scheduled tribe. THOMAS, US Virgin Islands (NWN) – Shaina Pellington hit an off-balance lap on the buzzer to propel No. 9 Arizona to a pesky Vanderbilt 48-46 at the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam tournament on Thursday.
With the game tied at 46, Arizona put the ball in Pellington’s hands. She emerged from the left wing and her off-balance scoop layup dropped just before the horn sounded, setting up a celebration under the Wildcats’ basket.
Sam Thomas had 13 points for the Wildcats (5-0) and Ariah Copeland had 11 points, who survived an upset effort from the Commodores (3-3).
Demi Washington and Ianna Moore had 10 points each for Vanderbilt, who withdrew from going down to 15 points in the middle of the second quarter.
Arizona led 22-7 with 6:30 remaining in second on Lauren Ware’s layup, but the Commodores fought back to halve the Wildcats’ lead 24-16.
Vanderbilt then launched a rally in the fourth quarter, eventually tying it to 46-all with 7.6 seconds remaining on Brienne Alexander’s layup.
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Arizona: The Wildcats didn’t have an impressive game in their first week in the top 10 of polling since February 22. It was still his lowest-scoring game of the opening season.
Vanderbilt: Despite a loss, the Commodores — under new coach Shea Ralph, a former Yukon assistant — gave Arizona everything it could handle with its defense, which forced the Wildcats into 25 turnovers.
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Arizona: DePaul will face Friday in the second game of his three games at Paradise Jam.
Vanderbilt: The three-time Paradise Jam champion will play Rutgers on Friday.
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More NWN Women’s College Basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https:// twitter.com/AP_Top25
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