Arizona women's basketball vs. No. 7 USC: Scouting report; new UA core; more cookies for Pueyo; Martinez's next level

No. 7 USC (21-5, 11-5) at Arizona (16-12, 8-8) | McKale Center | 6 p.m. Thursday | TV: Pac-12 Los Angeles | Radio: 1290-AM

She said it

Adia Barnes on guarding USC's JuJu Watkins: “We know she's going to score. She's high volume. She's always on the attack. We're not going to stop her. But we want to slow her down. We want her to be not efficient and make her take shots that are lower percentage shots. Now can we do (that)? That's another question. I think also containing the other players — not letting a role player go off like we did last time. Just keeping people in their roles and then slowing her down and just having different people guard her. I’m trying to get 14,000 fans her to help with that. Make it really loud and make it really hard. And that can help us out, too.”

The 3

In honor of the last go-round of the Pac-12, here are three questions with one of the league's coaches. Up next: USC’s Lindsay Gottlieb.

How have you seen JuJu (Watkins) grow over the season?

A: “I think she came in so college ready. A lot of the growth has been mental. She's really seeing the floor, her tempo control. She really learns off the film. I think she's learned on the fly and adjusted in real time to the physicality of the Pac-12 And how you have to keep yourself mentally and physically ready and I think she's really adopted a great routine of recovery and wanting to take care of herself off the court. A ton of growth throughout the year.”

How have you seen your team grow and adjust to playing with someone like JuJu, because your trajectory this year has been a real team effort?

A: “Certainly everything we’ve done has been a team effort. I think more so that we've learned how to play off one another, which is what the team learns over the course of the year. Where do people like the ball? When should I roll? When should I rise out of a ball screen? Where do people like to catch the ball? I think that we've grown in our chemistry and figuring out how to get how to get to our spots. Obviously, the team has understood that JuJu draws attention and the best thing they can do is own their spot, own their roll because we would be nowhere if other people can't make shots or make plays.”

What are you seeing in Arizona right now? How have they changed last in the past few weeks?

A: “I just think they've competed really hard all year. They seem super committed to one another, to playing hard and playing all out, which is what Arizona teams tend to do and they seem really locked in and they've come up with some big wins.”

Next level

Throughout Barnes’ tenure as coach with the Wildcats, at times it’s seemed like folks outside of Arizona or the Pac-12 footprint don’t always see what the Wildcats are doing on a game by game basis.

That changes in certain moments like when Arizona shocked then-No. 3 Stanford and finished off Cal just 36 hours later for the weekend sweep. Jada Williams was named Pac-12 freshman of the week for her performances — that includes her dropping 14 points in the last four minutes of the win over the Cardinal. Esmery Martinez was selected as Pac-12 player of the week, as well as collecting the the Associated Press' national Player of the Week honor. In addition, on Wednesday she was selected to NCAA's March Madness "starting five" for the week. 

Martinez has shown this season that she is ready for the next level. So of the WNBA teams that have been watching, what do scouts, coaches and GMs see in her?

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“A versatile post player that can shoot the 3, is athletic, good rebounder, they can defend multiple positions and that's tough. And a fighter,” Barnes said. “I think someone should have her in a camp and give her a chance. And I think she's gonna have a long pro career.”

Cookies

After collecting five steals against Stanford, Pueyo now has 285 career takeaways. She has moved into ninth place all-time in Pac-12 history and seventh among active Division I players.

Pueyo's teammates call her Cookie Monster — each of her steals referred to as a cookie. Each time she collects one, she motions on the court like she's eating cookies.

A new core

At Barnes' radio show Tuesday night, all four current freshmen — Jada Williams, Breya Cunningham, Skylar Jones and Montaya Dew — said they are staying in Tucson next season. And it looks like their demeanor — laughing, whispering secrets to each other — backs that up.

Courtney Blakely also said she was returning as she wants to finish her degree in accounting. She has one internship lined up for the summer and Barnes is helping her look for another one.

Isis Beh has one more year remaining in her eligibility. She is weighing her options. Her dad, Issacher, and others close to her want her to play for another year. Last week, she said that she just doesn’t know if she wants to be in school for what would be her sixth year, though she has only played three years because of an injury and COVID-19.

Sali Kourouma didn't say what her plans are, but at this point, chances are she is coming back.

Arizona's two walk-ons — Erin Tack, who is also on the UA track team as a javelin thrower, and Brooklyn Rhodes, the newest Wildcat — will both be coming back next season. In addition, Barnes announced that Rhodes is now also on scholarship. She put Tack on scholarship shortly after she joined the team in November.

By the numbers

1: Watkins owns the USC record for most games scoring at least 30 points in a single season. She has done this 12 times. On Sunday, in a 74-68 loss to then-No. 18 Utah she scored 42 points. This was the most scored by a USC male or female basketball player at the Galen Center.

25: Against then-No. 3 Stanford and Cal last weekend, Arizona scored a combined 25 more points off turnovers (47-22).

5: Last weekend, Pueyo’s favorite number was five. Against Stanford she had five rebounds and five assists. At Cal she chipped in another five assists and scored 10 points — a multiple of five.

Photos: Jada Williams, Arizona upsets No. 3 Stanford 68-61, Pac-12 women's college basketball