Cate Reese muscled inside for a rebound, ran down the McKale Center floor and finished a fast break with a layup.
It didn’t take long for Arizona’s senior forward to show that she was ready to play.
In fact, if not for the thin gray and white neoprene sleeve on Reese’s right shoulder, you might not have known she was a month removed from a major injury. Reese dislocated her shoulder in the Wildcats’ Feb. 20 loss at Washington State.
Reese was averaging 27 minutes per game prior to the injury. It’s unclear how much she’ll play on Saturday.
“Obviously not 40 minutes, just because of wind, not because of anything structurally,” UA coach Adia Barnes said. “We train typically in our practice five-minute increments we call them five-minute wars. And that’s typically what a game is for media timeouts and stuff, give or take. … Minutes-wise, I’d say overall I’d say 30 minutes. I’m not going to play her the whole game but with our style it’s difficult to play anybody 40 minutes, so I’d say 30 minutes.
“That was the thing about holding on for a little bit longer and not pushing her — to get help or get her wind back. But it’s going to be her first game with emotions with adrenaline. That’s fatiguing, but I think she’s fine to play 30 minutes or more, but not 15 minutes straight.”
Cats expect to shoot better
The last time the Wildcats played, they shot 2 for 24 from 3-point range and were eliminated from the Pac-12 Tournament.
“That won’t happen again,” Barnes said.
Especially not with a homecourt advantage. The Wildcats will be shooting on familiar baskets in their home arena on Saturday. It’s a change from the Pac-12 Tournament, where they launched 3s in the cavernous T-Mobile Arena — and then lost to Colorado on, fittingly, a clanged 3-ball.
Barnes said there’s “a value” to playing at home that goes beyond friendly, familiar rims.
“I don’t know points-wise what to put the value on it, but if you look at our record, we’re 12-1 at home,” she said.
At home, “you’re confident, you’re in the same routine. You’re playing in front of your home crowd,” she said. “So I think that’s incredibly valuable.”
On the flip side, UNLV will face an atmosphere unlike what it’s experienced in the Mountain West Conference.
“It’s very hard to play here (if you’re a visiting team), and we know that,” Barnes said. “And that’s an advantage for us. I’m not going to sugarcoat that. Yes, we love playing at home. Do we play better? Absolutely.”
Confidence and speed
Arizona point guard Shaina Pellington was featured in a TSN Sports segment earlier in the week.
The native of Pickering, Ontario, said she’s most confident “when I am attacking the rim.”
“You have to have a mindset of ‘I’m not going to let you beat me,’” she said. “You have to be fearless. Whenever I see someone trying to defend me, I take it almost like an insult. You know, one on one, can you guard me? No, you can’t.”
That’s not just bravado.
Barnes said Pellington’s quickness and explosiveness make her hard to guard. “Sometimes, I’m like ‘Wow! She’s quick,’” Barnes said. “When there is stuff on the line, she just wants to find a way to win. I think that heart and that mentality is a separator from good to great.”
The dog wins, every time
UNLV’s Jade Thomas says playing in her first NCAA Tournament — and finally playing at McKale Center — is a dream come true. Of course, there will be some added pressure on Saturday: She’s playing against the UA’s Sam Thomas, her older sister.
Sam Thomas said she’s looking forward to the matchup.
“I know last year every game I was so nervous. I was so scared. I was just like, ‘This is business, business, business.’ I feel like now having this first round being against my sister brings some light joy in there,” she said. “Jade knows my team. I know her team.”
Most of the joy, however, will come off the court. Jade Thomas is wild about Sam’s dog, Proxy.
“I refer to her (Proxy) as my niece. Whenever I’m like, ‘Oh, my niece is coming,’ everyone’s like, ‘Oh a person,’ but it’s actually a dog,” Jade Thomas said. “She’s brought so much joy into our lives and our family loves her so much.”
Sam Thomas added: “I just want to say I got a pillow for Proxy for Christmas, and I ended up never taking it home because Jade stole it and now it’s Jade’s. That’s how much she loves Proxy.”
Fun facts
Last year, less than 1% of ESPN.com’s NCAA Tournament brackets entries picked Arizona to win the title.
This year Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight has picked UA with an 89% chance of beating UNLV Saturday; a 55% chance of beating North Carolina on Monday and only a 2% chance of beating South Carolina in the Sweet 16. The Wildcats have less than 1% chance of winning the title this year, per FiveThirtyEight. South Carolina is the favorite to win the national championship at 46%.
Rim shots
Barnes is asking fans to wear red for Saturday’s game.
Maya Nnaji and Paris Clark, members of UA’s Class of 2022, will play in the Jordan Brand Classic.
Thomas picked up another NIL deal this week, this one for Eegee’s. The local chain has brought back their Beary Down flavor — red and blue — for the rest of the month, with Thomas a pitch person. She filmed a commercial in the Richard Jefferson Gym last week.
UNLV coach Lindy La Roque is a former player and assistant coach at Stanford. After she learned her team would be playing UA in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, she heard her former boss, Cardinal coach Tara Vanderveer. “She was adamant she wasn’t going to give me the Arizona scout. … I tried to tell her ‘Blood is thicker than water; come on, Tara,’” La Rocque said with a laugh. “But, no, I really respect that. She wants the Pac-12 to do well, and she’s known Adia for a long time. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting it.”
North Carolina’s Carlie Littlefield credits pig wrestling for her footwork on defense. “Think about the footwork required to stay after a pig,” said Littlefield, a native Iowan. “You’ve got to be diving on the floor for that pig. I think there’s a lot of similarities and crossover between the two.”
