Shaina Pellington scores 35, No. 18 Arizona tops No. 4 Utah

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Shaina Pellington made 11straight shots on her way to scoring a career-high 35 points,leading No. 18 Arizona over No. 4 Utah 82-72 on Friday night.

Cate Reese added 16 points for the Wildcats (20-6, 10-5). HelenaPueyo had 12 points, including four free throws in the final 90seconds.

“I started off on fire,” Pellington said. “I feel like when Isaw the first one go in, the second one go in, the third one go in.... It just kept going and going and going. I also wanted to makesure that I was making sure that I was taking shots that made sensein the flow of the game.”

Arizona broke the Utes’ seven-game winning streak and avenged an80-79 loss in Salt Lake City a month ago.

Allison Pili scored 26 points, Jenna Johnson had 19 and GiannaKneepkens 13 for the Utes (22-3, 12-3), who entered with thehighest ranking in program history.

“To lose it with 1.5 seconds left there on free throws, that wastough to swallow” Arizona coach Adia Barnes said of the game inSalt Lake City. “We really were focused at home and we need thesewins. Everybody needs these wins. We’re all chasing the top four inthe Pac-12 tournament. We’re playing for postseason standings.”

Pellington had 23 points in the first half when she made all 10field goal attempts. She made her first shot in the second halfbefore missing.

Pellington finished 13 of 18 with eight rebounds and fivesteals.

“This game will help us in a lot of ways,” Barnes said. “Cameout and battled against a very good Utah team. We’re starting topeak at the right time.”

Utah trimmed a 10-point deficit to 76-72 on Pili’s three-pointplay with 1:08 remaining before Madi Conner made two free throwsfor a 78-72 lead with 48.4 seconds remaining after Utah was calledfor an intentional foul. The Utes missed a 3-pointer on their nextpossession and were 4 of 19 from distance.

“That’s what it came down to,” Utah coach Lynne Roberts said.“We missed shots. That’s just how the game goes sometimes. Thisgame was not a must-win. Our backs were not against the wall. Itwas an incredibly physical game. Our offense is predicated on ballmovement and player movement. It was hard to do. We couldn’t evencut.”

Utah, sixth in Division I in scoring, was held 12.7 points belowits average. Arizona beat its fourth ranked team this season afterwins over Baylor, Oregon and UCLA.

AN INCH OF SEPARATION

Utah beat the Wildcats on Jan. 15 when the lead changed handstwice in the final two seconds. Paris Clark’s steal and layup gaveArizona a 79-78 lead. After a Utah timeout, Pili was fouled aftercatching a long pass and made two free throws with one secondleft.

HOME CROWD

The Wildcats drew 8,238, the second-largest this season afterdrawing 9,868 against Stanford last Friday. The largest crowd theUtes had seen this season was 6,289 at Oregon.

BIG PICTURE

Utah: The Utes’ only other losses are to ranked Pac-12 teams No.3 Stanford and No. 21 Colorado. With a strong finish, they couldcapture one of eight host sites in the first two rounds of the NCAATournament, which would be another program first.

Arizona: The Wildcats can bank on their third consecutive tripto the NCAA Tournament, and the victory over the Utes helps makethe journey one step easier.

UP NEXT

Utah: At Arizona State on Sunday.

Arizona: Hosts No. 21 Colorado on Sunday.