Saturday was not a good day for the Arizona Wildcats.
And that is putting it mildly.
From the tip, UA couldn't get much going in the right direction.
UNLV dashed off to a 20-point lead at the half and held on to defeat Arizona 72-53 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
Arizona drops to 6-2, while the Rebels, who received votes in the most recently Associated Press Top 25 poll, remain undefeated at 8-0.
In the first half, the Wildcats came out looking sluggish with none of their signature energy or grit.
Arizona women's basketball coach Adia Barnes said earlier in the week that the nearly two-week layoff between the final game at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in The Bahamas and this one against UNLV wasn't ideal. She said that she wanted to play in that tournament even though it was before Thanksgiving, which made it impossible to schedule another game. To top it off, a number of Wildcats were sick and at least one had a concussion during that long break. There weren't many days where the entire team practiced together. And it looked like that.
The Wildcats were forcing shots and passes, not playing tight defense. Just not playing Arizona ball.
Esmery Martinez, who picked up her second double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds in 35 minutes of action, was the one consistent player all game. She scored eight of UA's 13 points in the first quarter and finished with two assists, two blocks and two steals. She also took most of the beating — running into a hard screen, getting jumped on and even walking away from another hard shot looking like she was seeing stars.
"She always plays hard and is one of the toughest kids we have and that was clearly evident today," Barnes said of Martinez.
Sophomore guard Kailyn Gilbert came alive in the second half finishing with 21 points. At one point in the third quarter, she scored eight consecutive points and pulled down a defensive rebound. She was scoring on drives, step back jumpers and three-pointers. Gilbert also went 4-for-4 from the line.
The Wildcats started playing better defense — setting traps and forcing bad passes — as the game wore on, but at that point the deficit was too big to make a real dent.
She said it
"I felt lack of toughness, lack of urgency, and lack of fight," Barnes said. "I don't know if it was having a long break or just I think the surprise of getting punched in the mouth first from the get go. I don't know because they were smaller. I think they just really wanted it. They were super motivated. They're a team that has good chemistry has been together a long time. And I think they just got us on our heels and we never knew how to respond.
"I don't know. I don't know why that was. It just looked like they were tougher, more athletic. But we're bigger, stronger. And I just think we never really responded."
Key Moment
UNLV went on an 11-5 run with 3:48 left in the first quarter and that momentum continued through the half. UNLV outscored Arizona 18-7 in the second quarter and never relinquished the lead. Alyssa Durazo-Frescas scored all nine of her points (3 three-pointers) and Desi-Rae Young scored eight of her 21 points during that run.
Stat sheet
Martinez: 14 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals, 7 turnovers (35 minutes)
Gilbert: 21 points, 3 steals, 3 assists, 5 rebounds (32 minutes)
Breya Cunningham: 0 points, 2 blocks (14 minutes)
Isis Beh: 2 steals, 4 points (16 minutes)
Helena Pueyo: 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 0 points (38 minutes)
The other side
Young and Kiara Jackson each had 21 points. Jackson added seven assists. Tucson's Alyssa Brown, a Sahuaro High School alumna, had 10 rebounds.
By the numbers
2: Arizona made two three-pointers (Gilbert and Jada Williams) on 15 attempts or 13.3%.
11: Arizona only had 11 points from the bench.
7: UNLV made 7 of its 22 three-point attempts.
Up next
Who: UC San Diego (3-5) at Arizona (6-2)
When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: McKale Center
Watch: Arizona Livestream
Listen: 1290-AM
Arizona Women's Basketball Press Conference | Skylar Jones | Nov. 30, 2023
