After not playing a game since Dec 17, when No. 4 Arizona (11-0, 1-0 Pac-12) beat NAU 82-55, The Wildcats were back in action against Washington State (9-5, 1-2), and despite missing two starters, Adia Barnes' squad walked away with the 60-52 victory.

"I'm extremely proud of our team. They showed resiliency tonight. We played a very good team, and Washington state has all five returners back. They play really well, offensively. They have a lot of weapons, and they just kind of grind on you. So, we knew this was going to be a tough game, said Barnes on her team's performance.

"But I'm just proud of the way that we found to win. It wasn't perfect. We haven't played in 25 days. We're down two starters, two really important starters. We're down, Lauren (Ware), who's our best post defender. One of our best rim protectors and shot blockers. And then you know, to be down Shaina (Pellington) who's extremely athletic and quick and presses the ball like Aari (McDonald) used to do, you know, for 30-plus minutes. So, we looked really different."

With Pellington unavailable, Barnes inserted guard Helena Pueyo into the starting rotation for just the second time in her Arizona career.

"Well, she's just out. So, she's just gonna be out for a couple more days, but possibly back on Sunday. We're just not sure," said Barnes on Pellington's status.

Given a chance to start against WSU, Pueyo shined in the starting point guard role, didn't record a turnover in 36 minutes, and went 3 for 4 from the 3-point line scoring 12 points.

"I think tonight I try like to shoot the ball more like the other games. So, I think it was good. I'm just gonna keep like doing that inn the next game, said Pueyo on her shot.

"They just told me to be more aggressive, so I think I did that better. I'm always looking for my teammates too. I think that's what I'm doing, just looking for a good pass for my teammates and also like shooting the ball."

Although Pueyo didn't have a turnover, Arizona as a team struggled to keep position of the ball and turned it over 15 times, leading to 19 points for WSU.

"It is from rust. It is from different people in different positions. But despite that, we can have 15. I think, you know, Koi (Love) came in, I think five herself in some of those. Like, they're just not turnovers that we can have at those times of the game. But it was everybody, everybody to have a couple that's not us. And usually, we do a really good job," said Barnes on the number of turnovers.

Forward Cate Reese was able to score 11 points in the second half to help her team hang on for the victory.

Reese finished with a team-high 20 points on 57% shooting from the field and collected seven rebounds.

Arizona will now travel to face USC (7-4, 0-1) on Sunday in a makeup game instead of facing Washington as previously schedule. The game can be livestreamed on the Trojans' website at 4 p.m. (MST).

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