Coming into’s Sunday game, the No. 18-ranked Arizona Wildcats knew Long Beach State was going to use its length to be aggressive on defense.
They knew Beach was going to use a zone — typically one of the hardest schemes for Arizona to crack.
In the first true test of the season, it took quite a while for the Wildcats to break the code.
Down by 13 points in the second quarter, the Wildcats turned to five of their most experienced players in Esmery Martinez, Jade Loville, Lauren Fields, Cate Reese and Shaina Pellington to lead the charge as UA pulled away in the second half, winning 86-64 at McKale Center on Sunday in front of 6,898 fans.
Arizona (4-0) has now extended it’s November winning streak to 22 games. Long Beach State drops to 1-3.
“That was a tough one,” UA coach Adia Barnes said. “The score is not an indication of how the game went. Long Beach State is a really good team. I thought they disrupted us. It was what they did to us that made us make some adjustments and had us on our heels. ... I think we were losing by 15 at some point, right? Thirteen or 15. It felt like 25.
“But then we we found a way to rally and find found a way to win so that was a positive thing.”
Wildcats guard Lauren Fields keeps control of the ball as she’s defended by Long Beach State guard Malia Bambrick on Sunday at McKale Center.
All five starters finished in double figures. Martinez had 19 points, followed by Loville (18), Pellington (15), Reese (14) and Fields (10).
Martinez and Reese were both one rebound shy of a double-double.
Martinez said she didn’t know she was that close, but joked that Pellington took a rebound from her.
Fields, a transfer from Oklahoma State, has taken a while to get going in the first few games, but not Sunday afternoon. She dished three key assists and grabbed three steals.
“I think I just finally got a feel for the game. I’m more comfortable now,” Fields said. “I know we needed that energy to rally back so I just got comfortable and took it upon myself to get steals and get the game going.”
Two of her steals came in the fourth quarter as the Wildcats pulled away. This is when the adjustments started to show especially making that extra pass on the offensive end to find that great shot and getting stops defensively. The Wildcats outscored Beach 28-12 in the fourth quarter.
Wildcats forward Esmery Martinez is defended by Long Beach State guard Tori Harris in the first half.
That is when Reese and Pellington took over, combing for 15 points.
“I think the first quarter we weren’t getting the ball inside,” Barnes said. “... I think we just weren’t giving her the ball. And it was hard because the zone was high. It’s hard for them to see inside. ... I thought Cate did a good job of not getting down because she wasn’t getting touches. They are going to come.”
In was that first 13 minutes or so that really stung as Beach took a 25-12 lead before Loville knocked down a 3-pointer and UA started to slowly close the gap. Martinez finished on a dish from Reese, Fields stole an inbounds pass and Martinez knocked down a 3 and Pellington picked a steal of her own and went coast-to-coast to bring the lead down to four, 32-28 with 3:08 left in the half.
Martinez hit another 3 and finished the half with yet another dish from Reese to give UA a slim 40-39 lead at the break. The Beach gained confidence on the offensive end as it hit 5 of 7 3-pointers in the first half, and would finish 9 of 15.
Barnes said it’s back to focusing on the basics of defense — getting in the guarding stance, being in the right position and playing disciplined.
UA held the lead for a little more than 17 minutes, while Beach had it for nearly 16½.
Next up, Arizona plays Cal Baptist in the USD Thanksgiving Classic Friday at 5 p.m.
Rim shots
Arizona had three blocks with Pellington swatting two of them.
UA outrebounded Beach 43-21.
