Arizona guard Shaina Pellington laughs on the floor with teammate Cate Reese after the team told Reese she placed the Arizona sticker wrong on the March Madness board following Arizona's 72-67 win over UNLV on Saturday. Pellington led the Wildcats with 30 points.

 Rebecca Sasnett, Arizona Daily Star

Shaina Pellington knows when to turn it on, especially when the lights shine bright.

In last year's national championship game, Pellington scored 15 points off the bench and grabbed seven rebounds.

Earlier this year, Pellington — now the Wildcats' starting point guard — sunk two buzzer-beaters.

When the Wildcats needed a spark in Saturday's NCAA Tournament opener, Pellington delivered — again. She scored 30 points and picked four steals to lead No. 4-seed seed Arizona to a 72-67 victory over No. 13-seed UNLV at McKale Center.

Arizona (21-7) moves on to play North Carolina (24-6) on Monday at 7 p.m. in the second round. The winner advances to the Sweet 16.

It took a while for UA to pull away from the pesky Rebels.

“The game wasn't pretty at all times,” said UA coach Adia Barnes, who improved to 12-1 in WNIT and NCAA Tournament games.

“I thought that we struggled defensively in some points in the game. I think they had some really good really big shots — tough shots. …

"I'll take it. It could be ugly, it could be whatever, but a win is a win.”

Pellington tied a career high in points, matching her performance at ASU last month. She finished 10 of 19 from the field, had four assists and no turnovers.

Cate Reese added 16 points and three rebounds in her return from a dislocated shoulder suffered nearly a month ago. Reese said she was ready but a “little rusty” as she missed a few shots she normally makes down low.

“My teammates did a great job of finding me, encouraging … (I'm)  just super excited to be back on the floor with them,” Reese said.

Arizona Wildcats forward Cate Reese tries to steal the ball from UNLV Lady Rebels forward Khayla Rooks during their game Saturday night.

Lauren Ware scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds. While Sam Thomas scored only two points, she collected four steals, two blocks and two assists.

When Arizona’s defense needed to take it up a notch in the fourth quarter, Thomas led the way forcing errant passes, not letting her opponents have the space to create shots and those tips got numerous tips.

It took Pellington a little while to start feeling it. Once she did, there wasn't much UNLV could do to stop her.

“I was feeling like I was really in my element,” Pellington said. “I’m like, “OK, they can't guard me,’ especially when I was attacking the rim. I just felt super comfortable. I think my teammates allowed me to do that. They gave me the confidence. They told me, ‘Keep going, keep going. They can’t guard you.’”

Arizona guard Bendu Yeaney drives to the basket during Saturday’s game against UNLV in the NCAA Tournament.

In a span of 70 seconds in the second quarter, Pellington got a steal and scored, drove to the basket for another score and knocked down a 3-pointer.

And when Arizona needed a strong finish to put the Rebels away, she delivered again.

“It's really nice to have a player like Shaina where you feel like she can get to the basket at any moment easily,” Thomas said. “I know it's probably easier said than done, but Shaina makes it look so easy.”

While it may have looked easy for Pellington as she drove right, drove left, knocked down a few 3s and even some mid-range jumpers, Barnes said, “she worked very hard” for her points.

“When Shana tried to drive, there were two players there and she still found a way to get there. … I think that she did a good job and she's our catalyst on offense and on defense. If Shaina goes, we go. And when she's really stagnant with a ball, we're stagnant.”

Arizona forward Sam Thomas yells after forcing a turnover during an inbounds pass during the first half of Saturday’s game.

Arizona’s defense took over in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats forced a shot clock violation, Thomas tipped the ball out of bounds on the defensive end, then forced the Lady Rebels to throw the ball out of bounds.

Leading 53-52 with 8:06 left, the Rebels called a timeout to try to settle down.

Arizona's announced crowd of 9,573 made it tough on them.

“What a great crowd,” UNLV coach Lindy La Rocque said. “What they've been able to build and do here, it's really awesome.”

UA took back the lead when Ware picked a steal and passed it to Pellington for a layup. Thomas followed up with another steal and Pellington was fouled. She made both free throws to go up 56-53. UNLV climbed back in to tie it at 56-56.

Then Pellington and Reese took over, sparking an 11-0 run that secured the victory. 

Arizona forced 19 UNLV turnovers and shot 44.6% from the field; UNLV shot 53.1%.

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