Information provided by the Arizona media-relations department
Shaina Pellington scored 19 points and Esmery Martinez had a double-double in No. 18 Arizona’s 85-51 victory over Loyola Marymount 85-51 on Friday night at McKale Center.
Martinez, averaging 17.5 points and 10 rebounds through the first two games, had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Wildcats (3-0).
Cate Reese added 15 points and Maya Nnaji had seven points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Pellington made 7 of 9 shots from the field.
The Lions (1-3) kept it close in the first few minutes, leading 13-12 before a steal and jumper by Helena Pueyo started a 12-0 Arizona run to finish the first quarter.
Arizona allowed only three points over the final four minutes of the second quarter and led 45-25 at halftime before scoring the first 10 points of the third quarter to go up by 30.
The Wildcats’ largest lead was 38 near the 3-minute mark of the fourth quarter.
Arizona, third in the nation in scoring (100 points per game) entering the game, scored 32 points off 21 LMU turnovers and had a 24-3 advantage in second-chance points.
The Wildcats will next play Long Beach State (1-1) on Sunday at 2 p.m. at McKale Center.
NOTES
-Arizona extended its winning streak in the month of November to 21 games with Friday’s win over LMU while avenging its last loss in the month of November, which came to LMU on Nov. 21, 2017.
-The Wildcats entered Friday’s game ranked third in the nation in margin of victory at 48.5 points per game and downed the Lions by 36 points, marking the first time in program history Arizona has opened a season with three consecutive wins of 35 or more.
-The Wildcats ended the first quarter on an 11-0 run in the final 3:12 to enter the second quarter with a 23-13 lead. Arizona had seven different players combine to score its 23 first-quarter points.
-The Cats forced nine turnovers in the first quarter and finished the win over LMU with 20 forced turnovers after forcing 24 in each of their first two wins of the season.
-Martinez ended her night on Friday with 14 points and 11 rebounds for her second double-double in the first three games of the season. After the season-opening trio of wins, Martinez is averaging 16.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per game.
-With a 20-point halftime lead over LMU, Arizona is now averaging a halftime advantage of 26 points in its first three games of the season.
-Arizona opened the second half by holding LMU scoreless for 4:40 and forcing eight straight misses from the field.
-Reese set a season high with 15 points in Arizona’s win over LMU on six-of-10 shooting from the field.
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