After starting the game shooting an ice-cold 31% from the field and trailing 14-12 at the end of the first quarter, No. 11 Arizona (4-0) erupted in the third quarter and shot 71% from the field, making for a 78-36 victory over Marist (2-2).
"I think we kind of just got used to their defense. They play a defense like Stanford and Oregon State; they sag more in the key.
"They're making a shoot, so you feel open when you're supposed to be open, or you're open and you take that first shot in the shot clock, so it kind of messes with your rhythm. So I think we kind of realized it, found our way got to get lower into the shot clock. Take the shots. We want to reverse the ball a few times," said forward Sam Thomas on the team's offensive turnaround.
Thomas ended her night with 14 points, three rebounds, two blocks and two steals while going 5 for 8 from the field.
In the third quarter, the Wildcats outscored Marist 26-5 while going 6 for 8 from the 3-point line.
During the dominating third quarter, point guard Shaina Pellington went 3 for 3 from the field and scored all seven of her points. Pellington finished with seven points, three rebounds and four assists with one turnover.
"I think the game kind of just slowed down for me; I just needed to take a breath. It was really great for me to hit those shots, get my confidence up and use my abilities because I have worked this entire summer on different things. You need to build confidence. So hitting the shots really helped me," said Pellington on her shooting.
For Arizona, it was another game where the new size coach Adia Barnes has on her team won the battle of the paint. The Wildcats outscored Marist 36 to 18 in the paint and outrebounded the Red Foxes 53 to 27, causing 19 second-chance points.
"So the versatility is extremely important. I like players to play inside-out even saw Ariyah (Copeland) take three. I don't think she ever attempted a three in her career before today. But I like that that's what she works on. She has a good shot. So I'm not going to tell her not to shoot them and tell her to shoot that. So if a team is bigger and stronger, we can go big. If it seems more versatile, we can play more guard-like posts. We can play Lauren (Ware) and Cate (Reese) together where they both shoot the three. So I think you become more dangerous and less predictable," said Barnes on the versatilely of her post players.
Arizona will now travel during the Thanksgiving weekend to St. Thomas to take part in the Paradise Jam.
"It prepares us for the Pac-12 tournament, for the NCAA tournament. It also is good because we're playing completely different types of teams.
"Vanderbilt has a new coach, a friend of mine who's a good coach. Then we play against a super-aggressive defensive style just like ours with Rutgers and then DePaul is a 3-point shooting high octane offense. So those are three teams that are really different and is good preparation for us going to the Pac-12," said
The Wildcats will open their trip with a Vanderbilt (2-2) on Thanksgiving day at 1:15 p.m. (MST).
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