Aari McDonald breaks Arizona’s single-season scoring record

Aari McDonald only needed 13 more points to break Arizona women’s basketball’s single-season scoring record and she reached that mark in the second quarter of Sunday’s road game to Cal.

The record was previously held by UA head coach Adia Barnes, who tallied 653 points in the 1997-98 season.

McDonald finished with 31 points but the Wildcats lost to the Bears 82-76 in overtime.

McDonald is only the 36th player in Pac-12 history to score 600 or more points in a season, and Barnes is the only other Wildcat to do it.

McDonald entered Sunday’s game as the nation’s third-leading scorer at 24.7 points per game. The redshirt sophomore point guard has scored at least 30 points in six games this season, becoming the first Wildcat to ever do that.

McDonald, who spent her freshman season at Washington, also owns the Arizona records in single-season free throw attempts and free throws made.

The Wildcats are 17-10 overall and 7-9 in the Pac-12, on track to make their first postseason appearance since 2011.