Wildcats finish long, tough road trip to Pacific Northwest with loss to Washington State, 78-57

Arizona came out with intensity Sunday, and for nearly three-quarters of the game, it looked like the Wildcats would take another game down to the wire.

Then, seemingly in an instant, Washington State wore down UA and pulled away to a 78-57 victory in Pullman on Sunday afternoon.

Arizona suffered its first Pac-12 loss this season that was more than one possession. Arizona is now 10-9 overall and 2-5 in the Pac-12.

UA coach Adia Barnes said playing four games on the road in the Pacific Northwest over a 10-day span, with so many close games, added up. In the three games heading into Sunday, UA had lost by three at Oregon State in double overtime, by two at Oregon and then by two at Washington on Friday night.

“I think the close games for a young team really defeats you. I honestly think that, so I have to find a way that shifts our mentality, help us not lose confidence and still get better,” Barnes said.

In the end, too many little mistakes piled up at the wrong time. A few too many fouls and more turnovers as the game moved into the final quarter. The Wildcats just couldn’t stop the Cougars on the defensive end, being out scored 44-26 in the second half.

Coming into the game, Arizona was eighth in the nation in steals, averaging 12.8 per game. The Wildcats only had three steals, forcing only six turnovers total for the Cougars (14-5, 3-3).

However, other things were working for the Wildcats — especially in the first half — as they gave up only two second-chance points and out-rebounded the Cougars 22-19.

Arizona ended up edging WSU in rebounding (40-39), something that has been a challenge up until the last two games.

Kailyn Gilbert once again was the leading scorer, driving into traffic to score and many times drawing fouls. She completed the double-double (her fourth this season) with 22 points and 11 rebounds and went 6 of 7 from the free-throw line.

For a second time this weekend, Esmery Martinez, did a little of everything for the Wildcats and finished just one rebound shy of a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds, with six of these being offensive. She also had three blocks.

Jada Williams was the other Wildcat in double figures with 10 points, going 4 for 8, and grabbing five rebounds.

Key moment

WSU held a 43-42 lead with five minutes left in the third quarter. The Cougars then got a second-chance opportunity as Bella Murekatete grabbed an offensive rebound and was blocked on an easy layup by Martinez. Murekatete went up again and was fouled by Martinez. She made both free throws for a 45-42 lead. The Cougars went to the line two more times, and Tara Wallack hit an open layup off a steal by Charlisse Leger-Walker for a 10-point lead.

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She said it

Barnes on the loss: “Washington State is a good team. They’re a better team than us right now. They have more weapons, they they’re cohesive on offense, they can score from every position, and they’re hard to guard with a lot of their actions. I think the hard thing for us was we had one pick-and-roll defense, and then we switch to three different ones. And we had a difficult time. We couldn’t stay in one pick-and-roll too long. And then let’s say we were trapping and the trap was soft, they would find the open person and really made us pay for that. That’s what they do. ...

“(Charlisse) Leger-Walker is extremely talented and very smart, you cannot play the on-ball one way the whole game. You go to a contain (defense), it’s a pocket pass or hurt us on offensive rebounds — and battling on offensive rebounds. You go to trap with no ball pressure she swings, gets the big girl for a layup or hits the corner.”

Stuffing the stat sheet

Helena Pueyo: 6 points (0 for 4 from long distance), 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals.

Gilbert: 3 assists, 3 turnovers.

Breya Cunningham: 8 rebounds, 1 block, 2 points.

The other side

For WSU, Murekatete left the game after she went after a loose ball, and her face slammed on the court. She returned to finish with 16 points (6 of 7 from the line), 11 rebounds and three steals.

Wallack scored 20 points, Jenna Villa and Eleonora Villa each had 11 and Leger-Walker added 10.

By the numbers

15: WSU went on a 13-2 run over three minutes to take a 15-point lead, 65-50.

5: UA had five points off six turnovers.

24: WSU attempted 24 3-pointers and made six of them.

5: The UA starters — Cunningham, Martinez, Williams, Pueyo and Gilbert — grabbed all 26 of the Wildcats’ defensive rebounds.