Arizona guard Ashley Frazier outhustled two Stanford players for this loose ball, but coach Niya Butts wants to see more hustle.

James S. Wood / arizona daily star

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During most of the final five minutes Sunday afternoon, the Arizona Wildcats played the aggressors, firing up three-pointers and outscoring 11th-ranked Stanford by 17 points.

Unfortunately for the Cats, they needed more than those five minutes.

Despite its late 17-0 run, Arizona could not completely climb out of a 25-point hole in a 70-61 loss to the 2008 national runner-up at McKale Center.

In a game the Cats (7-6, 0-2 Pac-10) shot better than the Cardinal — 43.5 percent to 40.6 percent — intensity and aggressiveness proved to be the difference.

"We had a stretch there for about 10-15 minutes in the second half where we were absolutely the non-aggressor to say the least, and it cost us," UA coach Niya Butts said. "We didn't locate shooters, weren't active on offense, didn't push the ball in transition. They made a huge run on us and we had to claw our way back into the ballgame."

Trailing 33-26 at halftime, the Wildcats closed to within 35-31 at the 17:09 mark, but Stanford (11-3, 2-0) answered with a 30-9 run for a 65-40 lead, its largest margin of the game.

Butts said her team responded with its "back against the wall." The Cats went to a press, which she said they probably should have employed earlier. During the 17-0 run, which began with 4:04 remaining, Arizona freshman guard Reiko Thomas hit three three-pointers and sophomore forward Ify Ibekwe played with four fouls.

Arizona drew as close as eight before Stanford snapped its scoreless streak on Rosalyn Gold-Onwude's two free throws with 30 seconds left.

"We got aggressive too late," said Ibekwe, who finished with a game-high 23 points and 13 rebounds, her eighth double-double of the season. "Everything we did was late in the game and we need to come out doing it off the bat, being aggressive, being tougher and going at teams. We do it, just not at the start of the game, and that's what hurts us."

From Stanford's perspective, the Cardinal let up on its own intensity, allowing Arizona back into the game.

"I was disappointed we didn't stay with the intensity for 40 minutes," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. "Credit Arizona. Ibekwe had a great game. She took the ball to the basket really well and rebounded really well."

Yet Stanford won the rebounding battle 39-32 and had twice as many offensive rebounds as Arizona (14-7).

"We have to get tougher. They were pushing us, and we kinda let them push us," said UA senior forward Amina Njonkou, who finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.

Thomas added 15 points, including four three-pointers for Arizona.

Taking advantage of its depth and various weapons, Stanford scored both in the paint and from the outside, although the Cardinal hit only 7 of 28 shots from three-point range. Its bench outscored Arizona's 18-2.

● Arizona's Ashley Frazier and Stanford's Jillian Harmon were called for technical fouls with 7:46 left after they became tangled on transition. "They were a physical team, no doubt," Butts said. "They were holding a little bit. They were grabbing. Our kids started to retaliate instead of matching physical play with physical play. They allowed their emotions to take over and we can't do that. We have to be more in control."

● Normally a strong free-throw shooting team, Arizona made only 16 of 25 on foul shots. "We haven't shot this poorly from the line in a long time," Butts said.