also the 10th-highest percentage in school history with a minimum of 10 makes. After making eight against UCLA (2/9) and nine against USC (2/11) Arizona was in the middle of a three-game stretch in which they had made at least eight threes in each game before making three against Arizona State. The last time such stretch occurred was back in November of 2011 when Arizona made 15, 9 and 10 in the first three games of the 2011-12 season. Against Colorado (9-19, 47%) and Utah (6-13, 46%), Arizona shot 15-32 (47%) from three-point range (Jan. 19 & 21). Not only was that the first time this season that Arizona has shot over 40% from three in back-to-back games, it was the first time this season Arizona has shot over 40% from three in one game this season. The last time an Arizona team shot at least 46% from three in back-to-back games while making at least six in each game was back in November of 2015 when the Wildcats shot 18-33 (55%) from three against Toledo (9-18, 50%) and Howard (9-15, 60%).
 
An Upward Trend
Arizona has just three returners from the 2016-17 season on the squad this year (JaLea Bennett, Destiny Graham and Lucia Alonso), and all of them are averaging career-highs in points.
 
Bennett
2016-17: 6.9 ppg
2017-18: 14.3 ppg
 
Graham
2016-17: 3.8 ppg
2017-18: 7.9 ppg
 
Alonso
2016-17: 5.3 ppg
2017-18: 8.3 ppg
 
The Young Guns
Arizona is the only school in the Pac-12 to have freshmen (Sam Thomas and Marlee Kyles) be two of their top three scorers. Thomas scores 10.2 points per game while Kyles scores 8.7.
 
They're Called Free Throws for a Reason
Arizona has done a good job of converting their free throws this season as they are shooting at a 76% clip, which is second in the Pac-12. Individually, Destiny Graham ranks second in the Pac-12 in free throw percentage (82%).
 
Barnes' Numbers vs. Oregon State as a Player
Adia Barnes had a record of 4-4 against the Beavers during her playing career from 1995 to 1998. In those eight games, she averaged 17.6 points and 8.1 rebounds, including 29 points and 8.5 rebounds her senior year. On Feb. 19, 1998, Barnes dominated with a 30-point, 11-rebound effort in a 75-47 victory where she made the game-winning layup with no time left on the clock.
 
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