Fifth-year Helena Pueyo steals the show as Arizona collects another win against LMU, 70-54

She isn’t messing around in her fifth season as a Wildcat.

And if you intend to beat Arizona, you have to figure out a way to stop her.

Pueyo wasted no time in disrupting on defense — altering the passing lanes, picking steals and even swatting a shot — in leading Arizona to a 70-54 victory over Loyola Marymount at McKale Center in a Sunday afternoon matinee.

The Wildcats move to 3-0 and finish off a big weekend for Arizona athletics with the men’s basketball team beating Duke, the football team beating Colorado and the volleyball team topping Colorado and Utah.

UA has now beaten LMU four out of the six times they’ve played. The last time the Lions beat the Wildcats was in November of 2019, 66-64.

Pueyo, who stuffed the stat sheet, finished with 12 points (4 of 7), two rebounds, four assists and tying a career high with seven steals — three of those in the first quarter alone.

She was the spark the Wildcats needed the entire game — especially in the moments when the Lions got especially pesky.

And it wasn’t only her defense.

Pueyo showed why she is the ultimate team player throughout the game. Whether it was on a long pass in transition with no opponent in sight and all she had to do was score, and she handed it to freshman Skylar Jones for the easy two points. Or even later in the game, when she passed up a wide-open 3 to deliver an assist to another freshman, Breya Cunningham inside to extend UA’s lead to 15 points at 61-46.

“She’s one of the most unselfish players I’ve ever coached — (and I’ve) been a part of with USA anywhere I’ve coached,” Arizona coach Adia Barnes said. “She’s the perfect teammate — she does everything right. ... Helena is phenomenal. She’s our leader. She knows our system offensively. defensively. She’s very hard to have off the floor. ... I was happy Helena played really, really well. I mean, four assists, seven steals one block shot and zero turnovers. That’s a stat line that you love as a head coach or teammate.”

Turning point

In the third quarter, LMU pulled within 38-35. The Wildcats responded by tightening up on defense — forcing LMU to throw the ball away on back-to-back possessions. Then the timely shots started falling. First, it was Esmery Martinez, who faked out her defender looking as if she was passing, then nailing a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

After a heads-up play from Sali Kourouma to snag an offensive rebound, Kailyn Gilbert passed to Pueyo for a corner three just as the shot clock was expiring. This gave the Wildcats a 44-35 lead, and they slowly started pulling away.

Key players

Gilbert led the Wildcats with 15 points and nine rebounds. She had two assists and a steal.

Kourouma chipped in 12 points, five rebounds and two steals.

Jones and Martinez both had eight points. Martinez grabbed five rebounds and had one steal. Jones dished four assists and added a rebound.

Isis Beh, who started for the first time as a Wildcat, swatted two shots, had two steals and four rebounds.

By the numbers

11: UA was outrebounded by 11, 46-35

14: Arizona had 14 points off of turnovers in the first quarter, while LMU had none. The Wildcats finished with 35 points coming off takeaways.

18: UA scored 18 points in the fourth quarter to keep a double-digit lead.

The other side

Da’Ja Hamilton led the Lions with 18 points. She was 6 of 9 from the free-throw line.

She said it

“I’m just trying to be active on defense every time, starting out the game like that,” Pueyo said of her three steals in the first quarter.

“I’m just seeing where the pass is going to go. I like to get steals, so I’m happy.”

Off the court

A fire alarm went off in McKale around two hours before the tip of the game. Everyone was evacuated for 15-20 minutes, then came back in and resumed all pre-game activities.

On the Courtney Blakely watch: No news yet. The wait continues as Blakely awaits NCAA clearance to play this season.

Within the Arizona Athletics app, there is a new light switch that allows fans to use their cell phones and take part in the light show with the Wildcats video and introduction of starters.

Up Next

One more home matchup before the Wildcats head to the Bahamas on Wednesday for the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament next weekend. Arizona (3-0) hosts San Diego (2-0) Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.