Arizona Women's Basketball

Cate Reese four-time All-Pac-12 selection; Shaina Pellington co-Most Improved Player

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Information from the Arizona media-relations department contributed to this report:

Four members of the Arizona women’s basketball team have earned Pac-12 honors, as announced by the conference office Tuesday.

— Senior guard Shaina Pellington was voted Pac-12 Co-Most Improved Player of the Year, sharing the accolade with Colorado’s Aaronette Vonleh, who transferred from Arizona after last season. Pellington additionally was named to the All-Pac-12 Team and Pac-12 All-Defensive Team, both for the first times in her career. Arizona’s leading scorer this season, the Pickering, Ontario, Canada, native averaged 13.4 points per game on 54.2 percent shooting from the field. She improved her scoring average by more than two points and her field goal percentage by 10.5 percent from the 2021-22 season. Pellington garnered national attention after a stellar weekend against Utah and Colorado that included a career-high 35-point performance against Utah and reaching 1,500 career points in the game against Colorado. Pellington was second on the team in steals this season with 1.9 per game.

— Senior post player Cate Reese was also named to the All-Pac-12 Team, becoming the second player in program history to garner a spot on the team four times. She is the 18th player in Pac-12 history to be a four-time selection and the first since Ruthy Hebard and Sabrina Ionescu of Oregon. Reese averaged 12.8 points per game in her fifth season with the Wildcats and was extremely consistent, scoring in double digits in 20 contests. The fifth-year senior had a standout performance in the double-overtime victory at USC, pouring in 33 points for a career best.

— Senior forward Esmery Martinez garnered All-Pac-12 Team Honorable Mention laurels after an impactful first year in Tucson after transferring from West Virginia. She led the team in rebounding with 8.6 per game and averaged double-digit scoring on the season at 10.8 points per game. Martinez tallied seven double-doubles, including a 15-point, 15-rebound performance against Cal that also included seven assists. She scored her 1,000th career point at UT Arlington and grabbed her 1000th career rebound in the matchup with Cal.

— Senior guard Helena Pueyo attained a spot on the All-Pac-12 Defensive Team for the first time in her career after garnering honorable mention in the category last season. She led the team in steals with 2.3 per game, good for second in the Pac-12. The senior is additionally averaging 3.0 rebounds per game and was on the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Midseason Watchlist. Pueyo led the league in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.9.

Arizona faces the winner of Arizona State/UCLA in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament Thursday at 1 p.m. The Wildcats earned a first-round bye in the conference tournament for the fourth-straight season.

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