Arizona again proved anything is possible.
Thanks to timely shots and defense, especially from veterans Isis Beh and Helena Pueyo, the Wildcats fought back from down seven and found a way to win 90-82 in triple overtime over Washington on Sunday afternoon in front of 7,354 fans at McKale Center.
Arizona needed the game — and a sweep of the Washington schools — to keep its hopes alive for a berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats have won five of their last six at home to improve to 14-12 overall and 6-8 and sole possession of seventh place in the loaded Pac-12.
Washington suffered its second loss in multiple overtimes this weekend and has now lost six straight. The Huskies (13-12, 3-11) fell in double overtime at ASU on Friday night.
“Everybody found a way and did the things they’re supposed to do,” Arizona coach Adia Barnes said.
“They all fed the hot hand, too. Unselfish basketball again, good team basketball. Someone’s hot, they fed. Isis is killing it, so they’re trying to get her the ball. Those are the things that we need to do. And those are things we did. I’m proud of our team right now. I really, really am.”
Arizona forward Isis Beh, center, battles for a rebound with Washington’s Lauren Schwartz, left, and Hannah Stines, right, during the second overtime at McKale Center. Beh had a career-high 29 points, shooting a sizzling 10 of 11 from the field.
Arizona avenged a last-minute loss at Washington last month. Although, for a moment, it almost looked as if the Huskies were going to steal one again. At the buzzer at the end of regulation, with the score tied at 60, Lauren Schwartz made a jumper. At first glance no one knew if it counted, however an official review ruled that the ball didn’t leave her hands in time, so it was off to overtime.
It was Beh, who had a career day for Wildcats, doing just about everything. She scored nine of the Wildcats’ 13 points in the third extra period and stripped the ball on what might have been an easy UW layup down the stretch.
She scored a career-high 29 points (10 of 11 from the field), which at 91% is tied for the second-highest field goal percentage in UA history. She knocked down both 3-point attempts and drew key fouls when her team needed them — going 7 of 10 from the line. She also pulled down five rebounds — four offensive and added three assists.
Beh said it was a growing confidence within her and not just from her teammates and coaches, after Friday’s win over Washington State, when she finished with 11 points, that set up Sunday’s performance.
Besides her aggressiveness, it was also her connection with Pueyo, who dished a number of passes for baskets that were game-changers.
“We’re lifting partners and we always have inside jokes and stuff,” Beh said. “I feel like our connection off the court helps with our connection on the court. We always tell each other like ‘You need to shoot.’ We tell each other all the time, like ‘Stop passing the ball,’ because both of us try to pass too much.”
Pueyo was aggressive with her shot from the beginning and finished with 22 points‚ just one point off of setting a new career high. In Pueyo fashion, she filled the stat sheet, grabbing eight rebounds, dishing four assists, picking two steals and swatting two blocks.
Pueyo now has 280 steals, moving her into a tie for 10th place in the Pac-12 for career steals. She also played the entire game — 55 minutes — with no rest. That’s the most minutes any Pac-12 player has played in a game since at least the 1999-2000 season when the league started tracking that statistic.
Arizona jumped out to a 21-7 lead at the end of the first quarter on a leaning 3-pointer at the buzzer from Courtney Blakley. Shots were falling, and the swarming defense was humming for the Wildcats. It looked like another blowout win similar to the 64-45 victory over WSU two days prior. And then, Beh said, “We kind of hit like a point in the game where all of us were tired at the same time.”
Arizona’s Courtney Blakely, right, celebrates after draining a 3-pointer to end the first quarter and put the Wildcats up 21-7. Washington fought back, but UA prevailed in three overtimes to keep its NCAA Tournament hopes alive.
“We weren’t doing what we need to do. We weren’t denying the ball, weren’t being on the help side and stuff like that,” Beh said.
Despite slowing down in the second frame, Arizona still took a 38-31 lead into halftime. UW came roaring back in the third quarter and took a one-point lead, 46-45, into the final 10 minutes of regulation.
UW was up 69-62 in the first overtime. Down five with 42 seconds left, Jada Williams inbounded the ball to Beh, who was under the basket and scored. Pueyo knocked down a 3-pointer with nine seconds left to tie it up at 69-69 and then blocked a layup on the other end to send it into the second overtime.
Pueyo hit a mid-range jumper in the second overtime to give UA a 77-75 lead, then fouled on the other end. UW made both foul shots to send the game into the third extra period, where the Wildcats took over.
The three UA freshmen finished in double figures. Williams had 11 points and Breya Cunningham and Skylar Jones each had 10.
She said it
Barnes on the fans who stood up and cheered loudly during all three overtimes: “They helped us a lot. I don’t think we win the game without our fans. They’ve always been our sixth man. We have the best fans in the country. I love these fans, even when they’re 7,000, it feels like there’s 14,000. They show up, and they show out all the time. And they don’t leave early even when we’re losing. It’s not like that. Any other place — I’ve been at gyms and I they don’t have a crowd like this. Then, they leave early, like when it’s a close game. Well, it can be a blowout, we’re up or down, they don’t leave and they’re into it. And I don’t think we get the energy and the fight without that. You could see Jada was trying to pump up the crowd. I was, I usually don’t, but we were in it.”
Washington guard Hannah Stines, right, looks to make a pass as she’s defended by Arizona forward Isis Beh, far left, and guard Skylar Jones in the second half Sunday. UA won to improve to 14-12 overall and 6-8 in the Pac-12.
Key moment
In a long game with twists and turns, the Wildcats dug deep in the third overtime to outscore the Huskies 13-5 to secure the win. After spotting UW an 80-77 lead, it was all Wildcats from there on out. Beh took over, scoring on two inside shots, a 3-pointer and two free throws. Defensively, the Wildcats forced a shotclock violation, Beh stripped the ball on a UW layup, Pueyo grabbed a rebound and then Esmery Martinez stole the inbounds pass. Pueyo and Williams made free throws to tally the final score.
Stuffing the stat sheet
Martinez: 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals
Cunningham: 7 rebounds
Williams: 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals
Jones: 4 assists
By the numbers
34:56: Arizona held the lead for nearly 35 minutes, including the final 2:46 of the game
19: The Wildcats scored 19 points off 19 UW turnovers
7: UA outrebounded UW by seven, 39-32
