Arizona Wildcats to celebrate Helena Pueyo, Esmery Martinez, Isis Beh on senior day Saturday at McKale

Arizona women’s basketball fans won’t want to forget their hankies Saturday night. This particular Senior Day at McKale Center might bring some tears when the UA celebrates fifth-year Wildcat Helena Pueyo and senior teammates Esmery Martinez and Isis Beh.

All three have said in their own way just how much being at Arizona has meant to them, yet none of them really wanted to think about their time as a Wildcat coming to an end.

“It’s been really, really special every year,” said Pueyo, the final player from Arizona’s Final Four run in 2021 to depart Tucson. “I learned so many things from coach Adia (Barnes), (UA assistant) Salvo (Coppa), all the coaching staffs. I think I’ve improved not just as a player but as a person. It’s just really special. I’m going to be sad. I don’t want to think about it yet. But yeah, it’s going to be really emotional on Saturday for me.”

Arizona (16-3, 8-9) hopes to send its seniors out with a win as it hosts No. 8 UCLA (23-5, 12-5) Saturday at McKale at 6 p.m. The Wildcats face a Top 10 opponent for the third time in nine days, and get the Bruins on the heels of a wild double overtime loss to No. 7 USC Thursday night. Joan Bonvicini and Cindy Brunson will be on the call on Pac-12 Arizona. Derrick Palmer has the radio call at 1290-AM.

This is the final game of the Pac-12 regular season not just for Arizona and UCLA, but, well, ever. The rest of the league’s games on the final day of 2023-24 should all be done by the time the Wildcats and Bruins tipoff; this summer, UCLA is joining the Big Ten while Arizona will move on to the Big 12.

Saturday’s matchup is also the back-end of a sort-of McKale doubleheader, as the UA men’s team plays Oregon at noon.

One word that seems to sum up Pueyo and Martinez as Wildcats: loyalty. Pueyo turned down a three-year professional contract to play basketball in Spain in the offseason to come back for her fifth and final year at Arizona. Similarly, Martinez was offered a contract to play internationally around Christmas but decided to stay in Tucson to finish out the season.

The recent decision wasn’t easy for Martinez, who is from the Dominican Republic. Her goal — the reason she came to the United States to play high school and college basketball — is to turn professional to take care of her family. As it is, she sends her monthly scholarship check home each month home to support them.

Both Wildcats saw the value of staying in Tucson to continue to develop their games, but also for other reasons.

“Adia is really a special coach,” Martinez said. “I love the community and I love the support the people give us here. I love how they treat us — really good people. I love everything.”

Each of the three seniors has taken a different path during their careers.

Pueyo was a quiet person when she arrived in Arizona five years ago from Spain during what would up being the COVID-19 shortened 2019-20 season. As the story goes from Barnes, Pueyo only said a few words of English and didn’t play defense at all. Now, she is a two-time captain of the Wildcats and is known to keep her teammates in good spirits as one of the funniest players on the roster. She’s also developed into one of the best defenders in the nation.

And she’s one of the most unselfish, sometimes passing up her own shots for her teammates.

Pueyo is one of the original “stuff the stat sheet” players as she typically does a bit of everything on the court, racking up points, assists, blocks, rebounds and minutes played. And she always defends the opponent’s best player, moving up the Arizona and national steals charts in the process.

“Helena is an awesome kid; a great student,” Barnes said. “Great in the locker room. I’ve never had a coaching issue with her. She’s never even rolled her eyes when I tell her something — even if I’ve been critical. She’s a great kid, like someone you’d want to coach every year.

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“I’ve loved coaching her. I’m sad. I’m really sad she’s leaving.”

One recent moment that encapsulates the impact that Pueyo has had on this year’s squad came last Sunday in Berkeley, California. A Cal player landed on top of her ankle and she cried out in pain; in that moment, every single UA teammate, plus Barnes and the trainer, gathered around her to help her.

“We were mad (about the injury) because we love Helena, so everyone was just pissed after that and we’re like, ‘You’re not gonna hurt her,’” Beh said. “We played differently (from there on out).”

Beh’s journey to Arizona has been long. She started out at UNLV and missed two seasons because of an injury and COVID-19. Like Martinez, Beh transferred from West Virginia, though Beh arrived in Tucson a year later. And while she still has one season of eligibility remaining, Beh is still deciding whether to come back or to start her post-playing career as a real estate agent.

Beh has been looked at to guide the UA’s freshmen. Her smarts over the last few weeks has allowed her to flourish on the court from scoring a career-high 29 points in the triple overtime win over Washington State to averaging 13.8 points over the last five games. Beh said she wouldn’t have wanted to play this year anywhere else.

“Adia is a special kind of coach to play for,” Beh said. “You can be honest with her about everything. You can talk to her about her real life. Skylar (Jones) and I go over and eat dinner at her house all the time just hanging out with her kids (Matteo and Capri). I feel like it’s been really a great experience to have a coach that you can trust and that you can just hang out with outside of basketball.”

Barnes has told Beh she wants her to come back. Beh has been a good connector, and she’s playing the best ball of her career. She’s played a reserve role throughout college and now Barnes has asked her to step up and she’s responded.

Martinez arrived in Tucson prior to last season and was on the Top-10 list for the national Katrina McClain award, given to the nation’s top power forward. But she’s expanded her game this year, become more in control of her emotions and seen practically every aspect of her game improve. She won Pac-12’s Player of the Week and national Associated Press Player of the Week honors after her performances against then-No. 3 Stanford and Cal.

Martinez, who played through a cut lip — she was said to be swallowing blood — against Cal, was elbowed in the face again Thursday night against USC. Still, she wanted to get back onto the court, not unlike when she was poked in the eye against Cal last season or had migraines and was throwing up before and during games earlier this season. Martinez is the type of player that Barnes said she wishes she had her entire college career.

“(She’s) one of the toughest kids I know,” Barnes said. “You never have to beg her to practice when something’s wrong. Not a lot of kids are made like that. She’s built different.”

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Photos: USC Trojans win 95-93 over Arizona Wildcats in 2OT, Pac-12 women's college basketball