The Arizona Wildcats’ first road sweep of the Bay Area schools since 2001 gave the team new life for its postseason dreams. It also gave the program another historic achievement. Fifth-year forward Esmery Martinez and freshman guard Jada Williams swept the Pac-12 weekly awards, becoming the first pair of Arizona teammates to sweep the awards for the women’s program.
Martinez earned her first Pac-12 Player of the Week honor by narrowly missing two straight double-doubles. She had 17 points and 9 rebounds in the Wildcats’ win over then-No. 3 Stanford on Friday. She followed that up with a team-high 20 points and 9 rebounds against California on Sunday.
It wasn’t just scoring and rebounding for Martinez, though. She wasn’t far from a triple-double at Haas Pavilion, accounting for seven assists against the Golden Bears. She averaged 18.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists in the two games. She connected on 50 percent of her shots (15 of 30) and 100 percent of her free throws (3 of 3) over the weekend.
Williams became just the fourth different player to win a Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honor in a season dominated by USC’s JuJu Watkins. She joins Watkins, Washington State’s Jenna Villa, and Oregon State’s Donovyn Hunter as this year’s honorees.
Williams is just the second freshman to actually defeat Watkins in the vote. The star from Los Angeles wasn’t eligible for the honor on Dec. 18. Villa won that award while USC was on an eight-day hiatus.
The freshman was key in the Wildcats’ first win in Maples Pavilion in 23 years. She tied her career high with 23 points, but it wasn’t just about the number of points. When Arizona really needed her, she raised her game to another level, scoring 14 points in the final quarter after the Wildcats fell behind by 10 late in the third.
Even a hard foul by Stanford guard Talana Lepolo couldn’t slow Williams. Lepolo laid Williams out. Just 14 seconds later, Williams hit a 3-pointer. She had nine points in the final two minutes and added four rebounds, two assists, and two steals in Maples Pavilion.
Williams followed up with another huge game at Cal. She put together a stat line of 18 points, three assists, and three steals.
Williams averaged 20.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2. 5 assists, and 2.5 steals over the weekend. Like Martinez, she hit 50 percent of her field goals, going an identical 15 for 30 in two games.
Both players won the first Pac-12 weekly awards of their careers. It was the 54th Pac-12 Player of the Week award for Arizona and the fifth Pac-12 Freshman of the Week.
Arizona takes the floor again when No. 7 USC comes to town on Thursday, Feb. 29. The Wildcats finish the regular season by hosting No. 8 UCLA on Saturday, Mar. 2.
