By Seth Doria
Arizona Daily Wildcat
January 27, 1998

Mind games remain UAs' biggest obstacle

Adam F. Jarrold Arizona Daily Wildcat Junior guard Monika Crank (22) goes up for a shot earlier in the season against ASU in Tempe. Crank is leading the nation in shooting percentages from the three-point range, making 55 percent of her attempts.

After wins over Washington and Stanford, it was clear the UA women's basketball team had the talent to play with anybody in the country.

But after Thursday's loss at Oregon, in which UA blew an early 15-point lead, one striking question stands out.

Are the tenth-ranked Wildcats mentally tough enough to make a run through the second half of conference play and into the tournament?

"I think that, at times, we have to be more consistent with our intensity," assistant coach Denise Dove said.

"We played a very good first half against Oregon," head coach Joan Bonvicini said. "But only three players scored in the second half. Taking better care of the ball is a big thing for us. We need more consistency in our inside-outside game. You can't just turn it on and off."

Nation's best three-point shooter is a 'Bug'

While the early struggles of sophomore point guard Lisa Griffith have been chronicled, there is a Wildcat guard who has been quietly lighting up the nets.

Junior Monika "Bug" Crank is leading the nation in three-point field goal shooting percentage, hitting almost 55 percent of her 51 attempts.

"That's like Steve Kerr numbers," Dove said. "That's unbelievable."

"She has really carried our back court," Bonvicini added. "She goes unnoticed but she's playing really well. She's not flashy, but she makes very few mistakes."

Down but not out

Redshirt freshman guard Reshea Bristol burst on the scene with a career-high 19 points against Southern Cal Jan. 4. She went on to lead the Wildcats in scoring in the team's two best performances this year - pouring in 20 against Washington and 23 against Stanford, including the game-winning shot at the buzzer.

But Bristol has been in a slump since the Stanford win. She is averaging just over five points a game, including a four-point performance on 2 of 7 shooting against Oregon State.

"She's had an adjustment year," Dove said. "She has great games and games where she doesn't play so well. Her consistency is really coming around."

Despite the recent slump, Dove said she remains convinced that Bristol will be the best guard ever to come out of the Arizona program.

One reason for this, she said, is Bristol's above average athletic ability which allows her to create shots where other players might not find them.

A perfect example came against Oregon State when Bristol drove down the baseline but didn't have the angle for the conventional layup. Instead of turning the ball over or passing it out to the wing, Bristol jumped and, while hanging in the air, pulled off a windmill reverse layup.

"I was like 'oh man,' she's going to be good," Dove said.

Women's recruiting 'coming of age'

Even though the Wildcats' season is in full swing, Dove, who is also the recruiting coordinator, has been keeping an eye on next season's talented recruiting class.

The most successful of the five-member class so far is 5-foot-9 Tysell Bozeman. The guard from Moreno Valley, Calif., is averaging 24 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and six steals a game.

"She is tearing up the L.A. area," Dove said.

Elizabeth Pickney, a 6-3 forward from Houston is averaging 22 points and over 10 rebounds game on her way to leading her team to a 24-1.

The local, Catalina Foothills' 5-9 guard Julie Brase, is averaging 27 points a game.

"She's really stepped up her leadership. She wants to be the one taking the final shot," Dove said.

The two other recruits, 5-9 guard Jenifer Callahan and 6-4 center Michelle Mitchell, started the season slowly but have come back to make contributions to their teams.

Callahan is averaging 16 points and seven rebounds a game for Scottsdale's Chaparral High School and Mitchell, from Oregon City, Ore., is averaging 14 points and 12 rebounds a game, despite being sidelined for much of the season with knee problems.

"They're going to come in here and help right away," Dove said. "They're not afraid to take on a challenge. That's a sign of a program coming of age when you have quality players coming in every year."