By Seth Doria
Arizona Daily Wildcat
November 12, 1997

Shorthanded Wildcats nip Australians, lose 'Bug'

Nicholas Valenzuela Arizona Daily Wildcat UA senior forward Cha-Ron Walker (33) goes up for a shot during Monday's exhibition game against Australia's Kilsyth Cobras. UA beat Kilsyth 88-72 and will play Myjava Slovakia Sunday at McKale Center.

After beating Australia's Kilsyth Cobras, 88-72, in Monday night's exhibition game, UA's women's basketball head coach Joan Bonvicini has a lot to think about.

And not all of it is good.

The Bad

The Wildcats continue to be mired in a streak of bad luck that has already claimed highly touted freshmen LaKeisha Taylor and Monique Paige, sophomore Felicity Willis and senior Marte Alexander.

Paige, who was out with a kidney infection, and Willis, who had four wisdom teeth removed, have returned to action, while Taylor remains out until late this month with a broken wrist she suffered in a bicycle accident.

Alexander has been plagued by migraines for the past week. The headaches have been so bad that she reportedly had to spend a couple of days in bed because of the pain, missing classes and practice.

Bonvicini said she expects Alexander, who did not play on Monday, back this week, and that she should play Sunday's final exhibition game against Myjava Slovakia.

To make matters worse, junior starting guard Monika Crank is now out of practice for an undetermined length of time after suffering what appeared to be a neck injury early in the second half of Monday's game.

Crank, who is known as "Bug" to her teammates, was injured after picking up a loose ball at mid-court and driving to the basket for a layup where she was clobbered by a Kilsyth defender.

Crank laid on the floor motionless for about 20 minutes while trainers checked on her condition.

Crank was eventually taken off the floor on a stretcher with her neck immobilized in precaution of a serious injury.

She was taken to University Medical Center, where tests showed no serious damage.

Bonvicini said Crank should be able to play against Slovakia.

"She's just sore," she said. "Hopefully she'll be able to do a little more tomorrow and then a little more the next day."

The Good

Monday's game was the official debut of two new players for the Wildcats.

Redstart freshman Reshea Bristol and the true freshman Paige each saw their first game competition in a Wildcat uniform before a crowd of 750 fans.

Bristol nailed both of her field goal attempts and three of four free throws to net seven points in 16 minutes and Paige grabbed three rebounds and scored two points in 15 minutes.

Paige said she was disappointed with her performance in last week's Red-Blue scrimmage, but that her teammates and coaches pushed during the week.

"I had a great time," she said after the game.

Senior forward Adia Barnes took up where she left off last season, connecting on ten of 20 field goal attempt to lead all scorers with 25 points. She also contributed nine rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes.

DeAngela Minter and Mikko Giordano, filling in for the injured Alexander, also contributed.

Minter was all over the floor, scoring nine points, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out six assists. Giordano pulled down six rebounds and scored 10 points despite being limited by early foul trouble.

The Ugly

Despite the victory, Bonvicini had a number of complaints about her team's performance.

"I was disappointed that we didn't take care of the ball better," she said. "Our half court defense has to be a lot better."

The Wildcats committed 26 turnovers in the game, including six by Minter and five by Willis.

Contributing to the turnovers may have been the physical style the game took on.

Forty-four fouls were called - an average of more than a foul a minute.

"We have to cut down on our fouls," Bonvicini said.

Bonvicini and Barnes agreed the up-tempo style of the game had the Wildcats a little winded by the end.

"It's a different style of intensity," Barnes said. "We will work a little bit harder on conditioning. It's going to come more as we play more games."

Other notes

The Wildcats will complete the exhibition season Sunday with a 2 p.m. matchup against Myjava Slovakia.

Tickets are $3 for UA faculty and staff, youth and senior citizens and $4 for general admission. Call 621-CATS for more information.