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And while the Wildcats fought to keep the game close in the first half, it was only a matter of time before the experienced Longhorns took over and showed why they are one of the best teams in the nation, running to an 88-75 victory Wednesday night in McKale Center.

Arizona (7-3) was playing without sophomore forward Maya Nnaji, who has left the team to focus on her academics, coach Adia Barnes confirmed postgame. Nnaji is in a pre-med program, which is known to have a heavy class load.

With the win Texas remains undefeated at 11-0.

°Õ±ð³æ²¹²õ'ÌýRori Harmon showed why she is the AP and USBWA reigning player of the week finishing one rebound shy of a triple double with 19 points, 11 assists and nine boards.

In the first quarter, UA spotted Texas a 15-7 lead before the threes starting raining in from Kailyn Gilbert, Helena Pueyo and Sali Kourouma. The Wildcats took at quick 22-21 lead on a mid-range jumper from Gilbert and finished the quarter down by three, 25-22.

Gilbert scored 12 points in that first frame and finished with 26.

The Wildcats would cut the score to as close to one in the second quarter, but the Longhorns went on an 8-0 run to extend the lead to 45-36 and never looked back as the UA offense stagnated early after halftime. The Longhorns outscored the Wildcats 31-16 in the third quarter.

The Wildcat defense found its rhythm again in the fourth, using a press and by getting in the passing lanes and forcing bad shots. Arizona went on a 15-1 run in nearly six minutes to close the gap, but it was too late.

She said it

“Texas has a really good team they have their complete team with a lot of weapons solid with some really tough matchups,� Arizona coach Adia Barnes said.

“I think that they're going to go really far this year and win a lot of games. We had some great opportunities. I think we battled we didn't hang our heads or give up in the game but just made some mistakes that don't allow you to beat number five. But some of the things we did but I thought there was some really good takeaways from this game and good film," Barnes said. "I thought that at times, our press in the fourth quarter was really good. I thought the third quarter we struggled a little bit. I think just the mistakes -- we're not getting back in transition defense that hurt us.�

Key moment

Texas was up 45-36 and went on a big run at the start of the third quarter, outscoring UA 11-3. The Wildcats lone three-pointer was knocked down by Pueyo. Texas freshman Madison Booker scored on a jumper and a layup. Harmon added two points on another jumper. Taylor Jones hit two free throws and Shaylee Gonzalez capped it off with one from beyond the arc. Arizona freshman Breya Cunningham’s layup ended the scoring drought as Arizona was down 56-41. The Longhorns’ lead would grow from there.

Stuffing the stat sheet

Gilbert: 26 points, 5 rebounds, 3 of 3 from 3-point range.

Cunningham: 12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals.

Esmery Martinez: 8 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals.

Pueyo: 8 points, 4 assists.

The other side

Gonzales hit 4 of 6 from beyond in the arc and finished with 12 points. Jones had 16 points and four steals. Booker and Shay Holle each had 12 points.

By the numbers

26: The Wildcats were down by as many as 26 points in the beginning of the fourth quarter before they climbed back into the game. UA outscored Texas 23-12 in the fourth quarter.

87.5%: UA made 7 of 8 attempts from beyond the arc, shooting 87.5%. Coming in, the Wildcats were shooting 25% from 3 point range on the season. Wednesday's showing brought that mark up to 28 percent.

25: ÃÛÌÒÓ°ÏñAV only scored 11 points off 15 Texas turnovers. The Longhorns, meanwhile, converted 21 turnovers into 25 points.

22: ÃÛÌÒÓ°ÏñAV only held the lead for 22 seconds in the first quarter.

Up next

Arizona (7-3) takes on ASU (7-3) at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe on Sunday at 5 p.m. to open Pac-12 play. The game will be televised by Pac-12 Networks, with the radio call available on 1290-AM.