One benefit of holiday tournaments is getting used to a tournament environment. Preparing for multiple non-conference opponents over a short period of time can help later in the season. Arizona women’s basketball will get plenty of opportunity for that as it faces Vanderbilt, DePaul, and Rutgers over the next three days.
“It prepares us for the Pac-12 tournament and for the NCAA tournament,” Arizona head coach Adia Barnes said. “It also is good because we’re playing completely different types of teams. Vanderbilt has a new coach, a friend of mine who’s a good coach.