Arizona back in Top 10 after sweeping Oregon schools; Adia Barnes named ESPN Coach of the Week

The Arizona Wildcats are back in the Top 10 after capturing their first sweep of the Oregon schools since 2011.

UA checks in at No. 10 in latest AP poll, one spot up from last week. The Wildcats have been ranked as high as No. 6 this season.

They are 10-2 overall and 8-2 in the Pac-12, just one game behind first-place Stanford.

“It’s good to be back, but we’re not satisfied yet!” UA head coach Adia Barnes tweeted. “Time to get better.”

Other Pac-12 teams in the AP Top 25 include: Stanford (5), UCLA (6) and Oregon (13). Washington State and Arizona State both received votes. The Cardinal dropped out of the No. 1 spot after falling in overtime at Colorado.

Arizona’s sweep of Oregon also led ESPN to name Barnes as its coach of the week, giving this explanation:

The Wildcats saw a 16-point lead in the third quarter get away on Jan. 10 when they lost in overtime at Washington State. So how did Barnes and her team respond to that disappointment?

They put the clamps on No. 10 Oregon on Thursday in a 57-41 victory that Ducks coach Kelly Graves said was one of the worst offensive performances he has seen from one of his teams. A lot of credit for that goes to the Wildcats’ non-stop pressure defense. Barnes got them to commit to that, and it paid off.

No. 11 Arizona followed that with a 67-51 victory over Oregon State on Sunday in another strong defensive performance. The Wildcats held Oregon to 32.6 percent shooting from the field and forced 23 turnovers, while limiting Oregon State to 36.7 percent with 19 turnovers.

Arizona returns to action Friday when it hosts Utah on Friday.