No. 17 Arizona women finish strong, rout California 80-57

Seattle Sports

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Shaina Pellington scored 24 points, Esmery Martinez came close to a triple-double, and No. 17 Arizona defeated California 80-57 on Sunday.

Martinez had 15 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists, and Pellington made 9 of 12 field goals. Cate Reese added 15 points and Lauren Fields 10 for the Wildcats (19-6, 9-5 Pac-12).

Arizona got off to a slow start, leading only 12-10 after one quarter. The Wildcats shot 62.5% in the second quarter and scored 21 points to take a 33-20 halftime lead. Arizona shot 53% (51% for the game) and scored 47 points in the second half. The Wildcats made 6 of 17 3-pointers and 12 of 14 free throws.

Cal was within 57-50 with 7:04 remaining in the game but finished on a 1-for-11 shooting slump. Arizona pulled away, making 7 of 8 shots to finish the game.

Jayda Curry scored 15 points, Ugonne Onyiah 14 off the bench and Leilani McIntosh 10 for the Golden Bears. Onyiah added eight rebounds.

Arizona, which bounced back from an 84-60 loss to No. 6 Stanford last Thursday, hosts No. 7 Utah on Friday.

Cal’s next game is at home against No. 18 UCLA, also on Friday.

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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25