Arizona Notebook: Utah upset builds confidence, Gilbert craves big moments, Pueyo turns it on

Gilbert’s points gave the Wildcats its’ first upset of the season — a 71-70 win over then-No. 15 Utah in overtime on Sunday afternoon.

After the game, Gilbert, who put up her third double-double of the season (22 points, 12 rebounds), said she was a little nervous but that she wanted to do it for her teammates.

“These are the times I work for. I knew I was going to make them,” Gilbert said.

Gilbert was celebrated after the game by being featured on an NCAA women's basketball Zoom with Autumn Johnson. She also was named one of UA's 'Top Cats' of the week, along with Caleb Love from the men's basketball team. She averaged 20.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in both games against Utah and Colorado. 

Arizona received eight votes in the AP Top 25 for its performances this weekend, including beating Utah, which slipped to No. 19. The Wildcats have the 31st-most votes.

The sophomore guard said she missed a few shots in the last two games — against No. 5 Colorado down the stretch on Friday that may have been a game-winner as they lost by one and in regulation against Utah — so she was even more determined to get this one.

It also helped that her teammates and coaches believe in her.

Arizona coach Adia Barnes said that Gilbert wants to be in these situations with the game on the line as “Kailyn’s a gamer she's not afraid to take the last shot.”

“She thanked me for trusting her but I trust her,” Barnes said. “She's worked hard and she's done so many great things. She's changed so much even from a freshman to sophomore just in her mentality and her attention to detail. … I'm really proud of her growth and she's going to just continue to get better. And I'm not afraid to put the ball in her hand in last second situations because she's good at creating her shot. She's really hard to defend. And she's got she wants those shots. She wants that moment.”

Barnes went on to say that those are extremely stressful moments that not everyone wants to put themselves in. It’s a rare breed who wants it.

Even Barnes herself, said “I don't know if I'd be comfortable isolating one-on-one trying to win a game. I don't know if I'd want the ball in certain situations.”

Maybe the biggest growth point for Gilbert in being successful this time — not just in knocking off a Top-15 team — is the confidence gained in “knowing that we let her do it once and we trusted her to do it again. I think for her, those things go a long way and it's just going to help her get better,” Barnes said.

Scoring machine

The words scoring machine and Helena Pueyo aren’t usually found in the same sentence. But the usually unselfish fifth-year player who is reluctant to take many shots during a game scored an efficient 20 points, going 4 for 5 from long distance in the Utah win. Over the last five games — since the Pac-12 opening win at Arizona State — Pueyo has averaged 14.2 points per game.

She’s looking for her shots — all three levels of layups, mid-range jumpers and 3-pointers — and her teammates are feeding her. In Friday night’s game against Colorado, the Wildcats started out with a layup specifically designed for Pueyo.

In both games, she sensed that her team needed a boost and knocked down shots to either give the Wildcats the lead or keep them within striking distance.

She’s hitting 40% from beyond the arc and 47% overall.

Barnes has said for a while that she wanted Pueyo to take 10 to 15 shots a night, and she did that against Utah with 11.

However, all of this comes at a little price for the workman-like Pueyo. She a complete player who is one of the best defenders in the nation, and doesn't take a possession off. 

Then, there are the minutes logged over the weekend. Pueyo played in every single minute — a total of 85, including the extra period against Utah.

When asked what she was doing to celebrate the win, Pueyo answered, “I’m going to go home and sleep.”

Last game

Barnes said she was just as surprised as everyone else when Sali Kourouma decided to suit up for Sunday’s game. Kourouma, who dislocated her shoulder in the final exhibition game and re-injured it in practice leading up to the Seattle game on Dec. 31, is slated to have surgery sooner than expected.

The Wildcats were hoping that Kourouma would be able to play the rest of the year and have surgery in the offseason, but Barnes said the pain was too much.

“She just wanted to find a way to help us, but even her being at 50% helped us because it gave us another body,” Barnes said. “… It was huge today because as Esmery (fouled out). Sali helped us win this game. Losing (Kourouma) is a big loss for us. She can give us 15 points a game, and she's strong, she's physical, she can play for us to 2,3,4 or 5. Her loss, when she gets surgery is a big hit for us. We're gonna roll with the magnificent seven right now. But we'll get Isis (Beh) back so then we'll be eight.”

Building confidence

The Wildcats hit the road for two consecutive weekends. It’s up to the Pacific Northwest with the Oregon schools next weekend and the Washington schools after that.

How important was the win over Utah and coming so close in another upset bid against Colorado for this young squad?

“Knowing we can play with anybody is going to give us momentum going into these next four games on the road,” Barnes said. “Just psychologically. I think that they're believing and they see that we can do some things. And they recognize the things that we have to improve on and they're doing whatever we asked them to do.”

New uniforms debut

The Wildcats showed off their new white uniforms with red stripes down the shorts, a true Red Arizona emblazoned across the chest that pops, and Cats written in script on the waistband of the shorts.

Barnes said she liked the retro look.

Then, she called on the newest — and youngest — reporter in the room, Matteo Coppa, her 8-year-old son, who asked, “Are we going to use them a lot more often?”

“Reporter Matteo coming in hot,” Barnes said with a laugh. “Yes, at home games. We wear white for home usually.”

Coppa, who loves wearing just about any uniform, jersey or especially soccer kit he can get his hands on, was told that this one he couldn’t get as it was only for the Wildcats who played on the team.

This didn’t faze him at all, “At least I can see them,” Coppa said.