Barnes closes in on record

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]

By Seth Doria
Arizona Daily Wildcat
December 4, 1997

[Picture]

Dan Hoffman
Arizona Daily Wildcat

Senior forward Adia Barnes (30) shoots a jumpshot at practice yesterday. She and the rest of the 11th-ranked basketball team sqaures off against Northeastern tomorrow night at 8 in the second game of the Insight.com Women's Classic in McKale Center.

When the 11th-ranked Arizona women's basketball team squares off against Northeastern tomorrow night at 8 in the second game of the Insight Women's Classic in McKale Center, senior forward Adia Barnes will most likely etch her name once again in the Arizona record books.

Barnes, who is already the school's most prolific scorer with 1,613 points, needs only two more rebounds to pass Dana Patterson as the school's all-time leader in that category as well.

Despite the record, though, this has been a strange season for Barnes, who has struggled thus far to contribute offensively as she has in past seasons.

Barnes is averaging only 14.5 points per game, compared to her 19.3 average from last year.

Head coach Joan Bonvicini downplayed the drop, attributing it to a more balanced offensive attack with Marte Alexander and Mikko Giordano stepping up their offensive games.

"Adia will get her points," she said, "we just have a lot more balance. We're able to get production from a lot of different people. It shows that we have a good team."

Alexander has been the focal point of an offense going up against smaller opposing post players from UC-Santa Barbara and Northern Arizona University.

Alexander is averaging 21 points and 10 rebounds per game, something Bonvicini attributes to Alexander's attitude and work ethic, which includes a lot more time in the weight room.

"I've been really pleased," said Bonvicini of her 6-foot-4 senior. "Her focus has been really good. (Assistant coach Bill Broderick) has done a lot of work with her. It gives our team a different look."

When Bonvicini and recruiting coordinator Denise Dove signed LaKeisha Taylor and Monique Paige last year, they envisioned the two coming off the bench when Barnes and Alexander need a rest, but that is not how things have worked out.

Dan Hoffman
Arizona Daily Wildcat

Wildcat center Marte Alexander (42) stretches during a break at practice yesterday. Alexander has been a nice surprise this season for Joan Bonvicini's club leading the team in scoring (21 points) and rebounding average (10) in the team's two games.

While Paige has been practicing and acclimating herself to the college game, Taylor has been sidelined with a broken wrist stemming from a bicycle accident suffered in late October.

Taylor's cast was removed early this week, and she has practiced sparingly since.

Bonvicini said Taylor has fallen behind due to the lack of practice, and that she may have to be redshirted, meaning she could practice with the team but not play for the remainder of the season.

"We're going to have to see what's what," Bonvicini said. "We're still leaning toward redshirting."

In other injury news, senior forward Cha-Ron Walker has still not fully recovered from a calf muscle problem suffered against UCSB. Walker played eight minutes against NAU, and should see limited action tomorrow and Sunday in the tournament.

AP Women's Top 25

The Associated Press Top 25 women's college basketball poll, through games of november 30th, with number of first-place votes and this week's record in parentheses, total points and previous ranking:

Rank	Team	        Record	 Pts	Pvs
1.	Tennessee (40)	  6-0	1,000	 1
2.	Old Dominion	  4-0	  943	 2
3.	Connecticut	  6-0	  915	 3
4.	Louisiana Tech	  3-1 	  896	 4
5.	Vanderbilt	  4-0	  795	 7
6.	Illinois	  3-1	  765	 8
7.	North Carolina	  4-1	  689	 9
8.	Texas Tech	  3-1	  687	 6
9.	Virginia	  5-0	  636	10
10.	Georgia	          3-0	  586	13
11.	Arizona	         2-0     543   12
12.	Nebraska	  6-1	  513	14
13.	Florida	          4-2	  506	 5
14.	Stanford	  1-3	  425	11
15.	Duke	          4-1	  399	15
16.	Colorado	  4-0	  397	16
17.	Western Kentucky  6-1	  389	22
18.	Auburn	          3-0	  367	18
19.	Wisconsin	  4-0	  316	23
20.	Arkansas	  5-0	  295	24
21.	Alabama	          3-2	  171	17
22.	Tulane	          2-1	  141	21
23.	Stephen F. Austin 2-3	  136	19
24.	Washington	  3-0	   99	-                           
25.	NC State	  6-0	   72	-

Others Receiving Votes: Kansas 62, Iowa 58, Purdue 51, Iowa State 29, Colorado State 25, Marquette 24, George Washington 16, Boston College 6, Southwest Missouri State 6, SMU 6, UCLA 6, Florida International 5, UC-Santa Barbara 5, DePaul 4, Utah 4, Texas 3, Indiana 2, Michigan 2, New Mexico 2, Oregon 2, LSU 1.