Starting lineup in question as UA women prepare for Sun Devils

Adam F. Jarrold Arizona Daily Wildcat Redshirt freshman guard Reshea Bristol goes up for a layup against ASU Jan. 17. After a hot start, Bristol has seen her scoring average drop from 15.8 points a game during her first four starts to 5.8 points a game in her last eight, prompting Head Coach Joan Bonvicini to bench her in favor of sophomore Felecity Willis.

"We did not play well on Thursday," she said. "Our intensity needed to be better."

When the coach is not happy, the players are usually the first to know.

And so heads rolled. When the dust settled, Marte Alexander and Reshea Bristol hit the pine against Washington State while Felecity Willis and Shontey Hambrick stepped up to the starting lineup.

Against the Huskies, Alexander struggled to four points and six rebounds before fouling out with 2:48 left in the game.

Coming off the bench against the Cougars, Alexander increased those numbers to nine points and six rebounds, still below her averages of 13.9 points and seven rebounds.

Taking Alexander's slot in the starting five, Hambrick contributed four points and three rebounds in 14 minutes.

"Sometimes they turn to me to get the boards or play defense," Hambrick said. "Whatever the job, I'll do it."

After making an immediate impact when added to the team's starting lineup at the start of Pacific 10 Conference play, Bristol has seen her production drop sharply of late.

Through her first four starts, Bristol averaged 15.8 points a game, but over the last eight games, Bristol has only averaged 5.8 points a game, including a scoreless game against Kansas last month.

"Reshea really got down on herself," associate head coach Tracy Waites said. "We haven't given up on her.

"She is still a freshman. She just needs to rebuild her confidence. It's her own expectations of herself. At home (this Saturday against Arizona State), maybe she'll be able to relax and just play her game."

Meanwhile, Willis, who racked up 14 points in 18 minutes against Washington, tallied 12 points and five assists in her return to the starting lineup.

As to what the starting lineup will look like against ASU, Bonvicini isn't saying, although Waites said Bristol would continue to come off the bench.

"I don't know. I can't answer that yet," Bonvicini said. "We'll have to see how things go in practice."

But through the lineup shuffling, the ninth-ranked Wildcats still have seven more games to play before the NCAA Tournament, and, at 15-5, UA needs at least five more wins to stay in contention to host the tournament's first and second rounds.

Asked about the significance of reaching the 20-win mark, Bonvicini said "that's huge. But I don't think that will be a problem. From now on, there are no more breaks."