Wildcat Wrap: Recapping a busy week of Arizona Athletics

It’s Monday so it’s time to recap the week that was for the Arizona Wildcats. Let us know in the comment section if we missed anything!

Softball

• Arizona softball started its season by going 3-2 in the USF Opening Weekend Invitational in Tampa. The Wildcats beat No. 19 Michigan, USF and Illinois State, but fell to No. 5 Florida and NC State. Check out our softball section for recaps of all five games, and here are 5 takeaways from the weekend.
• Could Marissa Schuld be Arizona’s next great hitting pitcher? She has a chance.
• The newly-renovated Hillenbrand Stadium opens this week when Arizona hosts the Hillenbrand Invitational, starting Thursday.

It’s here. Opening week at Rita.

pic.twitter.com/vZ2tQFF0w8

— Arizona Softball (@ArizonaSoftball) February 11, 2019

Women’s Basketball

• Coach Adia Barnes and Aari McDonald returned to Washington this week, a place both hold fondness for for many different reasons.
• McDonald had a big night against the Huskies, leading Arizona to a 69-59 win in Seattle. The victory guarantees the Wildcats (15-8, 5-7 Pac-12) will finish the season .500 or better for the first time since 2010-11. If Arizona wins two more conference games, it’ll be the most conference wins in a decade.
• However, UA couldn’t claw back against Washington State on Saturday afternoon, losing 90-88, a loss that probably kills their chances of reaching the NCAA Tournament.
• Arizona hosts No. 17 Utah on Friday and Colorado on Sunday.

Baseball

• D1 Baseball listed Austin Wells, Bryce Collins, Brandon Boissiere, and Ryan Holgate on its Fab Freshman list. Wells was the highest listed UA player at No. 9.
• Nick Quintana, Cameron Cannon, Matt Dyer, and Andrew Nardi made D1’s Top 350 MLB Draft Prospects list. Quintana was the highest ranked at No. 31.
• The ‘Cats open their season this weekend against UMass Lowell.

Hockey

• Captain Anthony Cusanelli was selected to Team USA for the World University Games. He is the first Wildcat to be selected.
• The games are from March 1-12 in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Cusanelli will miss the final three games of UA’s season, but is excepted to be back for the American Collegiate Hockey Association’s national tournament from March 21-26.
• The ‘Cats on ice split its series with UNLV, winning 5-4 on Friday and losing 4-2 on Saturday.
• In the final home series of the season for UA, the ‘Cats host Arizona State next weekend.

Gymnastics

• The No. 25 ranked Gymcats narrowly missed upsetting No. 11 Oregon State, losing 196.350 to 195.475.
• The team is on the road on Saturday against UCLA.

Track and Field

• Jordan Geist finished the Texas Tech Shootout with the No. 3 mark on the IAAF list with a 21.15m in the shot put. The men’s 200-meter dash group all set personal records in the event.
• The team heads to Flagstaff on Friday for the Northern Arizona Tune-up.

Swimming and Diving

• The women’s team ended the season by beating Arizona State 180.5-119.5. The men lost 159.5-140.5.
• The ‘Cats head to Pac-12 Championships in Federal Way, Washington. Women’s swim and both diving teams compete Feb. 27-March 3.

Men’s Tennis

• Arizona moved to 4-1 on the season after beating New Mexico State 7-0 on Saturday.
• The ‘Cats host East Tennessee State on Friday.

Women’s Golf

• The defending national champions placed fifth at Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge, their first tournament of the season. Yu-Sang shot even par (71) in the final round, but finished one stroke behind Stanford’s Andrea Lee for first.
• The ‘Cats head to Las Vegas next Monday for the UNLV Rebel Beach Tournament.

Volleyball

• Kendra Dahlke announced her signing with Philippine pro team Smart Giga Hitters.

Men’s Basketball

• Arizona is on a five-game losing streak—its longest since 1983—after losing to Washington State 69-55 on Saturday night and first-place Washington 67-60 on Thursday. Check out our basketball section for more coverage of those games, including what we learned from the weekend.
• The real focus around McKale Center this week was on assistant coach Mark Phelps. Phelps was placed on administrative leave on Wednesday and the UA has “initiated the process to terminate” him.
• Yahoo! reported Monday Arizona is currently under NCAA investigation for its involvement in the college basketball corruption scandal. However, the UA says the suspension is “not related to the federal criminal proceedings in New York or the NCAA’s review of the facts underlying the allegations of unlawful conduct.”
• During halftime of the WSU game, UA athletic director Dave Heeke spoke to the media to express his full support of head coach Sean Miller.
• Emmanuel Akot is transferring to Boise State.
• Brandon Williams didn’t play against the Washington schools, and is out indefinitely so he can rest his right knee.

Football

• UA alum Brooks Reed signed a one-year deal with the Arizona Cardinals.
• Five-star long snapper Seth Mackellar committed to UA over the week. He will be a preferred walk-on.
• No Arizona players were invited to the NFL Combine.
• Former four-star recruit Michael Eletise is transferring home to Hawaii.
• Nick Folk went 2 for 3 in his Arizona Hotshots debut, including this 53-yard field goal:

The longest field goal in #AZHotshots history is gooooood! #GoShots #HistoryisMade pic.twitter.com/z5oRHx8oxD

— Arizona Hotshots (@aafhotshots) February 11, 2019

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