Entering the women's NCAA Tournament, Arizona's fine-tuned play can beat nearly anyone on any given day. But the Wildcats also have been plagued by inconsistency.
They are zipping passes around the perimeter, then into the post, then back out. They are setting up one of their many scorers — a Jade Loville, a Madi Conner, a Kailyn Gilbert or even a Lauren Fields — for that great knockdown shot.
The 2020 team was on the verge of doing something special — taking the Wildcats back to the NCAAs after more than a decade drought — before COVID-19 shut down the world. That might have been the best squad Barnes has coached, yet they stumbled at UCLA in January and followed that with two more winnable games at McKale Center that they just couldn’t close out. This was the team that beat No. 4 Stanford ... then lost to Cal a few days later.
“Shaina is a real talent,” former UA coach and current Pac-12 analyst Joan Bonvicini said. “She’s extraordinarily quick to get to the hole. To talk about it and to scout it is one thing. To see it in action, up close, is a whole different thing. In Arizona’s final three games — all losses — Pellington had a total of 27 points and made just 10 of 27 shots.
She has started a few times this season but prefers to come off the bench. And for good reason. This way Pueyo can watch what is happening, on offense and defense, and figure out where she is needed. Then she goes to work. “A lot of teams are going to focus on those girls that they consider the most athletic. She is , but because she brings a European style of play, they’re going to count her out. She’s somebody definitely who gives us the extra effort, that spark, and she’s going to be very consistent in what the need.”
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