Shaina Pellington scored a season-high 28 points and the No. 10 Arizona Wildcats back surged back from a double-digit deficit to defeat No. 22 Colorado 75-56 in McKale Center on Sunday afternoon.
The Wildcats (14-2) put on a defensive clinic after falling behind 21-9 in the second quarter, deploying a pressure defense it unveiled two nights earlier against Utah. The Cats outscored the Buffs 68-39 after the first quarter, forcing 15 turnovers along the way. Colorado shot just 7 of 24 (29%) in the second half.
Pellington hit 10 of 13 shots, a pair of which were 3-pointers, while adding four rebounds and two assists.
“Today, we needed her to do that,” Arizona coach Adia Barnes said of Pellington. “We needed her to go downhill and make plays and she did that … She’s getting better in areas that we emphasize.”
Asked if this was her best performance in an Arizona uniform, the UA guard didn’t hesitate with her response.
“Yes,” Pellington said. “I just felt really confident. Once I started hitting shots, I felt really composed right now.”
Senior Cate Reese was also impressive, scoring 19 of her 23 points in the second half on 10 of 17 shooting while leading the team with nine rebounds. Coming off a 25-point night against the Utes, Sam Thomas stayed dialed-in, hitting three 3-pointers to finish with nine points.
Arizona trailed Colorado by as many as 12 points in the second quarter before putting together a run to tie the game at 29-29 going into the break. A Pellington 3-pointer followed by a Reese layup in the final minute capped off a 5-0 run.
Much like Friday night, Arizona picked up its defensive intensity in the second and third quarters to apply pressure to Colorado’s shooters.
“I think we just kind of came out flat; we weren’t really ready,” Reese said. “We just picked it up, didn’t put our hands down and just kept playing. We played Arizona defense like we should’ve from the beginning.”
The game tilted in Arizona’s favor toward the end of the third quarter and into the fourth. The two teams traded baskets in the early part of the third until the Cats went on a 23-2 scoring stretch. Reese gave Arizona a 40-39 lead at 4:40 in the third.
Arizona fans celebrate one of Sam Thomas' three 3-pointers during Sunday's win over Colorado.
Colorado missed 13 of its next 14 shots and the Wildcats capitalized on the other end. Reese and Pellington combined to score all 23 points during the extended run, and Arizona went up 63-43 midway through the fourth quarter. The Buffs didn’t record their first basket in the fourth until the 4:05 mark.
“We didn’t lay down, we bounced back after (slow start). And then we controlled the game,” Barnes said.
The large lead enabled Barnes to rest her key starters in the final minutes. No Wildcat played more than 30 minutes of game time; rest will be important as the UA prepares for three road games in seven days.
Arizona next plays Wednesday at UCLA, before taking on Cal (Friday) and No. 2 Stanford (Sunday).
Rim shots
Pellington and Reese became the first Arizona duo to score 20 or more points in a game since Feb. 14, 2021, when Reese and former UA star Aari McDonald each had 20 vs. Washington.
After starting the season 13-0, Colorado has lost its last four games.
