The best description for the Pac-12 this season: Ultra-competitive.
The coaches always say there is no easy game in this league, and this season, matchups are even tighter. Across the board teams have improved, making each weekend a wild ride.
Just look at Friday night โ from No. 25 Colorado beating No. 8 UCLA in overtime to an unranked Oregon State giving No. 3 Stanford all it could handle until the very last seconds. Even Washington, with only two wins in Pac-12 play, made it difficult for No. 19 Arizona to pull out a 61-54 win.
The Wildcats, who host Washington State on Sunday, need only four more wins for UA coach Adia Barnes to hit the 20-win mark for the fifth consecutive season. No other Arizona coach has accomplished that feat. While it may be hard to determine just where the Wildcats stand at this point in the season, this might help: Last year Arizona went 21-8, with win No. 20 coming on the final day of the regular season.
As the Wildcats hit the Pac-12 midseason mark, we thought it was a good time to take a look back at the first nine games.
Here are our picks for individual and team awards:
Top Performer: Esmery Martinez
Martinez is the Wildcatsโ best all-around performer. She has 177 rebounds, with 71 coming on the offensive end to lead the Pac-12. Barnes has said that Martinez is the best rebounder she has ever coached. Martinez has 12 steals in the last nine games, including three apiece against Stanford, Oregon State and Colorado. Martinez likes to do everything, and it shows.
Runner-up: Shaina Pellington. Pellington can create for herself and her teammates on offense and can lock down her opponent on the defensive end.
Lockdown defender: Helena Pueyo
Pueyo is on the midseason watch list for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year. The last Wildcat to make that list was Aari McDonald in 2021. Pueyo leads the Pac-12 with 2.6 steals per game and has collected a career-high 53 this season. She also has 17 blocks โ nine in Pac-12 play and two apiece against Stanford, Arizona State and UW.
Runner-up: Lauren Fields. Barnes said that Fields shuts down the opponentsโ best guard, game in and game out. She has 38 steals โ 16 of them during the last nine games. She had three steals against UW and four against Oregon.
Biggest spark: Fields
Fields typically earns the UAโs Energizer Bunny award given when the team wins. She leaves everything on the floor every single game. She sets up her teammates on the offensive end and tries to make things happen for them, sometimes passing up her own shot to do so. On the defensive end, Fields contains her assignment and gets her hands in passing lanes for tips and steals.
Runner-up: Madi Conner. Conner is the spark off the bench. She comes in and gets the team going offensively, which is her biggest strength. She played a pivotal role in games against Oregon, ASU, UW and others. She is averaging 8.3 points per game during league play.
Arizona guard Shaina Pellington drives to the basket on a Wildcat fast break against Washington in their Pac-12 game at McKale Center on Jan. 27, 2023.
Most improved: Pellington
The game seems to have slowed down for Pellington as she is playing within herself. When she does that and doesnโt force things, she is at her best. Pellington played her first three league games with the flu and still managed to put up 31 points, grab five steals, dish 13 assists and pull down seven rebounds. She is still working on those free throws (17 of 36 in league play), but her other numbers are projecting out to be the best of her three-year UA career. She has 33 steals (career high is 40); five blocks (a career high); and is averaging 12.4 points, 3.8 assists 2.7 rebounds. All would be career bests.
Runner-up: Conner. Conner is averaging 8.3 points per game in league play. She has knocked down 11 of 26 3-pointers during the last nine games (42%).
Top freshman: Kailyn Gilbert
Gilbert has shown the ability to create for herself. She came off the bench at ASU and scoring five points in succession. She is still learning to read her opponents, what they are giving her and how to pass up that first quick, open shot, for a better one. But that comes with time. She also has improved on the defensive end.
Runner-up: Maya Nnaji. Nnaji has shown growth game by game, and even improvement in-game. She has been held back by injuries; a few weeks ago she was in concussion protocol. She makes her presence known on both sides of the court and is averaging nearly 14 minutes per game.
Arizona guard Lauren Fields protects the ball as she breaks through the defense of Oregon State guards AJ Marotte, left, and Bendu Yeaney in the first half of their game at McKale Center on Jan. 6, 2023.
Most exciting moment: Comeback win over Oregon State
How can you beat this one? Arizona was down 12 with a little more than three minutes left and went on a 15-4 rally to win. It was a team effort. Fields scored nine points down the stretch, including back-to-back 3s and a layup in less than a minute. Pueyo had a steal, a layup, a 3-pointer and two assists. Pellington had two steals and three assists and scored three points on a jumper and a free throw.
Runner-up: Oregon. This one was a back-and-forth battle until Conner checked in with 6:26 left in the third quarter and had 11 points in Arizonaโs 14-3 run. She finished with 16 points (3 of 4 on 3s) and was perfect from the foul line (7 for 7).
Worst loss: Colorado
Colorado has now beaten three ranked teams on Friday nights โ No. 8 UCLA, No. 9 Utah and No. 19 Arizona. So thereโs no shame here โ although Barnes would say that the way they lost stung. Another slow start for the Wildcats led to the need for yet another big rally in the closing minutes. This time it was the Wildcatsโ defense that hurt them โ giving up a 3 to Frida Formann on a missed assignment.
Runner-up: Most would say Utah given the controversial ending, but with the Utes at No. 8 in the country and the loss coming on their home court, again, this one will give the Wildcats points in the end. The only other loss in league play is Stanford. The game at Maples Pavilion was the Wildcatsโ third in five days . They did hold Stanford to 39% shooting, well under its average.
Best win: Oregon
Oregon was ranked at the time โ No. 17 in the AP poll โ and is always considered one of the top programs in the nation. Additionally, the Wildcats were not at full strength, as Nnaji was out all weekend in concussion protocol. That left Arizona shorthanded in the post position playing against much taller players at 6-8 (Phillipina Kyei), 6-7 (Kennedy Basham) and 6-3 (Grace VanSlooten).
Runner-up: Oregon State. Again, the Wildcats won despite having to play small against bigger players in Raegan Beers (6-4) and Jelena Mitrovic (6-9).
The University of Arizona once had a live "Wildcat" mascot; however, the current mascot โ with a few changes that include wife, Wilma, along the way โ Wilbur the Wildcat has been a favorite around Tucson for more than 60 years.
