One word everyone uses to describe Esmery Martinez is tough.
It’s easy to see why.
Just look at what the Arizona Wildcats forward endured the first week of Pac-12 play at Cal and Stanford.
About four minutes into the Cal game, her teammate, Jade Loville, accidentally poked her in the eye.
Martinez was forced off the court — she didn’t want to leave — and was aided by Arizona’s trainer, Bart Jameson, because she couldn’t see out of her right eye. Back on the bench, she was still unable to open it.
She was helped to the locker room, where she was told they could put glue on to keep the eyelid open.
Martinez would have nothing to do with that — at least not in that moment.
“(The trainer) told me if they put some glue there, it would go through to my eyes because I was sweating,” said Martinez, who transferred to Arizona from West Virginia last spring. “I said, ‘No. Just wait until after the game.’ … They were asking me if I was ready to play, I was ready to play.”
The Wildcats hope Martinez is ready to play Sunday when No. 14 Arizona (14-3, 4-2 Pac-12) faces No. 10 Utah (14-1, 4-1) at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The Wildcats have won the last two matchups in Salt Lake City. They are looking to split the weekend after losing to Colorado 72-65 on Friday night.
Martinez came out on fire against Cal, grabbing rebound after rebound after rebound after rebound — four in the first two minutes of the game.
But after her injury, it was a different story. She wouldn’t pull down another rebound over the next 30 minutes. She only attempted three shots, making one. She ended up fouling out in the fourth quarter.
Still, there were some bright spots. Somehow, she had two steals and dished two assists in the second half with limited vision.
“I played like that with one eye,” Martinez said. “I couldn’t see anything because my eye was really closed. It was really bad. But I pushed through and tried to do my best. I couldn’t really see, but I could see out of a little sliver. My eye was really swollen.”
Martinez was more upset with fouling out than anything else. One thing she’s learned is that “I can’t be in foul trouble because my team needs me doing the work in there.”
Next up was Stanford and Cameron Brink — one of the best forwards in the country — less than 48 hours later. Martinez played 27 minutes in that matchup, and the Wildcats got a lot of things from her that don’t show up in the box score.
“I thought she did a really good job defensively against Cameron Brink,” UA coach Adia Barnes said. “Really being physical, forcing her to step a little bit further out.
“She’s doing so many things that don’t show up … she’s tipping and pursuing the ball. It’s helping other people get rebounds. I think she’s a really good player.”
Martinez helped hold Brink to 3 of 15 shooting (20%), including 0 of 6 from the 3-point line, for 12 points. She also had six rebounds. Brink is shooting 54% and pulling down 9.4 rebounds per game. (Brink did block four shots against Arizona).
Martinez said her eye was better, but she was just following instructions from Barnes to focus on defending Brink.
Arizona forward Esmery Martinez, left, has proved to be a valuable contributor for the Wildcats, averaging 11.2 points and 8.5 rebounds in her first season in Tucson.
It hasn’t gotten much easier for Martinez, who is listed at 6-2 but jokes that she might really be 6-1. There are a lot of big, strong posts in the Pac-12, including a few she faced last weekend in Oregon State’s Raegan Beers (6-4) and Oregon’s Phillipina Kyei (6-8) and Grace VanSlooten (6-3). And a pair from this weekend in Colorado’s Aaronette Vonleh (6-3) and Utah’s Alissa Pili (6-2).
“I’ve never guarded anyone who is strong like (Beers), and she knows how to use her body,” Martinez said. “I know I am a strong player, so I just do me. I’m a really fast post player, and I try to back up and box out. Then they won’t do anything. I try to play like a guard.”
That explains her steals. Martinez already has 35 this season and is on track to surpass her career high of 56 from her sophomore year at West Virginia. She also has improved her help defense.
Martinez is averaging 11.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. She is shooting 51.4% from the field and 40.7% from the 3-point line.
Barnes said Martinez is playing at a high level. There are a few other things they are working on that will not only help Martinez now but in the future. They include being more consistent from the 3-point line and cutting down on turnovers.
“When she does that, and works on that in the offseason, she’ll come back an even better player,” Barnes said. “Because if she can handle it a little bit better from outside, it enables us to put her maybe at the three and the four (positions). It makes us bigger, stronger, and it gives us an amazing rebounder from that position (the three). She’s doing great. She’s been a great addition.”
Martinez leaves it all on the court. That’s just who she is. Whether it’s knocking down eight points in a fourth-quarter rally that came up short against Colorado Friday (after not scoring all night), starting the come-from-behind win over Oregon State with a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 10 points (and picking up a key defensive rebound down the stretch) or playing with impaired vision during the Cal and Stanford games, Martinez never stops battling.
“She’s a tough kid, and it tells you she loves to play,” former UA coach and broadcaster Joan Bonvicini said. “She’s a competitor and can accept pain, because I remember that she got hit pretty good.
“That’s the thing when you love to play — within reason — you find a way to get it done.”
