The Arizona women’s basketball team went 20-12 during the 2010-11 regular season. After six years of frustration and heartbreak, it looked like the Wildcats might be headed back to the NCAA Tournament. In 2018-19, they were 18-13 at the conclusion of the Pac-12 Tournament, playing in one of the toughest leagues in the country. By this time, the drought had stretched to 13 years. Just as they had eight years prior, Arizona went to the WNIT.
If the Wildcats found themselves in the same situation going forward, they might still hear their names called on selection day. On Wednesday, the NCAA announced that the organization was following the recommendation of the recent gender equity report prepared by Kaplan Hecker & Fink by expanding the women’s basketball tournament to 68 teams.