Helena Pueyo, Jade Loville and Esmery Martinez pace Wildcats in exhibition win over Cal State LA

Adia Barnes said this week that Wildcats' legs might be tired Wednesday from all the defensive drills they've been doing in practice.

Not so fast.

No. 19 Arizona came out from the tip running, running, running.

Upperclassmen Helena Pueyo, Esmery Martinez and Jade Loville combined to score 56 points and Arizona dominated all aspects of the game in a 104-46 exhibition victory over Cal State Los Angeles in McKale Center. The Wildcats will open the regular season Nov. 10 against Northern Arizona.

Crossing the 100-point mark and showing the offensive power the Wildcats have this year "was fun," Pueyo said.

"I think when the team plays together I think it's always fun — passing the ball, doing the extra pass. I feel like that always feels great," Pueyo said.

Loville, who led all scorers with 26 points (8 for 11), took over in the third quarter hitting all three of her 3-pointers — two of them coming in back-to-back possessions. She added two steals.

Pueyo added 15 points, seven assists, five steals, a block and no turnovers in nearly 28 minutes.

"I feel great and I really like to play for the team," Pueyo said of her performance. "I really like to pass the ball and make my team run."

Martinez put up 15 points, 12 rebounds and three steals.

She said it felt great to get her first double-double as a Wildcat; it felt "better," she said, "because I play for Adia (Barnes)."

Lauren Ware sat on the bench again nursing an injury. And less than a minute into the game, Cate Reese gave her teammates a scare. The UA's senior forward went down hard on the court, suffering a concussion and elbow injury. Reese walked on her own power into the locker room; minutes later, she came back and watched from the sidelines the rest of the way.

120722-tuc-spt-nnaij-p1 — Arizona’s Maya Nnaji goes high over teammate Kailyn Gilbert for a rebound during the Wildcats’ win over Cal State Los Angeles earlier this season.
Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star

The defense took a dramatic jump from the last exhibition game to this one, especially in the first half. UA grabbed 11 steals in the first 20 minutes.

The Wildcats took a 54-13 lead into halftime, allowing only five points in the first quarter on 18% shooting. Arizona forced two consecutive shot clock violations during that frame, plus a five-second violation in the second quarter.

There is still much to work on defensively. The Wildcats let down a bit in the second half, giving up 33 points.

"I think we got better (from the first exhibition game), but there are a lot of areas we need to work on. But I think there was some positive things," Barnes said." Our defense, a lot it was better today. We worked on our rotations offensively, worked on sharing the ball a lot better. So I think those things carried over. Games like these, that's what you want to work on. I thought the second half defensively we weren't good. ... Giving uncontested threes continuously (seven in second half). Those are disciplined things and you know (who) the shooters are. That we didn't do well, but we have a long way to go. But there were some positive things today. I think a lot more than the first game."

Freshman Kailyn Gilbert was steady again, adding 14 points while dishing three assists and grabbing five rebounds.

Lauren Fields was the other Wildcat to score in double figures. She put up 11 points.