Cate Reese, Sam Thomas earn All-American recognition for Arizona women’s basketball

As they lead their team into the opening-round NCAA Tournament game against UNLV, Cate Reese and Sam Thomas were both honored with All-American recognition. Senior forward Reese earned Associated Press All-American honorable mention notice, while Thomas landed on the CoSIDA Academic All-American first team.

The two All-Pac-12 performers have been at the forefront of Arizona’s climb in women’s college basketball. Reese is a three-time All-Pac-12 honoree as well as a member of the 2019 All-Freshman team. Thomas has been All-Pac-12 for the past two seasons and a member of the conference All-Defense team for the past three after landing on the All-Freshman team in 2018.

For Thomas, it was her second straight season of being named a first team CoSIDA Academic All-American, making her the first Wildcat to ever be named to the team twice. She carries a 4.0 GPA in her second year of graduate studies.

On the court, Thomas is the Arizona career leader in games started and played. She is also 10th all-time in scoring, third in made 3s, fourth in 3-point percentage, second in blocks, and fourth in steals. This year, she is hitting 45.2 percent of her 3-point shots, which ranks her third in the Pac-12 and would be the third-best single-season mark in Arizona program history.

The honorable mention recognition for Reese is her first AP All-American honor. The senior leads the Wildcats in both scoring (14.6 PPG) and rebounding (6.2 RPG). She is seventh in Arizona history in career scoring and fourth in total rebounds.