On Tuesday, Arizona head coach Adia Barnes said that the Wildcats would likely play their final exhibition with just six players. By game time, that number had dwindled to five with starting forward Esmery Martinez joining Helena Pueyo, Skylar Jones, Courtney Blakely, and Breya Cunningham on the sidelines. Montaya Dew is out for the season.
“It doesn’t matter if we have five or 12 people ready to play,” said sophomore forward Maya Nnaji. “We got to go no matter what. Whoever’s out there has just got to hold the rope for the rest of the team.