Arizona women’s basketball ranked highest since 2000 after sweeping ASU

The Arizona Wildcats swept Arizona State for the time since 2000 and were rewarded with their highest ranking since 2000.

Arizona jumped from No. 18 to No. 16 in the latest AP poll after Friday’s 59-53 home win over the Sun Devils. ASU was dropped from No. 16 to No. 19. The top 16 teams host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

The Wildcats, 33rd in RPI, have won three straight, the other victories coming at Washington and Washington State.

Arizona hosts No. 8 UCLA and USC on Friday and Sunday, respectively. The Bruins handed Arizona its first loss of the season back on Jan. 5 in Westwood, 70-58.

This time the Wildcats will have a healthy Dominique McBryde in the lineup after she sat out with a sprained ankle, giving them more bite on defense.

“We continue to leave our legacy, that’s one of our mottos,” Arizona coach Adia Barnes said Friday. “We continue to find a way to win in different ways with different people. And we have not been 100 percent healthy since November since our Texas game. We’ve had a lot of injuries, Dominique’s just coming back, so next week I’m hoping that we’ll be 100 percent healthy and we’ll be able to beat teams healthy.”

Oregon (3), Stanford (6) and Oregon State (10) are also ranked.