Who: ASU (7-4) at No. 18 Arizona (10-1)
Where: McKale Center
When: 6 p.m.
TV: Pac-12 Networks
Radio: 1400-AM
Probable starters
ARIZONA
G Shaina Pellington (5-8 senior)
G/F Jade Loville (5-11 senior)
F Esmery Martinez (6-2 senior)
F Lauren Fields (5-9 senior)
F Cate Reese (6-2 senior)
ASU
G Treasure Hunt (6-2 junior)
G Tyi Skinner (5-5 junior)
G Jaddan Simmons (5-9 junior)
C Kayla Mokwuah (6-4 senior)
G Sydney Erikstrup (6-1 junior)
Key players
ASU — Tyi Skinner
Skinner followed her coach — Natasha Adair — to ASU from Delaware and it was the best move this season for her and the Sun Devils. She is all-everything, leading the squad in points (20.6 ppg), 3-pointers (37%), free throws (83%), assists (3.2 per game) and steals (21). The 5-foot-5-inch guard even has a block.
Arizona — Shaina Pellington
Pellington is always dependable in big games. With this one being a rivalry game, expect Pellington to be ready. She’ll do whatever it takes to get the ‘W’ for the Wildcats whether that’s leading the team in scoring like she did against Baylor (18 points) on Dec. 18 or knocking down last-second shots like she did last season against Vanderbilt and Oregon State.
Matchup history
UA is 37-63 against its rival ASU. Arizona coach Adia Barnes is 6-7 over the last seven years, with five of those losses coming in Tempe. In December of 2019, the Wildcats broke a 19-game losing streak in Desert Financial Arena — going back 18 years.
Last season in Tempe it was Jade Loville, a Sun Devil at the time, who broke loose for 27 points. The Wildcats couldn’t stop her. She was bested by Pellington, who put up 30 points, dished five assists and picked two steals. Still, ASU came out on top 81-77.
UA won the rematch two days later in Tucson, 62-58, as Cate Reese had a team-high 17 points.
She said it
“(Tyi) Skinner is really good. She reminds me of like a younger version of Aari (McDonald). She can get hot. She talks — I love her energy. I love players like that — I hate to play against them. I love when they get pumped and start yelling threes and all that stuff. But she’s fast, she defends. We definitely have to control her and stop her in transition — not let her get hot. …
“They have a good team. They have size inside; they bring some size off the bench. (We) have to play our game. We have an advantage running the floor with our post players and I think just a little more depth from our guards. I think it’s going to be a good game, but rival games are always really tough.” – UA coach Adia Barnes
Sidelines
Another win
Every Wildcat was in Tucson in time for practice on Monday afternoon. This was no easy feat especially with all the Southwest Airlines flight cancellations. The thousands of travelers who were — and are — stranded could have used a bit of help from Kayla Scott, UA’s director of operations.
Scott, who is from Dallas, cut her holiday short — flying back on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas, because “I had a feeling that things wouldn’t go perfect, so I knew I would need to be available.”
The day wasn’t perfect. Scott was on the phone all day with airlines and Shorts Travel, UA’s travel agents — and wanted to give a big shoutout to Raul, the after-hours agent, who spent all day helping her.
For Scott it was a stressful day, but she stayed calm, saying, “I knew I would find a way to get it done regardless.”
She re-booked Lauren Fields (from Oklahoma) and Kailyn Gilbert (from Tampa) on flights from different airlines arriving on Monday. Scott’s biggest challenges came on connecting flights.
“Lemyah (Hylton) and Shaina (Pellington) were delayed six hours from Toronto to Tucson,” Scott said. “Luckily, they made it in time for an 8 p.m. flight that I was able to get two seats on after six hours of asking. Assistant coach Ashely Davis was already booked on that same flight, so they had someone to greet them in Houston and fly with them to Tucson after a long day.”
Now, as the Wildcats focused on ASU, Scott has one thing left to do — track down missing luggage.
Weather delay
There actually was one weather delay Sunday. Loville spent the holiday with her grandma (Josie), mom (Nina) and brother (Derek) in Seattle. There were ice storm warnings. Fortunately, the ice melted by the time she flew out Sunday, but she still faced delays and had to switch planes. She arrived in Tucson around midnight Sunday.
Fun Facts
Arizona: Davellyn White put up the only triple-double in UA history (31 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists) in an 81-77 double overtime loss to ASU on Feb. 19, 2013. This was in a stretch that ASU beat UA six times over a three-year period.
ASU: Skinner’s nickname is Showtime and she has six siblings … Morasha Wiggins, who was ranked No. 18 by ESPN for the Class of 2021, played at North Carolina last season, but didn’t play in any postseason games at McKale Center.
Numbers game
56 — Consecutive weeks that UA has been ranked in AP poll dating back to Nov. 25, 2019. It’s the longest streak ever for the program.
40% — Former Wildcat Lucia Alonso is first in the UA record books in 3-point percentage (with a minimum of 200 attempts) at 40%. Monika Crank is second (39%), Lisa Griffith (38%), Sam Thomas (37%) and Julie Brase (36%) round out the top five.
15.7% – UA’s steal rate on opponent possessions, which is fourth in the nation. The Wildcats are averaging 13.3 steals per game. Helena Pueyo (2.4), Esmery Martinez (2.1) and Lauren Fields (2.0) are leading the way.
