Wildcats claw their way to second round, survive the Rebels
TUCSON, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Defense has been the staple of the University of Arizona women's basketball team in 2022 and it came to life in the 4th quarter on Saturday night in Tucson.
After trailing most of the first half, the Wildcats rode their senior leaders offensively and turned defense into offense--a game ending in a 72-67 win over the UNLV Rebels in the first-round of the NCAA tournament.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 3-2 lead just one minute into the game on a triple by Cate Reese, but they would not see the lead again until they went on a 6-0 run to end the first half.
The Cats came out of the locker room strong but then surrendered the lead and trailed 53-48 heading into the 4th.
It was a loud and packed McKale Center, but the energy in the building really began to shift in the Wildcats favor in the early stages of the 4th quarter.
That's when Shaina Pellington took over, scoring 13 of her 30 points in the quarter to propel the Cats to the win. Cat Reese also chipped in with 16 points, coming up with some big bucket in the final frame.
THIS SEQUENCE
— Arizona Women's Basketball (@ArizonaWBB) March 20, 2022
📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/zkirQKUFTL
It was a pair of Pellington lay-ins and a Reese bucket-and-one midway through the quarter that erupted the Arizona faithful. Those points coming off Rebel turnovers and a huge Lauren Ware block.
But the tale of two sides of the ball really showed up late, as the strong Wildcat defense dug in and held the high-powered Rebel offense, who came in scoring 75 points per game, to just 14 in the 4th quarter--several of those points coming in when it was already out of reach.
AND ONEEEEEEEEEEEE @cate_reese
— Arizona Women's Basketball (@ArizonaWBB) March 20, 2022
📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/CYW8x3ouNL
Coach Adia Barnes wishes they played better defense but is happy they get to be back back on the home floor Monday.
"I don't like the fact that they shot 53% but hey, it's March, and I'm happy that we won," said Barnes. "So I'll take it, it could be ugly or whatever, but a win's a win and this is a good way to start after having a few weeks off."
Defense is also something Barnes mentioned when asked if there was a spark tonight that could launch her team to the kind of run they made to the national title game last year.
"I saw spurts of our defensive pressure that can bother teams, but we didn't consistently do that for 40 minutes," said Barnes. "If we want to go back to the championship game, we can't play defense like that. We can't allow UNLV to shoot 53%. That's just not realistic for us to have success."
The Wildcats have now won the first-round of the tournament in each of their last three appearances and will keep their dream alive when they take on 5th seeded North Carolina on Monday night at 7pm.
For Coach Barnes, she wouldn't be shocked if the McKale Center is sold out.
"Arizona is a basketball town. People love women's basketball here and there's very few places in the country that can draw 10,000 fans and not many can do that," the second winningest coach in program history added. "When you have the chance to play in front of that type of crowd, it ignites you. It energizes you. It's an incredible atmosphere...our fans love our team."
