2022–23 Arizona Wildcats women's basketball team

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2022–23 Arizona Wildcats women's basketball
NCAA tournament, Second Round
ConferencePac-12 Conference
Ranking
APNo. 25
Record22–10 (11–7 Pac-12)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Ashley Davis (2nd season)
  • Salvo Coppa (7th season)
  • Erin Grant (2nd season)
Home arenaMcKale Center
Seasons
2022–23 Pac-12 Conference women's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 8 Utah 15 3   .833 27 5   .844
No. 5 Stanford 15 3   .833 29 6   .829
No. 21 Colorado 13 5   .722 25 9   .735
No. 14 UCLA 11 7   .611 27 10   .730
No. 25 Arizona 11 7   .611 22 10   .688
USC 11 7   .611 21 10   .677
No. 23 Washington State 9 9   .500 23 11   .676
Oregon 7 11   .389 20 15   .571
Washington 7 11   .389 19 15   .559
California 4 14   .222 13 17   .433
Oregon State 4 14   .222 13 18   .419
Arizona State 1 17   .056 8 20   .286
2023 Pac-12 Tournament winner
As of April 28, 2024
Rankings from AP poll


The 2022–23 Arizona Wildcats women's basketball team will represent the University of Arizona during the 2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Wildcats will be led by seventh-year head coach Adia Barnes. This will be the Wildcats' 49th season at the on-campus McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona and 44th season as a member of the Pac-12 Conference.

Previous season[edit]

The Wildcats finished the 2021–22 season with a record of 21–8, 10–6 in Pac-12 play. The Wildcats were invited to the 2022 NCAA tournament where they defeated UNLV in the first round before losing to North Carolina in the second round.

Offseason[edit]

Departures[edit]

Arizona Wildcats Departures
Name Number Pos. Height Year Hometown Notes
Sam Thomas 14 F 6'0 Graduate Student Bloomfield Hills, MI Completed college eligibility
Ariyah Copeland 22 F 6'3 Graduate Student Columbus, GA Completed college eligibility
Reference:

Outgoing Transfers[edit]

Arizona Outcoming Transfers
Name Number Pos. Height Year Hometown New School Source
Anna Gret Asi 0 G 5'8 Freshman Tartu, Estonia Transferred to Oklahoma State
Koi Love 5 F 6'0 Junior Orlando, FL Transferred to USC
Derin Erdogan 10 G 5'6 Sophomore Istanbul, Turkey Transferred to Northeastern
Aaronette Vonleh 21 C 6'3 Freshman West Linn, OR Transferred to Colorado
Gisela Sanchez 30 F 6'3 Freshman Barcelona, Spain Transferred to Kansas State
Semaj Smith 34 C 6'6 Senior Long Beach, CA Transferred to San Jose State
Bendu Yeaney 23 G 5'10 Senior Portland, OR Transferred to Oregon State
Taylor Chavez 3 G 5'10 Senior Surprise, AZ TBD
Reference:

Acquisitions[edit]

Incoming Transfers[edit]

Arizona Incoming Transfers
Name Number Pos. Height Year Hometown Previous School Years Remaining Date Eligible Source
Lauren Fields 23 G 5'9 Junior Shawnee, OK Oklahoma State 1
Esmery Martínez 12 F 6'2 Junior Hato Mayor del Ray, DR West Virginia 1
Jade Loville 30 F/G 5'11 Graduate Student Scottsdale, AZ Arizona State 1
Reference:

2022 recruiting class[edit]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Maya Nnaji
F
Lakeville, MN Hopkins High School 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) N/A May 10, 2021 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN:5/5 stars   ESPN grade: 97
Paris Clark
G
Mount Vernon, NY Long Island Lutheran High School 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) N/A Dec 13, 2021 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN:5/5 stars   ESPN grade: 96
Kailyn Gilbert
G
Tampa, FL Seffner Christian Academy 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) N/A Jan 6, 2021 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN:4/5 stars   ESPN grade: 95
Lemyah Hylton
G
London, ON Southwest Academy Girls Prep 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) N/A Oct 16, 2021 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN:4/5 stars   ESPN grade: 91
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2022 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  • "2022 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 13, 2021.

2023 recruiting class[edit]

US college sports recruiting information for 2023 recruits
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Breya Cunningham
POST
Chula Vista, CA La Jolla Country Day School 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) N/A Jun 26, 2022 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN:5/5 stars   ESPN grade: 97
Montaya Dew
F
Las Vegas, NV Centennial High School 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) N/A Dec 23, 2021 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN:5/5 stars   ESPN grade: 97
Jada Williams
PG
Kansas City, MO La Jolla Country Day School (CA) 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) N/A Aug 1, 2022 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN:5/5 stars   ESPN grade: 96
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

Preseason[edit]

Preseason rankings[edit]

Pac-12 media poll (Coaches)
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1 Stanford 121 (11)
2 Oregon 101
3 Arizona 100
4 UCLA 91
5 Utah 84 (1)
6 Oregon State 62
7 Washington State 61
8 Colorado 55
9 USC 50
10 Washington 28
11 California 21
12 Arizona State 18

Source:[1]

Preseason All-conference teams[edit]

Award Player Position Year
Preseason All Pac-12 team Cate Reese F GS
Jade Loville F/G
Shaina Pellington F

Source:[2]

Award watch lists[edit]

Listed in the order that they were released

Award Player Position Year Source
Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Jade Loville SG GS [3]
Katrina McClain Award Cate Reese PF [4]
Esmery Martínez Sr.
Naismith Trophy Jade Loville SG GS [5]
Cate Reese PF
Wooden Award Cate Reese PF [6]

Roster[edit]

Source:[7]

2022–23 Arizona Wildcats women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown
G 1 Shaina Pellington 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) GS Dunabarton Pickering, ON
G 4 Madison Conner 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) So AZ Compass Prep Chandler, AZ
G 10 Lemyah Hylton 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Fr Southwest Academy Girls Prep London, ON
F 12 Esmery Martínez 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Sr Hamilton Heights Christian Academy Hato Mayor del Rey, DR
G 13 Helena Pueyo 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Sr Palma de Mallorca, Spain
G 15 Kailyn Gilbert 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Fr Seffner Christian Academy Tampa, FL
G 22 Paris Clark 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Fr Long Island Lutheran Mount Vernon, NY
G 23 Lauren Fields 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Sr Shawnee Shawnee, OK
F 25 Cate Reese 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) GS Cypress Cypress, TX
G/F 30 Jade Loville 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) GS Skyline Scottsdale, AZ
F 32 Lauren Ware Injured 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Jr Century Bismarck, ND
F 34 Maya Nnaji 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Fr Hopkins St. Louis Park, MN
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: May 1, 2022

  • Notes
    • Junior Lauren Ware to miss 22–23 season with a knee injury.[8]

Schedule[edit]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
October 27, 2022*
6:00 p.m.
No. 19 West Texas A&M W 86–63  —-
 20  Loville   12  Martinez   6  Pellington  McKale Center (2,763)
Tucson, AZ
November 2, 2022*
6:00 p.m.
No. 19 Cal State Los Angeles W 104–46 
 26  Lovelle   12  Martinez   7  Pueyo  McKale Center (6,430)
Tucson, AZ
Non-conference regular season
November 10, 2022*
6:30 pm
No. 19 Northern Arizona W 113–56  1–0
 20  Martinez   15  Martinez   7  Pellington  McKale Center (6,809)
Tucson, AZ
November 13, 2022*
5:00 pm
No. 19 Cal State Northridge W 87–47  2–0
 16  Gilbert   5  Martinez   3  Pueyo  McKale Center (6,653)
Tucson, AZ
November 18, 2022*
6:30 pm
No. 18 Loyola Marymount W 87–51  3–0
 19  Pellington   11  Martinez   4  Tied  McKale Center (7,206)
Tucson, AZ
November 20, 2022*
2:00 pm
No. 18 Long Beach State W 86–64  4–0
 19  Martinez   9  Tied   4  Tied  McKale Center (6,898)
Tucson, AZ
November 25, 2022*
5:00 pm
No. 15 vs. Cal Baptist
USD Thanksgiving Classic
W 81–63  5–0
 25  Gilbert   10  Martinez   3  Tied  Jenny Craig Pavilion (149)
San Diego, CA
November 26, 2022*
5:00 pm
No. 15 at San Diego
USD Thanksgiving Classic
W 86–60  6–0
 22  Pueyo   9  Martinez   4  Pueyo  Jenny Craig Pavilion 
San Diego, CA
December 4, 2022*
1:00 p.m.
No. 14 at New Mexico W 77–60  7–0
 27  Loville   8  Martinez   9  Pueyo  The Pit (6,087)
Albuquerque, NM
December 8, 2022*
6:30 p.m., P12N
No. 12 Kansas L 50–77  7–1
 14  Reese   8  Reese   2  Tied  McKale Center (7,381)
Tucson, AZ
December 14, 2022*
6:30 p.m., P12N
No. 20 Texas Southern
Pac-12/SWAC Legacy Series
W 89–55  8–1
 20  Reese   12  Martinez   4  Pueyo  McKale Center (6,577)
Tucson, AZ
December 18, 2022*
5:30 p.m., ESPN2
No. 20 vs. No. 18 Baylor
Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge
W 75–54  9–1
 18  Pellington   15  Martinez   8  Pellington  American Airlines Center 
Dallas, TX
December 21, 2022*
2:00 pm, ESPN+
No. 18 at UT Arlington W 78–59  10–1
 13  Martinez   9  Tied   4  Gilbert  College Park Center (1,109)
Arlington, TX
Pac-12 regular season
December 29, 2022
6:00 p.m., P12N
No. 18 Arizona State W 84–66  11–1
(1–0)
 21  Martinez   10  Martinez   4  Tied  McKale Center (9,495)
Tucson, AZ
December 31, 2022
8:00 p.m., P12N
No. 18 at California W 63–56  12–1
(2-0)
 14  Reese   7  Reese   4  Pellington  Haas Pavilion (605)
Berkeley, CA
January 2, 2023
12:30 p.m., P12N
No. 15 at No. 2 Stanford L 57–73  12–2
(2–1)
 12  Loville   7  Pueyo   3  Pellington  Maples Pavilion (3,824)
Stanford, CA
January 6, 2023
8:00 p.m., P12N
No. 15 Oregon State W 72–69  13–2
(3–1)
 16  Reese   8  Martinez   6  Tied  McKale Center (7,182)
Tucson, AZ
January 8, 2023
5:00 p.m., ESPN2
No. 15 No. 18 Oregon W 79–71  14–2
(4–1)
 16  Conner   6  Tied   6  Pellington  McKale Center (7,963)
Tucson, AZ
January 13, 2023
7:00 p.m., P12N
No. 14 at Colorado L 65–72  14–3
(4–2)
 14  Reese   9  Reese   3  Tied  CU Events Center (1,974)
Boulder, CO
January 15, 2023
12:00 p.m., P12N
No. 14 at No. 10 Utah L 79–80  14–4
(4–3)
 25  Reese   10  Reese   4  Fields  Jon M. Huntsman Center (2,915)
Salt Lake City, UT
January 22, 2023
3:00 p.m., P12N
No. 19 at Arizona State W 80–67  15–4
(5–3)
 16  Conner   15  Martinez   4  Pueyo  Desert Financial Arena (3,508)
Tempe, AZ
January 27, 2023
7:00 p.m., P12N
No. 19 Washington W 61–54  16–4
(6–3)
 15  Reese   12  Martinez   5  Pellington  McKale Center (7,884)
Tucson, AZ
January 29, 2023
12:00 p.m., P12N
No. 19 Washington State L 59–70  16–5
(6–4)
 14  Martinez   7  Reese   4  Pueyo  McKale Center (7,494)
Tucson, AZ
February 3, 2023
9:00 p.m., P12N
No. 22 at No. 14 UCLA W 71–66 OT 17–5
(7–4)
 21  Pellington   13  Martinez   3  Tied  Pauley Pavilion (3,482)
Los Angeles, CA
February 5, 2023
1:00 p.m., P12N
No. 22 at USC W 81–75 2OT 18–5
(8–4)
 33  Reese   8  Tied   7  Pellington  Galen Center (1,356)
Los Angeles, CA
February 9, 2023
7:30 p.m., ESPN
No. 17 No. 6 Stanford L 60–84  18–6
(8–5)
 10  Tied   6  Martinez   4  Clark  McKale Center (9,868)
Tucson, AZ
February 12, 2023
12:00 p.m., P12N
No. 17 California W 80–57  19–6
(9–5)
 24  Pellington   15  Martinez   7  Martinez  McKale Center (7,268)
Tucson, AZ
February 17, 2023
7:00 p.m., P12N
No. 18 No. 4 Utah W 82–72  20–6
(10–5)
 35  Pellington   8  Pellington   2  Tied  McKale Center (8,238)
Tucson, AZ
February 19, 2023
12:00 p.m., P12N
No. 18 No. 21 Colorado W 61–42  21–6
(11–5)
 19  Pellington   7  Martinez   5  Pellington  McKale Center (8,267)
Tucson, AZ
February 23, 2023
8:00 p.m., P12N
No. 14 at Oregon L 59–73  21–7
(11–6)
 19  Reese   10  Clark   2  Tied  Matthew Knight Arena (6,173)
Eugene, OR
February 25, 2023
1:00 p.m., P12N
No. 14 at Oregon State L 70–78  21–8
(11–7)
 16  Martinez   8  Martinez   7  Pellington  Gill Coliseum (4,357)
Corvallis, OR
Pac-12 Women's Tournament
March 2, 2023
1:00 p.m., P12N
(4) No. 21 vs. (5) No. 19 UCLA
Quarterfinals
L 59–73  21–9
 10  Tied   9  Reese   3  Tied  Michelob Ultra Arena (4,245)
Paradise, NV
NCAA Women's Tournament
March 17, 2023
9:00 a.m., ESPN
(7 G1) No. 25 vs. (10 G1) West Virginia
First round
W 75–62  22–9
 25  Reese   12  Martinez   4  Pellington  Xfinity Center 
College Park, MD
March 19, 2023*
2:30 p.m., ESPN
(7 G1) No. 25 at (2 G1) No. 7 Maryland
Second round
L 64–77  22–10
 19  Reese   13  Martinez   3  Martinez  Xfinity Center (6,622)
College Park, MD
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
G1=Greenville 1.
All times are in Mountain Time.

Source:[9]

Awards and honors[edit]

Weekly honors
Recipient (Position) Award (Pac-12 Conference) Stats (PPG/RPG/APG) Week Date Awarded Ref.
Kaitlyn Gilbert (G) Freshman Player of the Week 17.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 2.0 APG, 1.5 SPG Week 4 November 28, 2022

Postseason[edit]

Conference honors
Recipient (Position) Award (Pac-12 Conference) Stats (PPG/RPG/APG) Ref.
Shaina Pellington (G) Co-Most Improved Player Of The Year 13.4 PPG/3.1 RPG/3.7 APG/1.9 SPG [10]
All Pac-12 First Team
All Pac-12 Defensive Team
Cate Reese (F) All Pac-12 First Team 23.8 PPG/5.8 RPG/1.0 APG
Helena Pueyo (G) All Pac-12 Defensive Team 5.6 PPG/3.0 RPG/2.3 SPG

Rankings[edit]

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415161718Final
AP19181514122018181514191922171814212425Not released
Coaches19181413121716151310151420151814202223RV


Media coverage[edit]

Radio[edit]

TV[edit]

References[edit]