Who: No. 15 Arizona vs San Diego
Where: Jenny Craig Pavilion, San Diego
When: 5 p.m.
TV: WCC Network
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)
SAN DIEGO
G Myah Pace (5-11 senior)
G Kiera Oakry (5-10 senior)
G Ayanna Khalfani (5-11 senior)
G Kylie Horstmeyer (6-0 sophomore)
F Kasey Neubert (6-1 senior)
Key players
San Diego โ Myah Pace
Pace is in her sixth year at San Diego. In her last full season, 2020-21, she led the team with 11.8 points and 5 rebounds per game. The year before, she set the Torerosโ single-season steals record with 92. After missing last season with an injury, Pace has returned to form: Sheโs averaging 12 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Pace also has eight steals.
Arizona โ Helena Pueyo
Pueyo is the best ballhandler the Wildcats have. She didnโt record her first turnover of the season until the Wildcats played Long Beach State in their fourth game of the season. Her steadiness with the ball has only gotten better each year: She committed 39 turnovers as a freshman, a figure that fell to 22 as a sophomore and 24 as a junior. Sheโs also hitting more than 80% of her shots this season, the best mark of her UA career.
Matchup history The two teams have met four times, with Arizona going 3-1. The Wildcatsโ only loss came in a November 2015 game at Jenny Craig. Twins Maya and Malina Hood led the Toreros with a combined 32 points, 19 rebounds, five steals, three assists and two blocks. UA was led by Bre Workman and Mel Washington, who scored 10 points each. Workman added seven rebounds, a steal and a block, while Washington dished four assists.
She said it
โThey have really good rebounders from all five positions, so they will challenge us on the boards to be disciplined and box out.
โThe majority of their offense goes through their post players. That will be a different look for us than what we have seen in the past. Their best player is No. 10, Myah Pace. We will have to have a very good defensive plan for her.โ โ UA assistant coach Ashley Davis, who scouted the Toreros
Sidelines
All in the family
Six Toreros โ Neubert, Horstmeyer, Claire Gallagher, Melesungu Afeaki, Veronica Sheffey and Courtney Wristen โ have family members who played sports at the college level.
Neubertโs dad, Keith, played in the NFL for the Jets and Eagles; Horstmeyerโs mom, Caren, played pro basketball in Greece. There are also Pac-12 connections: Neubertโs brother, Tatum, played basketball at Oregon; Gallagherโs mom, Emily, played basketball at Stanford; Sheffeyโs dad, Tyrone, and her brother, Jaden, both played football at UW.
Best in the West
This weekโs AP rankings feature five Pac-12 teams: Stanford (2), Arizona (15), Utah (17), Oregon (18) and UCLA (20). The league has a greater portion of teams ranked (41.7%) than any other in the country.
Pac-12 teams have won 51 of their first 55 games heading into Friday, a .927 winning percentage that ranks first in the nation. The league is averaging a combined 81.8 points per game and is shooting 47%, also first in the country.
โThatโs how it always is. You always overlook the Pac-12 until things happen,โ Arizona coach Adia Barnes said.
Fun facts
Arizona: Wildcats hail from seven U.S. states (Arizona, New York, Texas, Minnesota, Florida, Oklahoma and North Dakota) and four countries (Canada, the Dominican Republic, the United States and Spain.)
San Diego: Harsimran Kaur was the first female NBA Academy prospect from outside of Australia (from India) to train at the NBA Global Academy.
Numbers game
1 โ USDโs national ranking last season in steals (410).
2 โ Two Final Fours will be played in the West over the next seven years. Phoenix will host in 2026 and Portland will host in 2030.
McKale Center was built at the University of Arizona in the early 1970s. There have been updates through the years.
