UA women's basketball notebook: Esmery Martinez thrives under pressure; Helena Pueyo making noise

You can always count on Esmery Martinez to give it her all.

There could be two 6-foot-8-inch posts collapsing on her in the paint while she’s trying to go up to score, and she’s going to try to bust through, make a move or pass off to a waiting teammate.

She also has to sometimes battle against an old nemesis: a migraine headache.

The migraines have come in bunches this season to the Arizona senior. Martinez has started taking medication, but that doesn’t always help.

During nonconference play, one migraine was so debilitating that she missed a game. Other times, she was able to play through them, like in Sunday’s 63-52 win against rival Arizona State at McKale Center.

She was sick before the game, and at times during the matchup, she winced in pain, not from the Sun Devils, but from the headache.

Still, with the extra pressure of UA facing its rival, Martinez came away with her fourth double-double of the season, collecting 18 points and 15 rebounds to go with two steals and two assists in 30 minutes.

When Arizona coach Adia Barnes saw Martinez before the game, she wasn’t really sure how many minutes she could go.

“I thought I’d really have to play her a couple minutes, (then) take her out,” Barnes said. “I didn’t think she’d ready to go because her head was hurting at the beginning of the game. And then she came out en fuego. … I kept on asking her and she was fine.”

Martinez scored eight of the Wildcats’ 14 points in the first quarter. She was aggressive but smart going after rebounds, and with just under seven minutes left to play in the third, already her 37th career double-double.

She also was called for only one foul the entire game, which is key as shorthanded Arizona has just one sub available in the post group — Isis Beh. Martinez knows she needs to stay on the floor to help her teammates.

“I didn’t know I was going to play that much because I don’t feel well, so I just pushed through and I tried to help my teammates,” Martinez said.

Over the last five games, Martinez is averaging 14.4 points and 9.4 rebounds in nearly 29 minutes per game.

In the last three games, UA has had one less player available as Kailyn Gilbert has been out for undisclosed reasons. Despite having only seven players, the Wildcats have rolled with it, winning two out of three. The only loss coming to Stanford, which is ranked No. 6 this week.

These are the times with extra hurdles in front of her that Martinez thrives in.

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“I think it’s better,” Martinez said. “I think with seven players we are going to play harder. We’re going to dive more for the ball. We’re going to be physical because when you know you only have seven players, you got to give it everything. For me, it’s great. We need more players, but it is what it is. We’ve got to just come out and do what we’ve got to do.”

Moving on up

UA’s Helena Pueyo may not be the flashiest player on the court — far from it — yet, in her own way, she has been making a lot of noise.

Whether it’s making it harder for the opponent’s best player to get their typical points or snagging more steals, Pueyo has been making her final season as a Wildcat count.

Sunday, Pueyo added three steals to her career mark, which is now 267 — second place on UA’s all-time list. She moved past Sam Thomas (264) and Davellyn Whyte (266). Only one UA player is ahead of her: Dee Dee Wheeler, with 304.

The most important steal came at the end of the third quarter as she cleanly took the ball and pass to a sprinting Skylar Jones, who scored. That put UA up 45-41 and sparked a 9-0 run that would help the Wildcats pull away.

On the defensive end, Pueyo matched up with the Sun Devils hottest player, Jalyn (Ice) Brown and kept her well under her 17.5-point average with 12 points. Pueyo didn’t allow her space to get the right angle to drive and altered shots with her length.

“(Helena) is really sneaky,” Barnes said. “She’s not the fastest. She’s not the most athletic, but she anticipates extremely well. I’d say one of the best in the country at that. Reading and just a super high basketball IQ. (Helena) did a good job of keeping her in front of her. Giving her enough space, so she is not just getting blowbys. A really solid performance.

“And she is playing a lot of minutes. It’s funny because today I felt like she didn’t play as much but she still played 37 (minutes). Having her off the floor for like 2½ (minutes) is a long time. She’s just such a good player. It’s hard to it’s hard to keep her off the floor — a lot like Sam Thomas used to be.”

A calm demeanor

In the third quarter against ASU, the game got a little … well, chippy is a nice way to say it. A little extra pushing here and there. There were big hip checks on Jada Williams and a lot of jawing between the teams. At one point, a double technical was assessed on UA’s Courtney Blakely and ASU’s Jaddan Simmons. Blakely gave an “in your face” hand gesture to Simmons.

During all of this, Barnes could been seen on the sidelines not reacting – just calmly getting her players over so she could talk to them.

Barnes had a simple message for them: “Basketball is emotional … don’t get into that. You let your game speak for you.”

Barnes is usually not in the ear of the official after every call that doesn’t go the Wildcats’ way. Yes, she does complain at times but she isn’t a coach who goes ballistic or storms onto the court to show her displeasure.

“(For) me as a coach, I don’t get crazy on the sidelines, (it’s) not my personality,” Barnes said. “I’m not yelling and screaming and cussing, because then what happens to your team? Your team is reflection of you. Then they’re yelling, screaming, cussing, complaining. I don’t make it a habit to complain to the refs. Do something about it. Make the adjustment. That’s what good players do.”