The Arizona Women’s Basketball team faced a surprisingly tough first-round battle against UNLV in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night in McKale.
After three quarters, the visiting UNLV Women’s basketball team led by five, even against the relentless pressure of the Arizona Women’s Basketball team, aided by deafening crowd support.
An announced crowd of over 9,500 kept McKale reverberating with their cheers, and even impressed the opposing team’s coach.
But UNLV came to play. Despite being bolstered by the return of both Cate Reese and Lauren Ware, the Wildcats had to make a strong bid in the fourth quarter to finally subdue the Rebels. And in the end it was the play of Shaina Pellington that decided the game.
Pellington took over as point guard for the Cats after Aari McDonald’s graduation last year and has shone in several games this year including a pair of buzzer-beater-winning shots. Against UNLV, she poured in thirty points and grabbed four steals to seal the Cat’s NCAA first-round win.
The number four seeded Wildcats outlasted the thirteen seed Rebels despite being out-rebounded 36-22. That is a problem the Cats will need to correct against their next opponent North Carolina on Monday. They can’t expect to outscore the Tarheels by ten in the fourth quarter like they did the Rebels in order to garner a win.
The Cats did force the Rebels to commit nineteen turnovers, while only having seven themselves. They turned those miscues into sixteen points. Arizona also outscored UNLV in the paint 36-32.
The Wildcat effort on Monday at 7:00 should be fueled by another great McKale crowd, hopefully, they will play up to the level of that support. Of course, even if they do win, their reward is likely a game against number one seed, South Carolina, should the Gamehens get past eighth seed Miami. The third-round game will be in Greensboro, North Carolina. Not much of a gift for our Lady Cats.
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