ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) — Cate Reese scored 19 points and No. 9 Arizona broke free from a back-and-forth game against DePaul for a 75-68 victory Friday in the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam tournament.
Shaina Pellington scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half as the Wildcats (6-0) again struggled with another pesky opponent to remain undefeated.
Lauren Ware added 12 points and Ariyah Copeland had 10 for Arizona, which battled with the Blue Demons through six lead changes and eight ties before taking control.
Tied 56-all with just under 8 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Arizona scored on three straight possessions – a pair of layups by Reese, and one by Ware – over a 43-second span to kick off an 11-2 run that would put the Wildcats up 67-58 on another Reese layup with 3:48 left.
Freshman Aneesah Morrow had a double-double with 24 points and 16 rebounds for DePaul (4-2), with Deja Church adding 13 points and Lexi Held 10.
The Blue Demons got off to a hot start against Arizona in the first quarter, going up 15-8 on Morrow’s 3-pointer with 5 minutes, 14 seconds left. But the Wildcats rallied, closing the period with an 11-2 run, capped by Reese’s layup with 33 seconds remaining for a 19-17 lead.
Arizona would go up by 10 points in the second, leading 32-22 on Bendu Yeaney’s layup with 4:06 left. This time, it was the DePaul which rallied, with a 12-4 run – capped by Church’s layup with 20 seconds remaining – cutting the Wildcats’ lead to 36-34 at the break.
BIG PICTURE
Arizona: Another tough game for last season’s NCAA Tournament finalists, after going down to the wire before beating Vanderbilt on Thursday.
DePaul: After a close win over Rutgers on Thursday, the Blue Demons stepped up their game the next day – and nearly took down their first AP Top 10 opponent since beating then-No. 9 Kentucky on Dec. 16, 2020.
UP NEXT
Arizona: Closes out Paradise Jam against Rutgers on Saturday.
DePaul: Faces Vanderbilt in its final tournament game Saturday.
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