Former Arizona point guard Shaina Pellington signs with Sanga Milano

Former Arizona point guard Shaina Pellington has been rather quiet since her graduation in May. That ended on July 4 when Sanga Milano announced that it had signed the former Wildcat, who will begin her professional career in Italy.

The team won the Italian Serie A2 North division last season with a record of 24-2. Its overall record was 30-3. The Tigers’ victory in the playoffs led to their promotion to Serie A1, the top division in the Italian leagues, for the upcoming season.

“On a personal level, my goal is to have a significant impact on my team and the championship,” Pellington said in the team’s press release. “I want to win and make sure that this team continues to play in A1 for a long time, where it deserves to be.”

While Pellington predominantly played point guard for Arizona and the club’s social media post has her as a “playmaker,” which loosely translates to point guard, Eurobasket indicates that she will be the starting shooting guard for Milano.

After spending her first two seasons at Oklahoma, Pellington was at Arizona for four years. That included her year-in-residence which used to be required for transfers. She was on the court for the Wildcats for three years, spending the final two as the starting point guard.

Almost all of Pellington’s stats improved over her three seasons as a Wildcat. She ended her Arizona career averaging 10.3 points, 2.4 assists, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.3 steals in 22.8 minutes per game. She shot 46.9 percent from the field, 19.8 percent from 3-point range, and 60.1 percent from the line.

In her final year, Pellington averaged 13.4 PPG, 3.6 APG, 3.0 RPG, and 1.8 SPG in 27.9 MPG. She shot 53.7 percent from the field, 20 percent from 3-point range, and 63.5 percent from the line. Her points, assists, rebounds, steals, and overall shooting percentage were career highs. She also had a 2.18 assist-to-turnover ratio, which placed her in the 98th percentile in Division I women’s basketball.

Pellington has also played for the Canadian women’s national team. That included a spot on the team that went to the Tokyo Olympics in the summer of 2021.