No. 4 seed Arizona is hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 1990s making Friday’s game against UNLV a big event in Tucson.

Point guard Shaina Pellington responded with the performance of a lifetime as UA was able to defeat the 13th-seeded Lady Rebels, 72-67, to advance to the Round of 32.

In front of a red-out McKale Center crowd of nearly 10,000 fans, the Wildcats had Tucson on their side as they battled UNLV. In the end it was the defense gave Arizona the upper hand in the game as the Wildcats held the Lady Rebels to 14 points in the fourth quarter to seal the win after playing from behind during different parts of the game.

“That sense of urgency that you saw on the ball pressure, we need to have from the beginning, and we know that adjusting now,” UA head coach Adia Barnes said. “... That sense of urgency we can't wait until we have a deficit, and we can't wait until the game is on the line or they make a run. We have to do that consistently, and we're capable.”

Pellington tied her Wildcats career high with 30 points in the win. The UA guard did everything for the Wildcats as she went 10-for-19 from the field, including going 8-for-13 from the free-throw line.

Pellington helped Arizona go on a 15-3 run in the fourth quarter that ultimately decided the game with 13 of her points coming over the final 10 minutes.

“I think I was just comfortable,” she said. “Especially when I start hitting threes, I feel like I’m really in my element. I’m like, ‘Okay, they can’t guard me.’ Especially when I was attacking the rim, as well, I just felt super comfortable, and I think my teammates allowed me to do that.

“They gave me the confidence. They told me keep going, keep going, they can’t guard you. That really helped me when I was on the floor.”

The senior was also a force on defense being a driving force behind the Wildcats aggressive approach down the stretch Friday night. The Wildcats are naturally a defensive-focused team that uses their defense to create a strong offense, but it took time for that to develop against UNLV.

“In the first half defensively we kind of gave them a little bit too many options, like they were getting basically whatever they wanted, and when the game was on the line in the second half we knew we needed to come together as a team and get some stops,” Pellington said. “In practice every day we work on this thing where we do stops and scores, stops and scores, how many stops can you get and how many scores can you get.

"So I think it was just in the stretch that was just what we needed to do. We needed to connect more stops with more scores so we could be successful in that, and that's what we did.”

Arizona also received a boost with star forward Cate Reese returning to the starting lineup after missing the last few games with a shoulder injury. Even while on a bit of a minutes restriction, Reese contributed 16 points in the winning effort.

She was also effective defensively helping to protect the inside during a majority of her 20 minutes of action in the game.

“I mean I was nervous, I was excited,” Reese said of her return to the floor “I think my teammates did a great job of encouraging me. I think I missed some shots I normally wouldn’t but I mean I haven’t played in a while and was a little rusty but I think my teammates did a good job of finding me and encouraging me and I’m just super excited to be on the floor with them again.”

The turning point in the game came in the second half when Arizona went on a defensive run that slowed down the UNLV offense. As a team the Wildcats forced the Lady Rebels into 19 turnovers including forcing 10 in the fourth quarter.

Led by Sam Thomas, who had two blocks, and Lauren Ware, the Wildcats were able to run away stifle UNLV’s offense to end the night.

“They were too comfortable,” Reese said. “They were hitting shots that sometimes were tough. I think just being that Arizona defense that we normally bring, we have to bring that from the get-go here on out. It's do or die, so we have to be ready.”

Arizona struggled having its shots fall as a team early in the night as the Wildcats were only able to score nine points in the first quarter. Eventually, UA managed to shoot 45% by the end of the game, but Barnes knows there needs to be improvement all around moving forward.

“The game wasn’t pretty at all times,” she said. “I thought that we struggled defensively in some points of the game. I think they hit on some really big shots, tough shots. I thought first half the post players were way too comfortable inside, hitting some tough shots, but I think it was too easy in the beginning of the game, then they got really confident.”

The Wildcats will have one day to prepare for a second-round matchup against No. 5 seed North Carolina, which came back from 10 points down to defeat Stephen F. Austin, 79-66, on Friday.

Tip off for Monday’s Round of 32 game at McKale Center is set for 7 p.m. MST.

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