Esmery Martinez's first-half double-double leads No. 19 Arizona to dominant 113-56 win in opener

Esmery Martinez picked her spots — early and often.

Eight minutes in, one of the newest Arizona Wildcats had collected six rebounds.

With less than five minutes left in the first half, Martinez had her first double-double of the season with 20 points and 15 rebounds. The West Virginia transfer led No. 19 Arizona to a dominating 113-56 win over NAU at McKale Center in the Wildcats’ season opener.

The Wildcats (1-0) grabbed their 33rd win in a series that dates back to 1973. NAU (0-2) has only won six matchups, with the most recent coming in 2017.

The last time Arizona scored 100 points in a game was on Dec. 5, 2018, when they beat Montana 100-51. The most points UA has ever scored in a game — 119 — came in 2010 against Oregon.

“I thought it was a fun game,” Arizona coach Adia Barnes said. “Obviously winning is always fun, but I feel like we made a huge jump from the last two weeks. I thought we got better. I think offensively we still (have) a lot of work to do, but I thought in the second quarter (we had) really solid defense. ...NAU is a really good team. I think they’re really good transition threes. At times, they made us pay for it. And I think our pressure really got to them. I think this was a good test for us.”

There were questions about what things would look like without Lauren Ware, who had season-ending surgery on her right patella Friday. The Wildcats were also without freshman post Maya Nnaji, who has tendinitis in her. knee. She was medically cleared to play, but Barnes held her out to be cautious.

With both forwards out, Barnes pivoted to small ball. No player on the court at any time was taller than 6 feet-2 inches.

The offensive firepower showed on Thursday, with seven players scoring in double figures. The list: Shaina Pellington (20 points); Lauren Fields (12 points); Jade Loville (11 points); Cate Reese, Madi Conner and Kailyn Gilbert (10 points apiece). Guard Helena Pueyo chipped in nine points while hitting 4 for 5 from the field.

Arizona shared the ball, adding 14 assists on 42 made shots. Pellington led the team with seven of them.

Martinez (6 of 8 from the field, 8 of 10 from free throw line) filled the stat sheet added three assists of her own. The senior transfer from West Virginia was involved in nearly every play. She also swatted two balls and had no turnovers.

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Barnes said Martinez’s instinctive knack for the ball makes her a great rebounder. At times, when she wasn’t in position, she would fly in from outside to get a hand on the ball.

Barnes said Martinez is one of the best rebounders she has ever coached.

“I just think it’s the her timing and her quick hops and just the nose for the ball,” Barnes said. “I think she’s special in that sense.”

Martinez said of her 15 rebounds: “I just try to get the ball everywhere.”

On the defensive side, the Wildcats made a key adjustment before the second quarter. After giving up 17 points they went to into an aggressive mode with full court pressing and swarming the Lumberjacks. UA finished with 17 steals — seven coming in that frame.

In that second quarter, UA held NAU scoreless for five minutes, expanding their lead 48-22. During that time UA had four steals including three from Clark on back-to-back possessions. She finished with six steals. Arizona only allowed nine points and took a 56-26 lead into halftime.

In the third quarter, Arizona kept the pedal down, outscoring NAU 35-13 to jump out to a 91-39 lead.

Said Pellington: “I’ve never played on a team better than the one I’m on currently right now. I think the sky’s the limit for this group. And as long as we continue to work together, and we have each other’s backs, I think we can go as far as we want to go this year.”

Rim shots

A familiar face sat on the NAU bench. Assistant coach Kellee Barney was an assistant at Arizona from 2002-08 under former UA coach Joan Bonvicini.

Arizona had 25 second-chance points and out-rebounded NAU, 49-29. UA shot 54% and held NAU to 34% from the field.