For most of the season, Arizona women’s basketball had far exceeded expectations. Just after the horn sounded at the end of the 2021 national championship game, ESPN left the national runners-up off its “way too early top 25” list. When the Associated Press released its preseason Top 25 in November, the Wildcats sat at No. 22.
Arizona appeared to take the slight personally. The team went out and beat No. 6 Louisville in week one and reeled off 11 wins before taking its first defeat of the season. The Wildcats rose as high as No. 4 in the AP poll over the course of the season.