UA tries to remain calm for Ducks

By Craig Sanders
Arizona Daily Wildcat
January 26, 1996

The Arizona women's basketball team, after trapping the Oregon State Beavers on Wednesday, will set their sights on the Oregon Ducks tonight at McKale Center.

The Wildcats (13-2 overall, 4-2 in the Pacific 10 Conference) are flying high after a 72-58 home victory over the 15th-ranked Beavers and are looking to improve their home record to 10-1 this season. The Ducks are entering the game with a 10-6 overall record and are 2-4 in the Pac-10 after a 72-52 victory at Arizona State on Wednesday.

"The best thing for us right now is that we are at home," Arizona head coach Joan Bonvicini said. "We need to play one game at a time and take it from here. Again we will need to control the boards and be patient on offense."

The Ducks will counter with a match-up zone on defense which will challenge that patience. Oregon is led by junior forward Ananne Boyer and senior center Renae Fegent. Boyer is averaging 17.3 points and 8.0 rebounds a game while Fegent averages 14.0 points and 7.5 rebounds.

The Ducks' inside combo will again test Arizona's stingy interior defense which has shut down some of the premier inside players in the nation. In the win over Oregon State, national player of the year candidate Tanja Kostic was only able to score 11 points, 14.8 below her average.

The Wildcats will most likely see another version of the full-court press which has been effective against them over the last few games. Against UCLA on Saturday the Wildcats blew a 17-point lead before losing to the Bruins 89-85 in overtime. Arizona withstood the press against the Beavers, even though a 28-point lead shrank to 11 at one point during the game.

"I think the key was that we attacked the press (against Oregon State) and hit our free throws down the stretch," Bonvicini said. "Our girls showed a lot more poise."

Arizona's scoring has been very balanced this season with a number of players stepping up and having big games. Sophomore forward Adia Barnes entered the Oregon series averaging 17.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Senior forward Andrea Constand and senior guard Brenda Pantoja are each contributing over 14 points a game. Sophomore center Jacque Clark scored 18 points in a loss to UCLA last weekend and guard DeAngela Minter scored a career-high 17 points in her last game against Oregon State.

The Wildcats split last season's series with Oregon, winning at home 78-74 before losing in Eugene 73-55. They are 5-15 all time against the Ducks.

Arizona continues to lead the conference in eight different categories including scoring average, field-goal percentage, steals and defensive field-goal percentage.

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