UA ready for 'hungry' Bears

Ian Mayer Arizona Daily Wildcat UA senior center Marte Alexander (42) attempts a shot during a Wildcat game earlier in the season. Alexander injured her knee last week and is listed as doubtful for tonight's game against Cal.

But if the players start looking ahead to the road contest, they may get a rude awakening tonight against a California team that took Washington to overtime in Seattle before losing by five.

"Things are finally coming together for this young and inexperienced team," Cal coach Marianne Stanley said of her team, which features five freshmen. "We'll be prepared come Thursday."

Washington head coach June Daugherty called the Bears a "very tenacious and hungry" team.

And who wouldn't be after 12 straight losses? Cal is second to last in the Pac-10 with a 1-13 record in conference games and stands at 5-19 overall.

"They want to end their season feeling they gave a good effort," UA head coach Joan Bonvicini said.

But effort alone won't carry Cal to a win over the same team that crushed them 81-44 Jan. 29 in Tucson.

In that game, Cal's leading scorer, freshman point guard Masa Radovic, was held to only six points. She committed four turnovers and did not have one assist as the Wildcats made short work of the Bears, taking a 42-18 halftime lead.

Cal as a team shot only 28 percent from the floor, something Stanley said her team was finally changing.

"We did a very good job snapping out of that last weekend in Washington (where they shot nearly 50 percent)," Stanley said. "We've got to be able to take care of the ball against their three-guard attack."

But while the California guards will have their hands full with DeAngela Minter, Lisa Griffith and Felecity Willis, Cal's 6-foot-3 center, Jennie Leander, will most likely not have to contend with UA senior center Marte Alexander, who injured her knee last week against Oregon State and did not play in the Oregon game.

On Wednesday, Bonvicini said Alexander was able to run some drills during Tuesday's practice and that she would try to get Alexander some contact during the team's practice in California last night.

"We're just going to go step by step," she said.

Bonvicini said Alexander's knee was at about 40 percent as of yesterday morning and that the center would not see action against Cal or Stanford unless the knee was up to about 80 percent.

If the Wildcats do have to play Stanford without Alexander, Bonvicini said her team would employ a more aggressive fullcourt press and even use a zone if necessary to keep the Cardinal from pounding the ball in to its sizable frontcourt trio of Olympia Scott, Heather Owen and Vanessa Nygaard.

No. 7 Arizona vs. California

(18-5, 11-3 Pac-10)

(5-19, 1-13)

When: Tonight at 8:30

Where: Kaiser Arena, Oakland, Calif.

Radio: The game will be broadcast on KFFN (1490 AM)

What: Arizona looks to stay hot as it prepares for Saturday's showdown with Stanford - Arizona forward Adia Barnes leads the conference in scoring with 22.4 point a game - Barnes became the first Pac-10 player to win the conference player of the week award for the third time earlier this week