No. 22 Arizona rallies to beat No. 14 UCLA in OT, 71-66

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shaina Pellington led No. 22 Arizona on an 11-0 run to tie the game, then scored six over her team’s 10 points in overtime to earn the Wildcats a 71-66 win over No. 14 UCLA in the lone meeting of the regular season between the Pac-12 Conference rivals on Friday night.

Arizona came into the game after losing at home to Washington State, 70-59 and trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half against the Bruins.

UCLA. struggled from the field, hitting just 22 of 72 shots from the floor, but knocked down 11 of 31 from beyond the arc and that long-range boost was the difference through the first three quarters. Freshman Londynn Jones came off the bench to hit 5 of 7 from 3 and Emily Bessoir was 4 of 10.

Jones hit from 3 with 4:49 left to give the Bruins a 61-50 lead, but UCLA did not score again until Jones hit a 3 with 3:33 left in overtime.

Arizona’s Lauren Fields, who had not made a field goal all night, took a kick-out pass from Pellington and drilled a 3 with 1:08 left to make it 61-61, but the Wildcats could not find a go-ahead point and the game went to overtime.

Pellington hit a jumper in the lane to open overtime and Esmery Martinez knocked down a mid-range jumper before Jones hit to get UCLA within one. Pellington hit two free throws to take a three-point lead, 67-64, and after a time out UCLA opted to have Kiki Rice drive for a layup coming out of a timeout. Down by one, the Bruins sent Madison Conner and Pellington to the line and they each hit both free throws to close out the win.

Pellington finished with 21 points to lead Arizona (17-5, 7-4). Martinez had 17 points and 13 rebounds and Jade Loville had 13 points.

Jones finished with 20 points to lead UCLA (17-6, 6-5) and Bessoir and Rice each added another 14 points and Rice grabbed nine rebounds.

Arizona plays at USC on Sunday. UCLA plays host to Arizona State on Sunday.

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