Sometimes all it takes is a little shakeup.
Coming off a rough loss to No. 6 Stanford Thursday night, it was time for Arizona coach Adia Barnes to do some tinkering.
That included changing her starting five — something she rarely does. She’s done it only once this season and typically only makes a change if someone is sick or injured.
Madi Conner made her first start of her career, and Helena Pueyo also got the nod. The two were inserted for Jade Loville and Lauren Fields.
It worked. The No. 17 Wildcats came out with more intensity on both ends of the court and for the fourth time this season, bounced back from a loss with a convincing win, drubbing Cal 80-57 on Sunday at McKale Center.
The Wildcats improve to 19-6 overall and 9-5 in the Pac-12 and the Golden Bears drop to 12-13, 3-11.
“I think the difference is that we weren’t happy with how we performed against Stanford, and we came back and we’ve had really good bounce back game,” Barnes said. “… All the games we’ve lost, we’ve responded really well. And what I’m trying to instill the players is it shouldn’t take a whooping, like get your face punched in and then hard practices, early shoot around like intense, intense to play well. There has to come to a point with maturity where you expect that of each other. And that’s the standard. …
“We’re figuring that out. It’s definitely in the players and the (with) same group together in three years, we’re going to be way better. I think just understanding now, how do we make that step to get become a better team? How do we focus on these next games, one game at a time and prepare for the tournament?”
Arizona forward Esmery Martinez is all smiles after grabbing her 1,000th career rebound Sunday.
Coming off the bench lit a fire under Fields, who went 4 for 8, hitting big baskets from inside and outside. The 3s were in the rhythm of the offense and her drives included hesitation moves and strong finishes. She dished three assists, picked one steal and had a key offensive rebound. She brought effort on both ends of the court.
Fields came off the bench at the 5:24 minute mark of the first quarter to spark the Wildcats. Her 3 at the end of the first quarter gave UA a 12-10 lead.
Barnes said that before the game she told Fields she believed in her.
“I don’t want her to play with pressure. I don’t want her to play with any weight. I wanted to play free and today she played free,” Barnes said.
Esmery Martinez, who had already notched 10 of her 15 rebounds a few minutes into the third quarter, picked up another milestone. She has now pulled down 1,000 career rebounds. This goes along with her hitting the 1,000-point mark earlier this year.
She finished with another double-double (15 points, 15 rebounds) — her seventh this season. She also dished seven assists, picked three steals and blocked a shot.
And then there was Shaina Pellington, who led all Wildcats with 24 points (9 of 12 from the field). She also made 5 of 6 free throws.
Cate Reese breaks through the Cal defense in the first half.
“My mindset this game was just to let the game come to me and just make shots when I take them and get my teammates good shots as well. Just play my role and just letting the game come to me naturally,” Pellington said.
Cate Reese chipped in 15 points and Paris Clark finished with nine. She added one steal and six rebounds — two on the offensive end.
Clark earned her 18 minutes on the court, once again by bringing effort. She was involved in key moments for the Wildcats. The first one came as Arizona extended its 33-20 halftime lead going on a 13-0 run over 3:20 minutes early in the third quarter.
Martinez and Clark knocked down 3s to start the barrage.
Pellington then took over driving the lane for two baskets and hitting a 3 of her own to give UA a 48-24 lead.
The defense was more Arizona-like throughout the game and crashed the boards. UA outrebounded Cal 40-27.
Cal didn’t give up easily. The Golden Bears cut the lead to 62-54 and had the ball with four minutes left. But UA would outscore them 18-3 the rest of the way.
Cal was held to no baskets and only three free throws over the last 5:01.
UA held the Golden Bears to 33% shooting. The Wildcats shot 52% and had 22 assists on 31 made shots.
Arizona hosts the mountain schools — No. 7 Utah and No. 25 Colorado — next weekend for the final home games of the season.
Rim shots
UA scored 23 points off 16 turnovers.
Pueyo had five assists, one steal and four rebounds.
UA had nine offensive rebounds and turned them into 12 second-chance points.
