Esmery Martinez's first double-double of the season helps Wildcats sprint past Memphis, 90-67

The migraines the Arizona basketball player had been suffering from seem to be in the rear view mirror.

As she took the court in the first matchup of the Battle 4 Atlantis, the only thing on her mind was to win.

Martinez didn’t waste any time being aggressive by scoring the game's first three points, pulling down a defensive rebound and finishing on the other end, and then picking a steal in the first three minutes of the game.

Martinez finished with her first double-double (19 points, 11 rebounds) of the season to lead the Wildcats to a 90-67 victory over Memphis at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas on Saturday afternoon.

Arizona’s record stays clean — five wins, no losses. Memphis fell to 1-3.

“I just want to say I want to be helpful for my teammates and help them and on my way do the little things that I had to do,” Martinez said.

Martinez shot 7 of 11 from the field, knocked down 1 of her 2 three-point attempts and added two assists and four steals in 23 minutes. 

She started at the three — not the four — which is her regular position. Martinez did this learning “a lot of different combinations, a lot of sets, and she's really absorbed it all and she's doing a really good job playing at a very, very high level,” Arizona coach Adia Barnes said.

UA led 22-6 early but Memphis crept within 32-30 in the second quarter. UA took a 42-36 lead into halftime.

Courtney Blakely, who was finally cleared by the NCAA to play when the Wildcats were flying to the Bahamas on Wednesday, was a spark off the bench. She played 15 minutes and had some highlight-reel moments, including back-to-back steals in the fourth quarter — one in the backcourt finishing with an acrobatic flourish to score and the other with a backwards, no-look pass to Sali Kourouma for an easy basket.

Key moment

At the beginning of the third quarter, Arizona’s swarming defense took hold as Memphis didn’t score for a little more than two minutes. The Wildcats altered shots and grabbed three steals — two by Helena Pueyo and one by Martinez, who finished hers with a layup.

Arizona held at least a 10-point lead the rest of the way. 

Stuff the stat sheet

Maya Nnaji: 15 points (tied a career-high), 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 4 assists

Kailyn Gilbert: 13 points

Pueyo: 3 steals, 5 assists

Breya Cunningham: 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, 1 steal

Blakely: 14 points (7 of 8 from field),  steals, 2 assists

By the numbers

9: Arizona kept going to the final buzzer, going on a 9-0 run in the final 2:03 of the game.

22: The Wildcats shared the ball well, finishing with 22 assists on 33 made shots.

47: UA commited over 20 turnovers for the second straight game. Against San Diego on Tuesday, the Wildcats had 24. Against Memphis, they had 23.

55.9: Arizona shot 55.9% (33 of 59 from the field), which is the best field goal-shooting percentage of the season. 

She said it

“Courtney is like that … you know that itch on the middle of your back that you can’t reach? There’s always an itch and you’re like ‘Do I do this? Or ‘Do I do that?’ You can't reach it so then you get something to scratch it with. That is what Courtney is — a pain in your blank,” Barnes said with a laugh about Blakely’s defense.

“She is tenacious, everywhere, flies. She’s so fast you’re like ‘Look at her.’ You're excited to watch her she just kind of gives you a bolt of energy. I love to have her on the court. The bench was excited. She had some phenomenal moves. … Her energy is contagious when you feel her or see her on the court flying everywhere. You cannot not play defense. I think that that really helped us. She gave us a spark.”

Up next

Arizona (5-0) faces No. 23-ranked Ole Miss (3-1) in the winner’s bracket of the Battle for Atlantis on Sunday at 10 a.m. The game can be watched on FloHoops or on the radio on 1290-AM. If the Wildcats win, they will play in the championship game on Monday at 10 a.m. on ESPN2.